Shadewood ivy is taking over your sideboard

She didn’t suffer from nightmares every night, though they weren’t exactly uncommon, either. Most of them were a grisly replay of Avicus’s death scene. This one, though, was about a different Wealda. Redd snarled in her face, “We are one!” right before tearing out her throat.

Masque woke to find herself partly on her back, one foreleg struck out as if trying to defend herself from her sister’s death blow. She sprawled there for a few beats, breathing hard, then rolled rapidly and sprang to her feet. Her marigold eyes scoured her surroundings as her heartbeat slowly calmed.

She couldn’t shake the bad dream entirely. Rolling her shoulders and giving herself a shake, Masque sought distraction in the form of a border patrol. She headed for the forest’s outskirts, pausing to growl over the scent of an intruder. She was long gone, though the Redtail proceeded toward the stream that formed the eastern border of her territory with a curled lip and bristling hackles.