They say blood makes you related but
loyalty makes you family
After his long time away, hiding from all those he once knew, Loren had an affinity for the hidden places of the Hollowed Grounds. Sure, they tended to be more dangerous than the more populated ones, but they also were more isolated, something the Launceleyn felt he needed more and more these days. Indeed, ever since his return he’d been in a flurry of reunions and meetings and tests and research sessions and preparations, desperate to find a cure for the blight that threatened his friends and the Greatwood beyond their borders as well as find a way to fight off the monsters that would come along with LongNight. It was necessary.
However, it was also overwhelming, especially the harsh words he’d had to subject himself to and the hard questions he’d failed to answer. He’d been expecting it, of course, but that didn’t make it any easier to stomach. Ronin and Remi had been the worst, obviously, but Beatrix proved to be unexpectedly difficult to face, though perhaps the summoner should’ve realized his half-sister would be less than pleased with him. At least Jace seemed okay with Uncle Loren, not that the librarian saw much of his nephew, given that he was basically Beatrix’s shadow. Yet another problem that he did not know how to fix.
Which is why he had slipped into the Underground: the tunnels down here didn’t care who he was, just what he could do. And Loren had always been better with his actions than his words, long disappearance notwithstanding. The Underground was warmer than the outside at the moment, but still chilly, so he was glad for the cloak he had wrapped firmly around himself.
Of course, even here, Loren was not alone. Unlike most of the company he kept, however, Astra was a delight: she bounded over the rocks down here with a near childlike glee, her hooves clattering on the stone ground. Her antlers glowed with a soft light, but it was still more than enough to banish the darkness down here, for which the Launceleyn was glad. As she darted back to him, he affectionately rubbed her head, then fished some of the hay he’d taken to carrying with him at all times out of his belt pouch and fed it to her. She munched on it happily, content to trot by his side as they made their way deeper into the earth. It was almost a pleasant stroll, if not for the threats the summoner knew lurked down here. Then again, he wasn’t exactly a pushover.
However, it was also overwhelming, especially the harsh words he’d had to subject himself to and the hard questions he’d failed to answer. He’d been expecting it, of course, but that didn’t make it any easier to stomach. Ronin and Remi had been the worst, obviously, but Beatrix proved to be unexpectedly difficult to face, though perhaps the summoner should’ve realized his half-sister would be less than pleased with him. At least Jace seemed okay with Uncle Loren, not that the librarian saw much of his nephew, given that he was basically Beatrix’s shadow. Yet another problem that he did not know how to fix.
Which is why he had slipped into the Underground: the tunnels down here didn’t care who he was, just what he could do. And Loren had always been better with his actions than his words, long disappearance notwithstanding. The Underground was warmer than the outside at the moment, but still chilly, so he was glad for the cloak he had wrapped firmly around himself.
Of course, even here, Loren was not alone. Unlike most of the company he kept, however, Astra was a delight: she bounded over the rocks down here with a near childlike glee, her hooves clattering on the stone ground. Her antlers glowed with a soft light, but it was still more than enough to banish the darkness down here, for which the Launceleyn was glad. As she darted back to him, he affectionately rubbed her head, then fished some of the hay he’d taken to carrying with him at all times out of his belt pouch and fed it to her. She munched on it happily, content to trot by his side as they made their way deeper into the earth. It was almost a pleasant stroll, if not for the threats the summoner knew lurked down here. Then again, he wasn’t exactly a pushover.
LOREN
