After leaving Ivor behind in the clearing, Nara made his way through the dense forest, Luna's body cradled carefully in his arms. The trees closed around him as he walked, their branches tangled overhead, their roots twisting across the uneven ground. His thoughts refused to settle into order. Each step felt automatic, guided by memory rather than attention.
From time to time his gaze dropped to Luna's face. The guilt pressed steadily against him. He had not been strong enough. Not influential enough. Not free enough. Through every difficult season of his life inside the domain, she had remained beside him without question. A beast, yet more loyal than most people he had known. And now even that last constant had been taken from him.
