Redsand Canyon sophismata

The departure had left nothing changed, according to Glaukos. Then again, the young man was diligent with his work and had nothing else within his life. The fact that his guardianship continued over the canyon, unbroken and unending, meant that for those few nights of Germanicus' absence the realm was safe and quiet.

For a time he was joined by the general; but their paths rarely crossed that night. It was only his scent and his general presence that Glaukos became aware of - he did not see the point in speaking of the departure, and doubled-down on his focus upon the borders and the high reaches.

It wasn't until much later, when he himself came down the canyon wall for a break of his own, that he noticed the stillness of the air and the silence, which seemed all the more palpable with the recent absence of young blood.