Neverwinter Forest through fen damp and glade deep

There was no turning back now, he told himself.

Though he had been uncertain for a spell, there was little to deny that Hydra was certainly with child. It rose in him a dilemma he had not faced before, a situation that was so delicate that he was not at all sure what to do with it. As tempers had flared and simmered now on the mountain, he divided his time carefully even on a day such as this to depart it. To once more clear his mind and gather his thoughts from the storm that was rolling, and the ones to come after it. The uncertainty there was far greater, but not quite as troubling as the newest development in his own ventures.

Of course, he wasn't sure what it was that he expected. Their end goal had been obvious and clear cut from the beginning. She wanted children and he had been forthcoming in handing the opportunity over to her, scarcely thinking of what it would mean for him. His own end goals in this were just as self-serving; if he could not make a station for himself then he would apply pressure where he sought, gently turning the frail tide in his favor until his opportunity presented itself. @Hydra aspired these same ideals, these lofty goals, but he found that children would surely complicate such a thing.

The thick canopy of the forest was appropriate for the day; the rains had come again and with it a rush of warmer weather that would benefit them all. He lurked the old wood with no reason for being there, instead no longer moving to clear his head but entertain the future. This train of thought presented the featured stops of unease and concern—he once again recalled Yami and her scathing words to her brothers, remarking how they only did their father's bidding. He recalled the tension of the mountain again, of Charon's obvious deceit, and the fallout in its wake. It should have been enough to spur a lesser man into fleeing, but he would not. He would not let himself be shaken or run off, not at all like his father.

A crow called somewhere in the depths, but he did not hear it.

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