Already she felt lighter. Valeriya had been... difficult, of course, but in all honesty Raisa had expected nothing else. Regardless of all middle ground it was a step in the right direction and the ex-Queen refused to loose her momentum. There was still work to be done. Word and rumor had led her to this border, to this place her friend now called her own... Could Raisa still call the dark warrior a friend? She had thought of Katja as such, but after leaving her children and her legacy on the woman's shoulders in a blind panic, well... What should she really expect? She let out a shuddering breath, and tipped her head up as if to howl... But the sound would not emerge. As she attempted to strain her vocals, to send her call forth across the rolling landscape, her throat constricted. She brought her muzzle back to the ground, coughing and miserable. Great, she thought, mental tone acidic. She knew Koros eyed her with pity but she would not acknowledge it, or him. She would not suffer this... monstrous inability for much longer. Somehow, some way it would be snuffed out and destroyed... Her steward let out his own warbling call. It was high pitched, more like the scream of a banshee than a summons worthy of a Queen or alpha or whatever title Katja now bore, but the ashen fae was grateful none the less.
![[Image: Kxe2eLS.png]](http://i.imgur.com/Kxe2eLS.png)