Larksong Grotto like a mantle of mystery

Her smile faded, expression faltered. With the furrowing of her brow, Nyx blinked ul into the face of her former Eisen as confusion swept through her. "What," she blurted, then stalled for a moment as she attempted to reign in her suddenly frantic thoughts, "are you talking about?"

Had the mitted rogue crossed paths with Mahler already? The lioness doubted it at once. Her leader would not have turned him away, not when he'd so openly shared concern for Wintersbane's wellbeing following his disappearance. Still mostly restricted to his sick bed, the gargoyle was not likely to have been the one to turn their lost Eisen away. That could only mean...

Nyx twitched a whisker, frustrated. More than ever, Sagtannet needed allies! If her suspicion proved correct, Wylla was a fool to have held a grudge over their comrade's prolonged absence. "Where will you go?"

He dropped an even bigger bomb, however, at the mention of a name Nyx had thought she might never hear again: Thade. The lioness' jaw dropped at this announcement, sharp yellow eyes glancing pointlessly in the direction he'd gestured toward. She half expected to see a babe come bounding through the foliage toward them, the same little cub she'd seen several months ago while she still carried her own in her womb. Thade would be a boy grown now; would his parents even recognise him?

Would she recognise the porcelain boy who lived?

"You're right," she agreed, lifting her stare to seek Wintersbane's glacial stare once more, "they need to see him, now."