[center][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/220419/d955e440c95ac6f731dc5e649ad359eb.png[/img][/center][hr]Lilann was no stranger to waking up with the urge to scream, and so it was with practiced restraint that she managed to keep from shrieking when a nightmare quite literally tore her from sleep. She said a silent thanks to nothing that no one had heard or noticed her bolt upright, and though it took several minutes for her heart to slow and many more for her breathing to steady, she did eventually shut her eyes again. 

Just in time for it to be dawn. Next time she would just pray for death. 

On the road once more, Lilann found herself in a daze. She tried to keep her mind busy, plucking at her lyre and forcing herself to focus enough to carry the tune—though she did not sing. Occasionally the chill would catch her the wrong way, and she’d glance urgently behind her, or out into the woods. She listened for…well, she didn’t know. Growling, perhaps, or maybe music. 

Often her eyes went to Kyreth, as though he might be gone if she didn’t check on him. She had to remind herself that the shadows about his face, and clothes, [i]were[/i] shadows and not blood, had to tell herself, almost out loud, that he was still alive. It donned on her that she’d never heard him scream before, and so she couldn't know what it sounded like, even in a dream. 

In the back of her mind, a part of her was confused and repulsed by how quickly she’d begun to care for him. He was nearly twice her size, and she suspected they were about the same age, but more and more when she looked at him she saw…

The cart. Or didn’t, rather, as she walked squarely into the back so committedly it nearly knocked the hat off of her head. She felt her mask for cracks, relieved to find none, and made a mental note to threaten anyone who might have witnessed her clumsiness later. For now, there were evidently more important things to worry about. 

Ceolfric and Ermes stood near the front of the wagon, talking to themselves—Ceolfric much more loudly, and not, it seemed, explicitly to the shadowy boy. Their attentions were focused upon a wounded wolf in the middle of the road, but before she could consider the pitiful thing any further, she felt a hand on her shoulder. 

Once again, practice saved her from an embarrassing outburst. It was only Kyreth, though he seemed rather concerned. [color=8E939E]“Be careful, something is wrong,”[/color] he said, before joining Ceolfric and Ermes. She would have followed despite his quiet urging for her to stay back, but then she saw the woman, Eila, draw her bow. Almost instinctually, Lilann pulled the knife from her pouch, ready to infuse it with aether. 

She watched, confused and more than a little apprehensive, as Eila loosed a—surprisingly excellent—shot directly at the wolf.