i've aged a year this week

The Warlord sniffed the air, searching for whatever had alerted Marshal on his back. The bird was oddly still now, and silent. As if listening to the very air. The Warlord held his breath, listening to the sounds of the woods. Woods he knew so well, he could feel its lifeblood in his veins. He caught the scent, and realised he had been overlooking it. Missing it. It reminded him of his family, of Azure, and Mortis, and the others of his blood.

Frowning more heavily, the Warlord looked into the thicket beneath the willow, and knew with unshakable certainty that there was something there. With that certainty in his voice, he raised it a little louder. Still barely above a whisper. “I see you.” He said, though that wasn’t quite the truth of it. His senses thrummed with the knowledge that she was there.

"Speech"