Fixing the gap

['Kondor' Ashblight]

Kondor had been out of town for the last month, only ever dropping in, just for emergencies. Staying busy is something he found quite rewarding, as helping people around his travels had proven worthwhile. However in the last few days he had felt a strange feeling that was building worse by the day, the feeling of a fleeting warmth. As an addition, nightmares started to return to torment him, something that hadn't happened in years.

Kondor ended his expedition early and rushed back to town. As the day had just ended, and the feeling of dread growing worse, he decided to get back to town and rest later.

With his lantern burning brightly, he entered back into the woods that felt familiar even in the dark. Finding to the grass path that had lead to the alter of Saa was much harder in the enclosing night, but he knew that it was his best bet. This was a path that he had walked many a times to make his prayers, and upon finding it again, it filled him with a joy that pushed him closer. His paced quickened into a jog, knowing that everything was going to be fine, he wished to make a quick prayer to Saa before checking in with the rest of town.

When he reached the clearing where the alter laded, and the light covered the grounds he knew well, his body froze. The alter that his god resided in was gone, the sanctum around it missing as well. Feeling of all different kinds rushed to his head, questions rushing in his mind like a rapid river, so much so it brought him to his knees.

Only a single word could leave his mouth, a quiet and pain filled "Why".

[Morrigan]

Following the destruction of the Saa altar, and due to Quill's movements being heavily restricted by town, Morrigan would periodically sneak off into the woods surrounding Holdfast on her own in the hopes of eventually encountering Kondor in the most predictable location one would find him: where the Saa altar was formerly placed.

Morrigan despised leaving her sister, who was sulking in a corner (again), back at the inn, out of concern fuelled by the current local opinions of Quill and her religion, but this was a necessary exception. Tonight, she had to make an effort to seek out Kondor once more. Lest the poor child returns without warning of the shit-storm that awaits him, she thought to herself, ducking below a branch as she entered the forest. Since she forfeited being able to see clearly in the dark in favour of stealth, Morrigan moved at a leisurely pace, and she was extra vigilant of any possible signs she might not be alone.

Just barely past the treeline, she noticed a flickering glow coming from the exact area she was heading towards, along with a figure. This time, it appeared she was potentially in luck. Each step she took was quiet and cautious as she gradually got close enough to determine if it was him or someone else lurking around Saa's holy ground.

In the small clearing where the altar and his Sanctum had been set up at the base of a rather distinctive tree, she saw Kondor on his knees in front of the now empty space, his distraught facial expression illuminated by his lantern. Not wanting to startle him, in case he hadn't already registered her presence as she had approached, Morrigan walked into the light and lowered the hood of her cloak so he could see who she was and that she was there before saying anything.

Her voice was uncharacteristically gentle, in a tone almost exclusively reserved for when she spoke to her son. "Kondor..", she said softly. "A lot has happened that we must discuss, and I have some things for you that are from Quill."