Can You Hear The Drums?

Bass’s change in mood wasn’t unexpected. In fact, she had hoped to see it, because it would confirm that he was as good as the rest of his family. The Destructions were, in many ways, like the Adravendis. Family meant a great deal to most of them, though she imagined that even the Destructions might have a black sheep or two, as the Adravendis had with Syrinx, Eos, and Neo, who had gone so far as to renounce the family, and wish to destroy them. She let him speak, listening with interest and sadness. “Any word of their newest born litter? When I visited last, they had just celebrated the births of two new pups…” She gave a fretful sound in the back of her throat, paws shifting restlessly. She was glad Bass was having thoughts of sieging, but she could definitely understand his hesitation, what with children on the way. “Congratulations on your upcoming litter, by the way.” The words were heartfelt, and honest. New lives were something that would always be celebrated, even in hard times.

His question as to her wants should he assist was answered with no hesitation, and her eyes met his in an earnest stare. “Vericona Plains is where I was born, where I grew up, trained, and fought to protect in the war between Valhalla and Glaciem. Our Patriarch, Cairo Adravendi, is buried there. Our dead are buried there, from the war, and from the plague. No place else has ever felt like home. I want my home, Bass.” So much emotion lay just behind the steadfast boundaries of her voice. She wasn’t begging, nor was she demanding, or even commanding. She was speaking the deepest truth available to the world. “I want my home, and to be able to raise my pack and my children there in peace. And I’m willing to fight for that right, with all I have. It would be an insult to my mother’s memory not to do so.” Her words and her voice were fierce, her eyes bright with the fire of determination. There was no backing down, and she knew Regulus could feel that power, in the way he looked at her attentively.

Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think