Almost an hour later, despair had made a comfortable nest in my brain, and was busy feeding its offspring of anxiety and doubt. Even with my excellent night vision, I hadn’t picked up the faintest glimmer of another search party. The rolling cloud cover didn’t help, teasing precious moonlight before smothering it again. I was tempted to ask Grit to fly up and clear the weather, but the idea of splitting up for even a few minutes rang every alarm bell in my head. Back when I was with the lunar guard, we never traveled the caves alone. The buddy system was practically a way of life for us thestrals. There were too many threats lurking about to risk solo heroics. That was how you got yourself killed.