Duskfire Glacier Phantom Limb

Malachi's ears twitched at the sound of approaching footfalls, but he did not turn to see who came. His eyes instead fixed upon Tuwawi, apprehension slowly taking hold of the instinctual movement of his tail and slowing the waving to a standstill. He did not approach her any closer, resolved to maintain his distance. No emotion rose from her steady frame, unmoved and indifferent, and he realized in her grief he feared her, just as he had had feared Njal some suns ago.

Danica and Hatshepsut arrived by his side, and though he took comfort in their presence, Malachi felt the knot in his stomach tighten when no one else followed. The one he'd hoped would be first to respond to his call was absent: Njal had not come. But he could worry no further, not on Njal. Malachi's ears slicked back at Tuwawi's cry and the youth lowered his gaze. "Maera's safe. She's in the den." The words came with difficultly and he dared not meet the mother's face. "We don't know where the others are... Njal has returned." But he had come without Lárus, and they had failed to find trace of Valtýr and Jökull. They had failed, all of them, and he felt the guilt sink heavy within.