King Elk Forest youngest of three

long, rangy legs carry the miscreant from the coast and into the depths of the hinterlands.

blood fresh on his maw from a kill only minutes earlier, a beady crimson that whelps in thick globules. his tongue snakes out across his muzzle to cleanse it, though what has dried remains; crusting and stinking.

crowell has been on his own for months now. memories of @Chani and how she had disappeared over the cliff haunting, plaguing. a fate that was grim; and he thought her rotten for it. selfish. to kill herself and take his children with her.

at the thought, his yellowed and chipped teeth sneer out from beneath blackened lips that pull taut. his gaunt frame presses up against a nearby tree as he slows, inhaling thick and labored breaths. the cold smoke of his breathing frigid and visible in the surroundings.

when he hears the crunch of frost underfoot, his sulfuric gaze jerks upwards. how long had it been since he had company?