Solemnity

Would she live or would she die? How could one tell with the state that she was in? Externally, Valtiel was bitten and sliced and bleeding, but inside it was much, much worse. She had failed them. Her children, whom she was supposed to protect, had been injured and were most likely dead. One might say that she had done all that she could, but it wasn't enough. It would never, ever be enough! Valtiel had failed. She had failed as a mother. She had failed as a Carpathius.

No recognition was given as her wounds were tended. No sign of life as soft voices spoke around her. Even the dying wails of the bear had gone unnoticed. Within the woman's mind, she was being forced to make a decision. Live or die. Live or die. What was there to live for? With her children dead and no other family that she could find, she was alone. Utterly alone. It would be better off if she died, right? A wolf with no family, no pack... what kind of life was that? She would drift along like a wraith until her time ran out. Either way, death was the end game.

Ah, but there was that spark within her. That Carpathius spark. "We have been through worse things. We rise above. We remember those who were lost. We live in their honor." Her grandmother's words. How she could still remember that gritty, wise voice, the woman didn't know. She'd only met the woman once but that one meeting had left its impression upon the dark fae. She could hear those words clear as day and they lit a fire within her. They roused her from the edge of death.

Obsidian lips peeled back from pearly white fangs and Valtiel growled in pain as she fought to open her gold and orange eyes. Through fluttering lashes, the woman saw forms around her. One lay beside her and another stood near. It took her a few tries to get the words through her dry, sore throat. "They...They're gone, aren't they." It wasn't a question. As a mother, she knew. She could feel their loss so deeply in her soul that she once again considered death. "Just... let me die," she managed to say, though her last word was a bare whisper filled with sorrow and anguish. Valtiel curled in on herself, covered her face with one inky foreleg and softly sobbed, mourning the loss of those that she had sworn to protect.

"Valtiel"