Twisted Slough the ground beneath us is shaking, the sheep are finally waking

No, it couldn’t be Ashlar! Why would he be so far from home? Even as the question flashed through her mind, her stomach knotted. She forced herself to look down at what was left of him. Masque swallowed around the lump in her throat and even bent to sniff delicately. Her eyes slipped shut and her head hung as she confirmed his identity.

As she lapsed into a moment of mournful silence, she couldn’t help but marvel: if she and Riley hadn’t left, would anyone have ever known Ashlar’s fate? Masque’s heart skipped a beat. Perhaps this was a sign to go home and tell them about the healer. But then it sank as she wondered if anyone else at the rise missed him. Would they even care that he’d died? He’d really only been close with Avicus, who was gone.

I’m—I wouldn’t say I’m glad we found him, exactly, she whispered, finally opening her eyes to look at Riley, but at the same time, I am. We should bury him, what was left of him, anyway.

Her heart throbbed somewhere in the vicinity of her stomach as she thought of the last wolf she’d helped put in the ground. Masquerade exhaled shakily as she looked sadly upon Ashlar’s corpse. He hadn’t deserved this fate, dying alone and likely heartbroken. The least they could do was give his remains a proper burial.

He disappeared right after mother died. I wonder if he left because he knew it would never be the same without her, Masquerade mused, something darkling in her marigold gaze.