One Last Touch

Leaving it on the table, she pulled on her dress and opened the door. With one last glance back at him, she stepped outside. Changing her form into that of a hawk, she flew away. By morning she reached Greengrove. She sought out her den and flew up the stairs to the upper level. She changed her form once more into an elf and removed her dress. Laying it across her desk, she reverted back to her true form, a bear.

Her bones ached, her body tired. She climbed onto the reinforced bed and closed her eyes.

Sometime during the day, Gian Ren, the druidic bear, breathed her last, dying peacefully in her sleep.

Several days later, Jagger sought her out, after reading the letter she had left behind. Khaira, the elf, was in actuality the druid who guarded Greengrove...the bear known as Gian Ren.

He entered the area her den was located in, finding several people nearby. Sadness loomed on the air and mirrored in their eyes.

"What is going on? What has happened?" Jagger asked a druid standing outside.

"Gian Ren is dead. Her mother found her. She said Gian Ren died peacefully a few days ago."

Sadness coursed through Jagger. He had really liked her and it didn't matter to him that she was a bear. Yet it all made sense to him now. She must have known her time was near. She'd sought some happiness in her life before death claimed her.

"Rest In Peace, lass," he murmured as he set off back in the direction he had come.