lost to the hunt as I was to you; pyxis, any

[Daemron]

The wolves had sensed it first, just before the earth shifted. He had felt it in them (raised hackles and flattened ears, throats that filled with the low whine of danger) and he had turned instinctively to Pyxis. She was with her sister and young nephew, and she looked happy. Daemron had paused then, if only to allow the moment to last a little longer. And then it had started – the earth moved and shook, and he was at her side, murmuring urgently under his breath, ‘We need to leave.’ A look of panic was exchanged between Pyxis and Malis, the meaning of which they all wordlessly understood. Malis turned to him then. Once reunited, the bond between sisters had been made clear; yet while there had never been a sense of much warmth toward him from Malis, Daemron knew what would come next – and so he waited.   ‘Take Lupine with you,’ she said. And at his nod, Malis ran. Sudden dread that Pyxis might do the same causes him to send Red, flying low against the ground in the indigo mare’s wake. Then, he is urging Pyxis forward. ‘She’ll stay with her,’ he says, and of all people, Pyxis would understand the significance of those words. He continues with reassurances that are quiet yet firm, keeping an eye on the indigo youth huddled against her opposite side. A flank of wolves moves with them through Taiga’s woodlands, bright eyes like lamplights as darkness descends. In the dead of night they arrive at Tephra, the nearest sanctuary – and they settle the tired boy in a swath of grass before moving off a little ways, reaching for each other. Daemron’s mouth traces her flesh fervently, almost as though checking for injury before his muzzle comes to rest at her collarbone. “Are you all right?” he asks, the grey of his eyes giving off a faint glow as they dive headlong into the ocean of her gaze. daemron lost to the hunt as I was to you