The great snake ignored everything else, incessantly scrubbing himself against submerged rocks and rubbing his scales. He soaked for a long time in the cold current, letting the water wash away the external filth, yet that foul stench seemed to have latched onto his very marrow. He waited until nightfall - when the moon was high and silver light shimmered across the water - before he dared crawl back onto the shore to take his mate back to the cave.
Rowan sat patiently on a boulder by the stream, waiting for Owen to finish bathing and return. The rock beneath him radiated the night's chill; out of boredom, he occasionally punched a stray beast that dared to challenge him or skipped smooth pebbles across the stream, listening to the "plink" echo through the silence.
