Ravensblood Forest it is the stones for altars

the pale man seems very surprised that aure still draws breath and still undecided on whether this man was the infamous rakk or not wintersbane's eyes narrow with unfettered criticism. the response to his casual drop of aure's wolf eating stalker appears to strike a chord within the pale man; quite a vicious one at that. the words are merciless as they leave the other man's lips and yet ...it is not quite enough to soothe away all suspicion. anyone could say those words, could speak them in a rough voice that belays anger. words are easily deceptive — this is what the ex-dark brother took away from his time as a snitch. lying, cajoling and hoarding secrets as a dragon hoards gold and treasure had been his purpose under the rank after all.

it was believable enough — that this man was her brother. surely, if rakk was related to her by blood she would've thought to include that ...but then again, perhaps not. he knows well enough that estranged siblings do not like to speak of one another. very rarely does he ever speak of mallaidh. vonn, wintersbane repeats the name, testing it out. there is an expression on the pale man's visage that finally clears away the last remaining vestiges of the tundrian's suspicion.

something that makes wintersbane feel that vonn is being sincere and isn't aure's demented stalker. yeah, she's alive. wintersbane finally replies, realizing that he hasn't addressed it. you look like her. the tundrian points out, as if mistaking him for aure hadn't been proof enough of that. i wouldn't worry, wintersbane ruminates in a way he meant to be comforting. seemed like she could take care of herself just fine. if anything, she's plenty resourceful. he says with an admiring snort. briefly contracting him as a bodyguard? had been smart. maybe she hadn't needed him but she obviously knew it was good to cover her bases.

i would like to put a stop to this rakk's tirade, of which served as a reminder. sorry about earlier... but i couldn't be sure you weren't him. and i wasn't about to let some demented lecher slip from between my teeth.