Sawtooth Spire mach schnell

unbeknownst to mahler, his thoughts followed a similar trajectory. to leave would be to finally accept that thade would not return. to leave would be to subject them all to yet another shift in territory.
already phaedra suffered; she would not comprehend why she must leave the home she had known for some farflung land away from all they had embraced.
he thought of nyx and their growing little daughters; of star and her young brood, the most vulnerable among them.
a swallow of the pine-laden air; mahler nodded heavily at wylla. "soon is best. let us head in that direction," he suggested with a roll of his shoulders. "there is something else."
the gargoyle bit back a sigh, his gaze shifting between wylla and stag. "praimfaya vill not be coming vith us. or back to sagtannet." the air of a tired salesman rubbing the back of his neck. "she told me that upon her trip to look — to search, she became involved in varning others of these 'saints.' she intended to infiltrate them. i forbade it; it is not a risk ve can take, especially not having these brutes so close. she insisted she must, challenged me. it did not end in her favor."
perhaps he had thrust praimfaya into the arms of these killing-floor savages, but in the end, it was those who were loyal to sagtannet that held mahler's focus now. 
"ve should tell the others." for a moment he considered the sea, then the thought turned to chaff and brushed away under the weight of his own breath. he was no coastal beast.