Blackfeather Woods When will all the pain end.

At Moonshadow's nudge, she was overwhelmed by the urge to collapse, to curl up into the older woman's embrace and let loose the sobs so close to the surface. To be a child again, crying to a mother. But she was a mother, still, and so she remained stoic, accepting the touch with a brusque nod and returning the brush. She was silent for a few moments longer before murmuring, Thank you.

There wasn't much she could say, beyond that. No words were adequate.

Be careful, Maegi said in response to Moonshadow's plans to search again. Jaes only knows when these earthquakes will end. The mountains could be especially dangerous. Falling trees, falling rocks, water rising and falling. . . Was this it? Was this the end of it all?