quiet in the dark; LILITHA

[Romek]

fuck all your dreams; they're not all they seem.

It was when Lilitha didn’t return home for bedtime that he realised that he hadn’t actually seen her since they left the Mountain… so caught up in everything, he had assumed that she was off with the twins playing in their forest, exploring their new home, perhaps testing out her new wings dodging in and out of the trees.

But, clearly, she wasn’t. Getting to sleep at that point was not an option; he was too worried for the small girl.

And so he leaves Maribel and the children safely within their new home (abandoning them on the first night, in favour of finding their little Lilitha - not that Maribel would’ve minded, of course, she would’ve been just as worried about the filly as he was).

It’s not an excessively long trip to the Forest, and he follows the sandy shore of the slash of sea between Taiga and forest, cool wind blowing in off the water, moonlight rippling on the surface.

The Forest is quiet and dark. Romek calls out his daughter’s name, searching for her, searching, like he sought Maribel, with fear and worry in his heart. It wouldn’t be fair to lose Lilitha now, not after surviving the Reckoning, and finding each other. That would just not be fair.

Romek