Northstar Vale but you are not finished.

Days had passed since Valiria had entered Epoch’s ranks. She had rested, filled her belly, regained her strength, and yet she still felt empty inside. She had kept to herself mostly, flitting through the fringes of the territory like a ghost in the woods. And, like a ghost, she had found a place to haunt.

Liri didn’t know what it was about the willow that drew her. She couldn’t exactly call it peace when she rested beneath its boughs, but it was the closest she’d felt to it since returning to the Wilds and finding her home lost to her. There was something soothing about the way the tree’s long arms swayed in the breeze and the way it’s fingers traced lines across the little stream that ran past its roots. She found she could watch the ripples it made for hours for it was the only time her mind was able to let go of her troubles as it focused on the stream.

She was there again that afternoon, lying upon a patch of grass beneath the tree’s limbs, enjoying the quiet and the feel of the speckled sun upon her back. She knew she ought to continue her search for Germanicus, but the threat of further disappointment kept her procrastinating. It was much easier to simply waste away beneath her tree and pretend the rest of the world didn’t exist.