Marakai pushed himself to his feet with a tired groan, and shook his head. "I've already had my fill. I think I'm going to head inland a little ways and make camp again.... I don't know about you, but I have to sleep sometime. That little amount before did absolutely nothing for me."
He grabbed his sword, and gestured further into the trees. "Just look for a fire. I'll keep it far enough away that it won't be seen by anyone casually looking into the woods, but you should be able to find it easily enough. Just enjoy yourself, and come find me later," he said.
And no surprises this time, he thought, turning around and headed through the trees.
About a half hour later, he decided he had walked far enough. He brought low every tree within thirty yards, giving himself ample room to transform if he needed to defend himself again. He was a bit more conservative with the fire this time, finding several stones and building a ring with them. Inside this ring, he built his fire, briefly transformed to ignite it, and shifted back to his human form. Selecting a large number of broad leaves, he was able to make a couple impromptu pallets for them, set several feet apart.
With an exhausted groan, he settled down on one of them, laying his massive blade on the ground beside him, between the two pallets.
In minutes, he was asleep, and his nightmares were his memories.
-----
He was searching through the shattered stones of the palace of the Tenkou Clan, heaving aside great slabs with his massive forepaws, looking for his beloved amongst the wreckage. His brother had finally fallen only minutes before, and Marak was in horrible shape with massive bites taken from his haunches and one wing nearly torn off, but he didn't care. He had to find her. He hysterically prayed to Crosis that she hadn't been killed during the battle.
After nearly eleven hours of throwing aside stone, he unearthed the entire palace down to the catacombs, never once stopping to take an assessment of his wounds. He never found her. A day later, he'd torn through every building in the city, wrecked or otherwise. He found nothing. Not.
A.
Soul.
Lightning crashed in the depths of the night, and his roar of anguish provided the thunder, echoing for miles.
---
Marakai thrashed in his sleep heavily, and in time with himself in his dream, he shot straight up and screamed.
"Otohime!!!!"