Bearclaw Valley Ladybugs will flee you, wolves run wild in you

Aventus' summons would have previously been answered immediately by the boy who now lurked in their territory, but this new state lent reluctance to him. He had never before had reason to question, but he found himself wondering why he should. They had given him no answers, they thought him useless. He wished to prove that he was not, but that didn't mean he needed to jump when they told him to.

He didn't like these new thoughts. They felt bad, like a rot in his mind. He shouldn't be thinking this way.

When Ashlar joined the group, he did so silently, and stuck to the fringes to watch cautiously. Despite the complexity of the changes occurring within him, he was curious; Aventus had never called them together like this, and the bear king was nowhere to be seen.