Stone Circle Exitlude

The stone prince had returned to the circle. Silvered pelt mixing against his mother's as he sat at her side.

Here where his father's last breath fell was where he would always remain. Beneath the tallest obelisk, his father would sleep forevermore.

The memorial was overseen by stone sentinels. Both the unmoving monoliths and the statuesque wolves that sat in near silent observance. The few words spoken barely registered as more than a whispering breeze in his ears.

How palpable the loss was. Collective grief thickened the air, filling his lungs with stifled sobs and unspoken words. How he choked on them as they crept up his throat to weight down his tongue. The cracked and shattered pieces of his heart falling loose into the soil with a steady stream of tears.

Tauris offered the floor to speak, an expectant look in her gaze. What could he possible say?

One thought remained at the forefront of his mind as he watched the shriveled flowers sway atop his father's grave:

I miss you already.