Noctisardor Bypass the last few drops from the holy grail

When Etienne first left the hollow Anselm planned to follow shortly after. He wanted to visit the deep spring one last time — to look on it pensively, in finality, before turning his back forever. 

His steps were unhurried as he turned for the bypass, for he dreaded seeing Heda again. As he came to the border he found scent of Etienne here; more than that, a score of claw marks and the wisps of several cinnamon tufts of fur. 

Anselm froze, inspecting this finding with a ridge of bladed fur rising along his back . His blood pounded in his ears, alarm snaking its adrenaline high through his suddenly shaky limbs. The longer he looked, the more context he saw — displaced fur, a scuffle marked on the earth, and the clear drag marks of trailing paws in the half thawed snow. 

For the first time in his life Anselm disobeyed the clear boundaries of a pack. He slipped past the markings at a thunderous clip, following his nose with newfound fury. 

The woods grew denser. The scent of stale herbs and Etienne flooded his senses as Anselm closed in.