Ankyra Sound lurlinemas

For @Leonore!

Her time drew ever nearer. Marina, long past digging out a den of her own, had instead wandered along the cliffs' great base by the sea until she found a cave to her liking. The entrance was narrow, scarcely allowing her own slim form to slide saltslick between the dark stone walls, but its tunneled mouth sloped upward into a small dry space where the sea couldn't reach. When the tide rose, it filled half the tunnel, but that suited her just fine.

At midday she found herself back among the trees, gathering dry bedding for her seaside den. Soon she would seclude herself from the world, and though Marina half-anticipated that retreat, she half-dreaded it too. How would she feed herself and her child? How would she protect them? From the sea, from the wilds, from herself.

The wind whispered through the woods around her, giving no answer.