The Heartwood Will you tear my skin?

Around 04:00, set after their first thread.
For @Dreven <3

Phantom Hollow is only a rocks throw away from Alduin’s beloved Heartwood. The walk doesn’t take long, but still the Hollow is big enough to eat up an hour or so of their shared time. 

The thick fog plaguing the Hollow doesn’t fade when the forest begins to cripple and become dark with dead trees and soot. Rather, it follows them there too, giving the Heartwood an eerie glow in the night. It’s quiet too, terrifyingly so, save for the absent caw of a raven or vulture  — the birds that loiter along the decaying branches the most he’s noticed.

As they step into the remains of a fiery disaster, only the hellhounds lumbering steps betray the stark silence. Only at least before his voice does.

“This is the Heartwood.” He hums drably, looking forward the entirety of their journey. He’s already stared at him enough to last a lifetime.

He continues though.

“You will become my Harbinger of death. But not only that, but you, and others of your rank, will be our diplomats.” A pause sounds out. “It seems you have enough charm and patience to speak. I do not.” 

After his last words are grit out, the ashen hound would drift closer to the base of a blackened tree. Brushing his side along it and lifting a muscular hind leg, he carelessly marks it with the scent of the forsaken. And just like that, he’s on his way once more.