4/8/2025, 1:43 AM
Skill:
![[Image: dblxk1u-206919d9-ca61-483a-82dd-8f771da2...1lKuoRAFOw]](https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/86f701d2-768a-4e83-a13a-55dac0dab4c8/dblxk1u-206919d9-ca61-483a-82dd-8f771da2112c.gif?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcLzg2ZjcwMWQyLTc2OGEtNGU4My1hMTNhLTU1ZGFjMGRhYjRjOFwvZGJseGsxdS0yMDY5MTlkOS1jYTYxLTQ4M2EtODJkZC04Zjc3MWRhMjExMmMuZ2lmIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.C27pLjYdgxBGv6BHHf4cT7c6Ky21zPgu11lKuoRAFOw)
The den stunk.
Well, it stunk in a different way than usual.
Instead of the soft rot of bones, flesh, and bat dung ... it was sour. Bitter? Sulfur? It wasn't easy to tell exactly what it smelled like, but the scent of the waterfall and the lake wafted into her cavernous abode. It was disruptive and unusual and strangely timed with the previous shaking of the earth.
It also seemed to line up with some peculiarly vivid dreams.
Achlys woke first, in tune with the changes moreso than Sreda perhaps could realize. She would follow him from the den, trailing in his wake as he wuffed toward her in encouragement. Her lips pressed thinner, disguising a smile as she cupped her tufted ears forward, allowing him to practice navigation all while following along at a safe distance ... you know ... just in case.
As they neared the water, Achlys quickly lurched forward to investigate. And he would explore in the only way he knew how. Smell, touch, taste. Sreda watched him curiously, slowly pulling up beside him just as somewhere in the distance, Amaris screeched.
And then Achlys leapt.
Sreda acted swiftly, taking a bound forward to catch the boy by the scruff before he could launch himself into the deep end. Her grip was careful but tight, not allowing him to slide away from her grasp. He was, thankfully, small enough to limit the momentum of. He was, however, far too large for Sreda to carry very far. She would take a step, allowing her paws to submerge in the lake before she put Achlys down next to her.
Her paws began to tingle.
If you drown, who will help me investigate this strange lake?She would lower her nose, pressing it gently into his shoulder and guiding him, should he want to, into a safer area of the water.
'Safer.'
He could explore all he'd like, but she did not want him to drown.
That was her responsibility as a mother, after all.
What do you sense, Kosa?She would turn her own gaze toward the water, noting the sensation of her paws and ankles going numb ... stinging with the sharp bite of the cursed lake's fangs.
