10/4/2025, 8:08 PM
Aurelia turned, called out to the others.
Invited them in, rather than shutting them out. A truer way of honoring the Mender's memory than, Sol thought, even sitting here at an empty grave den. The she-wolf swallowed her pride, the possessive part of her that wanted to guard the den, void of even Solvi's lingering scent, like a coyote snarling and drooling at its rivals over a carcass.
She even managed to quell the instinct to hide her grief-stricken expression in the Shakti-Vaes' silken, silver scruff. Solulfur could be strong a little longer. That was how she'd made it through every trial, every twist of the knife prior to this. A little stronger, just one more day, one more stretched-thin moment, endured. And endured and endured.
Her eyes slid shut as Aurelia spoke, shutting out the sight before her and instead focusing entirely on the sound of the woman's words, the wind over the hills, the crickets in the grass. The soft bellows of Solulfur's breath in her lungs, mirrored in Aurelia's beside her.
Enduring, but not alone.
I once called her a weak flower, and Solulfur could not help the fond smile that lifted one corner of her mouth.
She saw the world in a light no one else could. It was as fascinating as it was infuriating to me.Aurelia's weight was a mild pressure against her shoulder, but it settled Solulfur's scattered mind and wounded heart as if the smaller woman was a mountain in her own right - immovable stone, irascible, dependable.
But within that steadiness, Solulfur could still recognize the fragile, tender parts laid bare. She cradled this most precious thing beside her, resting her chin lightly atop the silver wolf's crown.
