Ankyra Sound [m] burn it down

Feel free to control Ephraim in whatever manner you like now to wrap this, I'm so sorry for holding this up for millenia. <3 Lmk if you want anything changed!

Six. She let him go.

Ephraim blinked, bewildered. His pulse still rushed in his throat with the expectation that his next breath would be the last he ever took. The adrenaline of the fight and facing death's wicked scythe dulled the throbbing pain of his mangled shoulder, which otherwise would have borne him to the ground. Sobeille turned with a flick of her tail and a proclamation. The scent she spread in so doing chased lingering doubts from his mind.

He was worthy. Ephraim was worthy. Wasn't that all he had ever wanted, to be more than just Caiaphas' disappointment? More than Drageda's discarded leftovers, more than a rogue wolf making his way through his pathetic life by stealing and running? It stroked his ego for a relative stranger to acknowledge him. In spite of holding his damaged limb aloft, the way he followed her could only be called a proud strut.

It was not a loving affair. Both wolves were wounded and, more than that, they were adversaries. There was a begrudging respect between them, and for that, Ephraim did his best to be a giving partner, but in the end he took the prize that was granted him with a typical man's elegance, or lack thereof. When he was sated, he parted from Sobeille and staggered as his adrenaline drained away and the pain and blood loss hit him.

Feeling woozy, Ephraim let his hindquarters drop to the ground and gave his head a slow shake.