Table for Three

Ashe remember why you started.    Scarred. Her ears fell back, and Ashe ducked her head back down to tear back into the dear, ignoring the twist in her gut. From what little she had learned about Amalia since she was rescued, she was a gentle person. She was not the kind of person that should have scars, least of all for someone like Ashe. I'm glad she's alright, was all she said.    Why would Kalt go out in the storms? Why? Why did he leave at all? Her pelt shuddered over her form, golden eyes guttering as she snapped her head back, ripping free a large strip of meat and fat. She tossed it toward the griffin without thought before drawing her tongue over her teeth. They aren't in the Hallowed Grounds.  Not in the Greatwood, or with the Fae. She didn't explain that even though she had scoured everywhere, she knew before she had looked that she wouldn't find him. If he was out of range of their bond, he was much further than that. I exhausted every possible place. That was my last shot.    Something sharp twisted in her chest, and she dug back into the deer with barely hidden frustration. She wasn't going to think about the aching want for her family. She couldn't. Instead she listened to Jigano explain his findings, and her eyes swiveled sideways as she thought.    Different bars, same cage. She raised her head at that, Frey's and Safrin's warnings both creeping up on her. They had warned her of much the same thing when she had been obsessing over the barrier. Have you spoken with the gods about it yet? she asked with a brief tilt of her head.    She shook out her pelt, eyeing the griffin. She almost wished she had brought Soot -- he would have enjoyed a friend to play with -- but he wasn't well suited to hunts. She nosed her way into the warmer meat of the deer, glancing back at the white raven. They're magic in nature, she confirmed, though he likely didn't need it. Her jaws crunched around a thick piece of cartilage, a soft growl slipping through her teeth as she did. Lighting is my element, and I couldn't rely on it out there. There were illusions. I couldn't rely on even the ground under me. There were.. figures in the clouds. Inhuman. Not animal.    She looked at Jigano, her eyes holding a different sort of weariness than she'd ever felt before the storms. Can I ask you something?