Jade Fern Grove valar dohaeris

Skipping Isra with permission via Discord.

“Oi!”

Druid breathed in sharply, eyes snapping open and head whipping to her left. Her vision swam a little but it wasn’t hard to pinpoint the reddish figure approaching the gateway. There was something disconcerting about the woman’s mask, though Druid’s fur smoothed nearly as soon as it prickled. The stranger posed no threat. She was beyond all dangers, now.

But still she warned, Don’t come any closer, because she was the danger, now. I’m sick and you could… you… Druid said, still staring down the unfamiliar woman, though the sharpness of her eyes belied the sudden disconnect happening behind them as her thoughts began to decouple and drift. You could…

The rest of her sentence disappeared into the ether as her conscious thoughts slowed and dimmed. The vague feelings of alarm and worry went with all the rest and though Druid would not have described her state as pleasant, if she’d had the words, it wasn’t unpleasant, either.

She finally looked away from the she-wolf toward the arches, taking a further step toward them. Now she stood in between the great stone plinths, pausing and craning her neck to gaze up at them. Then her mismatched eyes dropped to stare through the gates, jolting ever so slightly at a resplendent Rivenwood.

She could see Heda (@Skaigona) dancing in the distance, all six children gamboling at her feet as they collectively chased butterflies. @Sequoia was there, @Witch too. There were other faces beyond them, all of them smiling. Even as Druid beheld them, all the colors grew bolder and brighter. She had to squint, then shut her eyes, against the wonder of it all.

When she reopened them, everything was hazed in red. Druid heard someone breathing in her ear and whipped her head around again, snapping her teeth. And although she didn’t feel particularly angry, a sort of primal fury overcame her as she sprang at “Masquerade.”