The Heartwood else shall eden have no springtime

AW but tagging @Peregrine ...;)

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the birth of his children did not bind lasher more closely to the plateau, but drove him from it physically. while he adored the scent and feel of their small velveteen bodies, and the languid nights spent curled alongside blue willow, taltos had become restless. with no witch to guide him, and no true lover to anchor him, he felt himself adrift.

and yet each day he foraged far for small trinkets and baubles, for the babes' eyes to enjoy when they were older. feathers, odd pebbles, even shells gleaned from the cold sands. and now he found himself in the heavy darkness of a thick forest, nares flared for the pungent scent of small mushrooms with which he would pair a squirrel, and deliver unto blue willow.