Ocean's Breath Plateau lonely times when i could not find a friend

the name shadow girl tickled something in his mind and brought a smile to his muzzle. he nodded in agreement to arjun's terms—at least, his desire to follow them—but his eyes remained abstracted, seeing something long ago, far away.

i once knew a girl from moonspear, black as night, adi murmured. i called her chaiyya—shadow. she was big and fearsome. . .i wonder what became of her. if she dwelt among the moonwolves now, he hadn't seen her.

then the memory of another dark lady followed, and his smile faded, his face pensive.

seelie, he whispered. he shifted his gaze to his son, throat rippling as he tried to swallow past dry, rough tissue. did your wife ever tell you about her name? seelie, short for coelacanth. simbelmyne's grandmother. . .and the woman i once loved.

and perhaps still did, and always would.