vinegar in my eyes

Eligos staggered into Aerie's lands, head hanging low and paws dragging with exhaustion. Yet even as tired as he was, his body was tense, his head constantly swiveling to watch around him. More than half his exhaustion was from, not the journey, but the constant state of hypervigilance that he had been in since he had heard his father's voice. He hadn't been able to relax to sleep, not with the fireflies following him, not with the terror that something had happened to the rest of the pack, so he hadn't bothered camping overnight but simply kept going. Now that he'd made it home, the tension didn't fade. No, he found it simply increased. Where was everyone? Why was it so quiet? Something had happened. He forced himself back to his paws from where he'd collapsed, and threw up his tired head to howl, looking for any members of Aerie. As the note echoed, his head dropped again, glowing blue liquid misting his eyes and dripping to pool at his forepaws.