Noctisardor Bypass the humming

Wylla was loathe to leave the fern-shrouded cave. She was reluctant to meet Rivenwood's wolves, the remnants of Sagtannet and the newcomers alike — she would always think of them that way, despite being the newcomer herself — for fear of what they might know of her. For what they might say, or how they might behave. She expected the worst of everyone she met, and extended that to Mahler's followers here.

But her leg wouldn't get any better if she hid herself away and refused to exercise. Besides, Wylla's days of lazing about and trying to sucker others into tending to her were long behind her. She had not been a lazy leader in Sagtannet and she could not be a lazy subordinate in Rivenwood. She dragged herself out of the cave and forced herself to go on a slow, hobbling walk through the valley to become acquainted with her new home, swallowing down every bubble of anxiety and mistrust that arose in her.

Quietly, Wylla hoped she might not run into anyone but Phaedra or maybe her wayward son, if he was present. Instead, she followed her nose right into the line of sight of not one, not two, but three Rivenwood denizens, a mother and her two cubs, gathered around a carcass. She froze on the spot, folding back her ears as she stared at them through a screen of flies, feeling the roar and gnashing teeth of her own jealousy rearing up.

They are not his! she berated herself, dropping her eyes from the patchwork woman to the two grey-and-white pups. It wasn't enough reassurance for her to relax, though; Wylla swallowed audibly, clearly anxious to get away, and tried to force her feet to move. They would not.