Noctisardor Bypass dulasei

Two scents squeezed between the boulders marking Rivenwood’s borders. Anselm tracked them as far as the meadow before he turned back, irritated. 

They did not reappear; not on day one, or two, or three. 

His jaw tightened as he thought of them the third morning. The girl had not been well, and her sister clicky and strange. They were two additional mourns to feed, so perhaps it was for the best that they were gone. 

Just like Etienne. 

He stopped in his tracks and buried the image of Etienne deep; how dare he resurface? How dare he spring up like a hangnail, a reminder of yet another betrayal Anselm had to live with?

Heda was not by the Sequoia site. Anselm passed @Gideon and @Ezra, watching them sternly for a time while his concern grew. 

When Heda returned she looked starved, limping and stained in mud. Anselm marked her passing with silence. 

On the third day a grey mist clung to the morning. The hare, which he had yet to notice, squirmed with secondary life. Repulsed by its stirring Anselm swung wide around it, eyes cast along the grassy expanse to see if Heda was still around.