Barrow Fields And under mountains in the moon

firefly lingered behind, likely for the best, considering what the crone planned next.  mal’s presence had been simply a happy convenience— the real prize was finding vercingetorix alone. 

ever since the day drageda had first accosted griminsmal, the day of the assault on her daughter, the execution of her subordinate, and the abduction of her packmate, caiaphas had waited for this moment. to find one of the dogs alone, her access unfettered. to show them the true meaning of war, to show them atrocious actions had atrocious consequences, and that the constellation of injustices placed on both grimnsimal and rusalka would at last be avenged.

she knew the stygian man to be of some importance to drageda; nothing imparted a cruel lesson learnedly like losing something valuable. 

she could say it was nothing personal — but oh, it was. 

on the contrary, the old snake smiled, speeding up her gait, i am right where i  need to be.

with a grunt she lunged for the beast’s hocks, hoping to hamstring his progress by forcing him to spin around to defend himself. when he did so, he would find the harpy’s fangs rising to meet him — aiming to vanquish drageda hide.