Ocean's Breath Plateau I want a heart unbreakable

He was awake. The lodge was peaceful, but his thoughts were turbulent. He needed to go back to the glacier — he should not have agreed to stay the night.

A whisper of movement. Paws quiet on packed earth. Marina stepped outside, and after a long, quiet moment, the panther climbed to his feet and followed.

He made a little more noise than her, giving just a little warning before he came out to find her back to him, looking frail in the moonlight in ways she hadn't in the warmth of the lodge.

"I hoped to bring you peace," he said in a low, hoarse murmur. He limped closer, but only to stand beside her, a short distance between them. There was concern in his gaze, but far more apparent were regret, and sympathy, and a tenderness that was borrow from his bond with Chakliux. "I carried your name in my heart, as my purpose. But now I have seen you with my eyes, and I wish that I had brought him home instead of spurring him onward. This is where he is needed. And this, I know, is where he needs to be."

He watched her, feeling it would be a disservice to turn his face away from this pain.

"How may I help dry your tears, Marina?" he asked her. "I will go away if you tell me to. But maybe you will tell me to sing, and you will find that my voice is soothing. Or maybe you will tell me what words are in your heart, and you will feel a little lighter for it."

He awaited her command.