Ravensblood Forest The one that will occasionally openly steal babies

last from me! left it on an open note, feel free to archive as is or throw in a final post

a silence descended the copse in which dragomir had fallen. astara busied herself as merrick settled with the new weight saddling his shoulders. first, she attempted to obscure what little marks were left in the grass and pine-straw from merrick's assault on dragomir -- then, she scratched heavily along the ground where the boy was dragged. visually, it might throw off any trackers -- but there was no magic potion in the world that would obscure their scent now.

she flitted ahead, swift as a little blackbird. she did not go the same path as merrick -- she took cares to make tracks hither and yon, to stump any pursuers. the wind was sampled and measured, the way carefully scouted -- she lead merrick and his charge down along the sap-addled forests, making off in the direction of a stream where their tracks might currently throw off any wolves hoping to intercept them.