hell is on earth

She hadn’t been gone from the body for long. Stepping away to find a few things she needed, before lashing together a haphazard, makeshift sled with tree wax, flax, and bamboo. It wasn’t her finest work, but she knew spending any longer on it would only delay the inevitable. Her heart was in her throat when she dragged her creation back to the river.

She found the body moved ever so slightly, as though softly jostled by another who had laid beside her. The scent of the wolf was there, on her skin in fresh waves and old. This stranger had known the Lady Riva had tried to save. He had lain beside her, and then left, and she was trying to puzzle out exactly what she missed. She dropped the sled next to Caelum, closing her eyes for a moment in respect for the deceased, before, with a soft, puzzled sigh, she left the body there.

She followed the scent along the river, until the lands changed from fine greenery to mush. She lost the scent in the stronger scents of the bog, sneezing at the unwelcome smells of mold and dank water. This was hopeless. She lifted her head and opted instead to call out, letting her voice travel across the mushy territory as she called out for the wolf she sought. She had promised to find her family, and Abaven. She had promised to find a wolf called Zephyr, and this stranger might know who that was.