Noctisardor Bypass [m] luke 10:19

Anselm had gone to the wood @Heda told him of, and found no trace of Druid.

He returned in a sorrowed state, fur slick with mud and bramble. No Druid may as well be dead Druid, but now they were robbed of their chance to physically mourn her.

Anselm wrestled with this knowledge, and found he could not bring himself to break the news to Heda. It was too tangled and complicated to navigate now; better to rest and tell her tomorrow.

He settled by the banks near Etienne's garden patch. Why he referred to it as that still, he did not know -- he bitterly cursed his inability to let go. He contemplated swimming, but as he sank down to his belly he saw a shape that made him rise immediately.

Amadeo. If Heda was a minefield, this man was a charnel-house. Anselm kept his eyes upon him as he moved, willing the man to have the good sense to walk anywhere else but in his direction.