there was a kind of grief that took everything from a person, that destroyed the world, that re-wrote everything that they knew. one such grief had consumed the golden dragon of the pitt, it had rocked their world for years, it had broken every heart they'd wormed their way into unknowingly. this grief had stolen everything from the war god, it had taken every person they called dear to their heart that had been freezing over for years. it had taken too much from them to be let continue. it was an all-consuming inferno that had destroyed even them, for years upon years. they cared not how long they'd lived, but the grief only returned even stronger each time that the next they cared about, was stripped from them. at some point, the loss and grief had begun to strip them of their sanity, shaking them from their core.

three years ago or more, they had left their own group because their sanity had been a thread from snapping, and they did not want to speak to more ghosts than they had to. though today, tonight, was no different than their normal, spent in solitude, alone with the voices of the dead and missing, alone with the memories that threatened to destroy them once more. there was no comfort there, no warm body to share their nest with, nobody to take their mind off of their agonies and miseries. the dragon laid curled upon themself, barrels empty of their contents surrounding the former kingpin, a barrel under a paw as they rolled it around on the ground, blind eyes staring at nothing in particular.

tonight, they were haunted by memories of a she-wolf, of a woman that they had met, and made a vow to. they had vowed to never let her be alone, to look after her for as long as they lived, a vow made so selfishly. lifting their head now, as thunder raged overhead, lightning flashing across the sky in displays they could only wish to see, their ears twitching with the cacophony of thunder. blinking, they closed their eyes with a wry smile, "it seems ... that i have broken my vow, asteri. i hope that you don't hate me all that much, wherever your soul may rest. i wish ... i wish that i could see your smile once more.", the dragon murmured as they turned their head to the door of their residence, where they heard the sounds of someone caught out in the rain and storm. rumbling towards their door, a delayed sense of gratefulness stealing in them for the fire burning in the hearth, "come inside."