Broken Antler Fen Please allow me to have ONE cathartic experience in my life -

An explosion of breath.

Sick?! Lilitu exclaimed, bending forward, her stomach curling into knots. Gone—how? Maia, how? This last syllable extended into a wail, ripping through the air, punctuated by sobs.

She folded in upon herself, feeling as if everything was unreal. Nothing—not even the time she'd found those bones and bodies on the mountain.

Maia wouldn't lie. Ma was dead.

She breathed deep and fast, stirring the air at her paws. Are— is— Did anyone come back? she finally decided, raking her bloodshot golden eyes to the woman. My father, Arielle— is—

She'd ask about her siblings, but they were still unknown to her.