When it all comes crashing down

Loqui wasted no time seeking out the Commander. The crimson brute wasn't hard to find, especially since he was returning to the island from a hunt on the mainland. As he was helping unload the deer carcasses from the ferries, the raven swooped down with urgent croaks which whipped his own raptors up into a frenzy. Although none of them spoke Lupine, Saracyn could sense the distress in the avians. Something was wrong, and he didn't need to be fluent in bird to understand what it was. Avacyn. Sara's heart sank into his stomach. Abandoning his tasks to the other hunters, the prince raced through the woods as fast as his legs could carry him. Through the trees and up the mountain path to their den where the sounds of pained whining could already be heard. His blood ran cold in his veins as he sprinted through the entrance. "Ancients, please, no no no no...!"

Saracyn almost skidded out as he rounded the bend in the tunnel to their bedchambers, paws skittering as he rushed inside and found Ava curled up in pain, clutching her stomach while Irilyth tended to her. Cerulean eyes wide with worry and dread, he approached his mate's side and settled down beside her on the bed, a white-tipped paw lifting to stroke her head while his other paw moved to clutch hers in his grasp. "I'm here, Ava. I'm here. You're gonna be okay. I've got you," he spoke in soft reassuring tones that tried to mask his fear. He looked up to Irilyth as she was tending to the Matriarch, waiting at her hind end with furs to receive their children. It couldn't be time already. Something was wrong. "It's too early," he whispered to Irilyth, looking to her for some answers. The gold-furred woman only gave him a solemn stare in response.

"Saracyn Mendacium"