"Oi! Easy, love!" Kjors called ahead as they twisted and turned – were he not such an experienced traveler, the wolf reckoned he'd have a difficult time keeping up with his distressed damsel. It was if the shadows themselves chased her, each yowling promising pain and panic to the yearling. He did not try to reason with her, knowing she would not stop to listen. In truth, he had no desire to loiter around only to find out whether or not the ground would give again, plunging the angry cat into the cavern with them. Perhaps luck would finally be on his side, and the father would soon abandon his chase once he realized the interlopers would not be returning and his kits were no longer in harms way.

Only when she paused did he catch up, already having to lift his head to keep nostrils clear. When had Karina grown taller than him? A thought for another day. "S'alright, gem," he crooned, hoping the tone would convey the brush of affection he could not offer her physically. "He ain't gonna come down here. We're gonna be fine."

His single eye drifted from the princess back to the tiny opening and he sighed softly. They would have to swim through it – if the lynx wasn't frightening his child any longer, than their escape surely was. After a moment, he'd made his decision. "Ah'll go first, yeah? Ah'll letcha know." And with that, he sucked in as much air as his chest could old before diving down. Prying open his single eye, he swam for the opening as quickly as he could, guided by light. It was a few wolflengths before he popped back up, lungs burning as he inhaled deeply and found solid ground beneath his paws once more. "C'mon, Karina. It's gonna be okay. It's gonna be four lengths, yeah? Follow th' light. Th' Mother won't let 'nyhtin' happen t' ya, doll."

Burtn @DA & Dawnthieves.de - Table by PuppyThief

Karina could hear Kjors behind her, urging her to be more careful, but her fear was so consuming that it was impossible for her to slow down until they came to the dead end. Karina nodded slowly at Kjors’s kind words and her trembling stilled, though her relief was short lived. Her companion disappeared beneath the surface of the water and the child’s heartbeat skyrocketed once more. The moment of silence felt like much longer than the pawful of seconds that it actually was, and Karina emitted a steady stream of terrified whines as she waited to hear Kjo’s voice. Her friend’s call to her sounded quite distant when it finally came, and Karina barked frantically. After an instant she comprehended the man’s words and realized he was safe, beckoning her to join him on the other side.  The yearling continued to bark and whine in frustration, struggling to build up the courage to swim beneath the surface of the water. 

Four lengths. For some reason, that distance felt both ridiculously short and incredibly far at the same time. Karina ducked her head below the water, but an instant later lost her nerve and resurfaced spluttering, still shrouded in darkness. The Mother won’t let anything happen to you, promised her mentor’s voice. Yes.. yes! That was right of course. She was the Mother’s priestess, her Chosen! The Mother would not call her Priestess back to her just yet, not while there was so much work left to do in this world. Karina felt a wave of calm wash over her emotions; a sensation that was becoming familiar for her. A single inhale steadied her nerves, and her aura reached out to feel for Kjors on the other side of the wall. Her friend’s aura reached out to her as well, drawing her out of the darkness like a fish hooked on a pole. Karina was surfacing in the sunlight before she even realized she was swimming.

The girl pulled herself up onto the shore and shook herself, squinting in the harsh sunlight as her eyes worked hard to readjust. The light was painful on her eyes even through her eyelids, and the girl pushed her face into the ground with her paws over her eyes, waiting patiently for the pain to subside. She could feel her friend’s golden aura wrapped tightly around her, his presence comforting her until she was able to look up. “Kjo.. look at this place..” Karina instructed in the even-toned voice characteristic of the Calm Place. She did not need to glance back at Kjors to reassure herself as she could sense him behind her, no more than a wolfslength away. Instead the girl stepped forward, taking in the scenery around the pair.

When Karina popped up on the other side of the pond, the male allowed himself a small sigh of relief. She'd swum just fine, as he knew she could – the question was always whether the youth would give herself the chance to succeed. It seemed her lessons were not only teaching her how to defend herself if the need ever arose, but also planted a seed of confidence were there'd been only barren doubt before. The male settled at her flank, content to escort the yearling as she explored the cavern in silence. He would make a much better guard dog than he would scout, he decided, tail swinging idly and spraying water droplets. Thankfully, it was the height of summer, and neither had to worry about the plague of wet fur against a chilly wind.

Lifting his head, he glanced around at the vista that'd taken the princess' voice away, and allowed himself a brief smile. It was a treasure, he decided instantly, mountainous and rocky. In a way, it reminded him of the cliffside home he'd been forced to abandon before arriving in the forests of Relic Lore. A rebirth, he decided on, and reached out to nose the medic's flank.

"Our secret place," Kjors decided firmly, knowing they could trust no others with the beauty and peace of this place. "'fer safety, 'er quiet. But ours, an' not t' be shared," he hummed, bobbing his head as he nodded. "Bu' we best be movin' on soon, 'less they come lookin' tha' we didn' return as we said, huh?"

Burtn @DA & Dawnthieves.de - Table by PuppyThief

 Karina blinked, her eyes fully adjusted to the light but unable to comprehend the scene before her. She felt as if she had been born anew, delivered straight from the belly of the Mountain into a world of sights and sounds that she had never before experienced. The deer-- previously so comfortable tucked into the folds of Karina’s aura-- had torn itself from her psyche and fled into the dense forest that surrounded the mountain oasis. All that remained was the priestess, and she gazed with wonder at all the Mother had provided for her. “Mother is pleased with us..” Karina breathed, turning for the first time to look back at her dearest companion. The girl’s crystalline eyes danced with the joy of the faithful, and she was a beauty to behold with the shroud of her fear removed. 

“Ours, not to be shared,” Kjors was urging, tone expectant.. waiting for her to agree. A half smile graced the priestess’s features. He needn’t be so worried, who had she to tell? “A hiding place,” the girl agreed, finally giving Kjors the assent he was seeking. She broke eye contact with the man to look back out over the scenery. Her deer was a silvery-blue blur at the edge of the woods, weaving in and out of the treeline, the thick brush at the edge of the clearing cloaking the shimmering creature from her eyesight. “A veil..” Karina murmured, almost to herself. The mountain, the cliffs of the pass, and the surrounding forest all hugged their little sanctuary like their protective Mother Herself, shielding them from the godless outside world.

Karina’s gaze was attracted back to Kjors by a flurry of movement, and her half-smile became a grin as she watched Kjo’s dragon burst from its’ lupine  prison and leap into the sky to circle their haven protectively. The man’s golden aura lit upon the mountain side and shrieked its’ pleasure, and Karina knew there must be at least one veiled grotto in the side of the cliff to please the dragon so. “Dragonveil.” Karina spoke the name with certainty, as if it had not been her own idea so much as divine inspiration. The Mother had indeed blessed them, to gift them with such a refuge that pleased both her deer and Kjors’s dragon.

A quick glance to her companion revealed his satisfaction; he looked years younger without the dragon raging against the fabric of his psyche. An odd, squirming feeling dropped into the pit of Karina’s belly, and she had to breathe in deeply to settle her physical body. With the deer cut loose for the moment, it could not be fear that was turning Karina’s stomach, though she might actually have preferred that emotion to this slippery feeling, as unwanted as it was confusing. An attraction to young male like Karpos or Darrah, as uncomfortable as it might be, was understandable and even common for a female at her stage of development.. but what was this?  Karina turned from the man so as to hide her thoughts, nodding at his suggestion to move on. The girl was beginning to grow uneasy standing in one place, and she realized her deer had returned to her side during her moment of distraction.

Kjors’s dragon took to the air, and Karina moved to follow the creature—it could certainly see their way better than the wolves on the ground. With some difficulty the pair weaved their way through the trees and dense underbrush that stood sentry around the oasis, but Karina did not mind this; she knew that if Dragonveil was difficult to exit than it would be much more difficult to enter, or even find again.. and that was a good quality in a hiding place.

Karina’s deer traveled beside the pair, showing them hidden routes when their path became unclear. Perhaps for the first time, Karina realized her deer for what Kjors had claimed it to be-- a gift. How blessed she was, to have a deer’s attentiveness to guide her footsteps and a deer’s sensitivity to inform her judgements. Though the canopy shielded the dragon from view overhead, she could hear the creature shrieking its guidance to them as well as its roared argy-bargy with the faraway lynx, who was certainly smart enough to keep its distance from a volatile dragon. Though they had no herbs or plants to show for their trouble—Karina had lost her mouthful of pineapple weed long ago—the trip had yielded a discovery far more valuable than the girl could have ever hoped for. She knew in her gut that it would not be long before the pair returned. It was a dragon’s nature to light fires wherever he went, and he could not exist for long in a home as combustible as Hearthwood River.