Otatso Wetlands Break free and leave us in ruins

It took almost no time for Mahler to fell Stag, a sight which speared Wylla with sudden fear. She never had cause to feel that way around him before. Wylla thought many things about Mahler, most of them negative, these days, but she'd never been afraid of him. Knowing that he could take Stag's life from him here and now put all rational thoughts from her mind.

She imagined blood, red against the snow on the ground—

her daughter's terrified cries as some man imposed himself upon her

—Wylla's inability to save Tiercel, coalescing into a need to save Stag.

Stop! she shrieked, stumbling forward as though to push between them, though she felt much too weak to actually succeed. Stop! I'll do whatever you want, I'll come with you, just... Just let him go!

It was the measure of how much Wylla cared about young Stag and his well-being that she was willing to toss aside her freedom and her dignity to follow Mahler home, to where misery awaited her, in exchange for the boy's safety.