Redtail Rise red

Ashlar had been holding her as best he could, but he was grateful when Masquerade moved in to help.  There was only so much he could do as he tried to keep the blood at bay.

He’d known the chances.  He’d known what the outcome would be.

As her final breath released, and his beloved hunter was finally stilled, Ashlar fell to pieces.  He would not register her son at his side, nor Tulimaq’s scornful leaving.  He registered nothing but the memory of a moment in a forest.  A shared meal. The thunder of hooves.  A song.  This one is you.

It rose in his head now, but without its former power, and grief turned the fire to rain.

He did not know if she would accept being rain, but he had always seen sides she kept hidden from the rest.  He had always known she could do more than burn.  Even before she herself saw it.

He knew nothing else for a long time.  He would not leave her side unless he was forced, and when he finally did move, it was with a broken compass guiding.  He would disappear to isolation and, in a short time, depart the rise entirely.

last for him in here