Nova Peak a man alone

Much like Raider, Riley couldn’t get the invasion out of his mind. It wasn’t as if there had been a devastating fall out — but it spoke to how vulnerable their lives were.

He moved silently across the den as Raider blocked the entrance. Lately, his hip had been bothering him — he noticed it wasn’t healing as well as he was used to. Lately, he even felt occasional bouts of fatigue. Perhaps he was growing old and this — among with many other things — pointed to a gradual senescence Riley had no control over.

He watched one puppy — Ruckus by the red tufts along his back — try to scale Mount Mom. He grinned to himself - he wouldn’t mind scaling Mom himself later. Inching close, Riley noticed that Ruckus’ eyes had opened. The milk blue of Ruckus’ gaze was unfocused - something Riley incorrectly characterized as normal for fresh puppy eyes.

He sighed, noticing the other two were asleep. Other than his sore hip and general tiredness, things at Dragonspine weren’t too bad. Look at those little eyes, Riley hush-whispered as to not wake the other two.