Bearclaw Valley behind your silence and your suffering

before dawn he rose and ate, hunting through the lightening forest for the altar of bones. perhaps here were the priests. merrick had a general idea of those best suited for the role — his queen, her pale counterpart, gentle ico, and the witch.
among the offerings the boy placed a flat bit of tooth ground from the edge of a bear's jaw. he squinted at the eerie silence of the place, but arranged himself in repose and attempted to scrutinize the meaning of what had been laid here before.

---

So much had happened in these past few days. The auspicious birth of Merrick and Astara's children beneath the spring moon. The tense scuffle outside her nest. Discord among the pack and, unknown to Galena, violence at their borders. She had not interfered when the Bruin-Witch tagged her mate, drawing blood, or when the Bear King came down upon the dog. She had watched from the forest's edge... observed besides Orson. She was still understanding her place in it all. It wasn't that the lioness lacked confidence — she was a reticent creature by nature.

It was early. Spring dew wet her toes as she patrolled Ursus' inner circle. The scent of Merrick caught her nose, and so she trailed the Witch. He laid sphinx-like before an altar, an arrangement of bones and offerings. As it stood, Galena did not know about the spiritual aspects that drove her king to become an architect in order to realize Ursus. 

"Merrick," she said coolly as she approached the dark man, regarding the white jaw, "do you pray?"

---

the taste of blood for once had clung in ugly smears to his teeth. for once for once for once — he could not look upon himself. the entire night around the birth of his children was recalled only either in loud images or muzzy blurring. merrick could not and dared not recall what he had done, the first time he had never celebrated a killing.
galena. he turned his garbled eye upon her, puffing out a sigh through his lips.
"i have no fuckin' idea how to pray," he joked, switching focus back to the clever, sacred items that his nightshade had laid out. "but these things are special to her. so i want to understand them."
the bone. her regard of it.

---

The dark Witch looked a bit disheveled before the stack of pristine white, sun-bleached bones. The wisp could not blame her leader. It had been a tumultuous night for all, especially for Merrick and his raven. Though Galena would not have readily accepted the dog within the pack (for she was a purist, among many things), the thought of Merrick spilling the blood of a follower made her regard his fangs with a new wariness. Even then, she chuckled lightly at his joke. Perhaps this would be a good opportunity to get close to Ursus' alpha.

She approached him, taking a seat besides the bear, tail curling around her paws like a cat. "Special to her, hmm," Galena ruminated. "I sometimes speak to my Mothers and Sisters though such altars, though I have been commanded to disassemble them once communication is complete. I don't know if they can hear me, but..." her voice waned thoughtfully, "it brings me comfort and insight to speak to them in my own way. Perhaps the dark woman seeks a similar reflection through these bones. The pieces can posses magick to those wishing to find it." Galena paused for a moment, turning her slender face towards her leader, "I wish to be of use to you and the Dark One. What would you call upon me to do for Ursus?"

---

a grin curled merrick's mouth as galena asked of him the singular most intriguing question he yet posed. for a long span of moments he remained silent, considering both the inquiry and the objects. no one could ever accuse merrick of being spiritual; he only sought knowledge he did not already have.
galena's experience with such things were one piece of wisdom not yet granted to the boy. at length he shifted, hummed. "i want easthollow to be punished," he whispered toward the witch, his single eye roving over her knowing gaze. "i want my enemies to suffer. and i want her," her her her her, she who had built this altar, she who walked at his side,
"i want her to be made a goddess."