lost to the hunt as I was to you; pyxis

[Daemron]

He is alarmed to return to Tephra and find that not all was as he’d left it. The faint smell of burning yet hangs in the air. As dread worms its way through him, the maned wolf at his side lifts her scarred maw and scents the wind, hackles raised. Together, they quicken their pace across an expanse of scorched earth. The dread builds until his chest practically hammers with it, loud and insistent – an accusation. (You left them here. You left them alone.) When they finally reach her, he feels the tightness against his ribs slackening. “Pyxis,” he breathes with relief as he presses into her, his jaw moving furtively across her mahogany skin as though checking for injury. Curiously, the red wolf holds back, long ears trained carefully upon the antlered mare. Once Daemron is reassured of his wife’s condition, the dread rears its ugly head again as he glances about the half-healed landscape and realizes they are alone. His voice comes out in a low growl. “What the hell happened?” He turns the hard steel of his eyes on her then, their faint grey light casting shadows across her features. “Where are the kids?” The words fall more harshly than he intends. Worry chews at his gut, eating away at him – along with something else (something darker still). Though he tries to swallow it down, the muscles of his jaw working visibly against it, he finds himself drawing back from her. (You left.) daemron lost to the hunt as I was to you

@[pyxis] um so I couldn't help myself :|