The world is rumbling beneath us

When Artorias received a raven with a message from the Armada, he immediately feared the worst. With all the unnatural and downright paranormal things occurring in the world lately, it was natural for his mind to jump to a number of horrible scenarios. Had something happened to Briar? Had the Armada been attacked? Was everyone okay? His relief was immeasurable when it turned out to be a simple summons to a meeting in the north for all the alphas, called by Azure and Sirius. Artorias had no experience with Azure and no opinion of the wolf positive or negative, but he loved and respected Sirius, so with his godfather's name on the message, he had committed to attend. He'd informed Ulric of the meeting and that he'd be gone for a couple of days, then set off for the north. Ordinarily, he would have brought his sword with him for protection against the unknown elements, but... well, that was long gone now.

The trek up to Boreas had been stress-inducing and terrifying in some regards. He still heard his mother's voice whispered on the winds at night, along with a symphony of other horrific cries and howls in the dark, and with the twilight days barely providing enough sunlight to really call it daytime, the entire world felt like it was inching ever closer to dying. Was this how the world ended? In a veil of fading light and shadow? It was a lot to weigh on the young alpha's mind, but his thoughts kept him company on his solo journey. He arrived at the meeting on the Battlefield, a land he'd had no reason to traverse before now. Artorias saw Sirius and Azure sitting in wait, the two Armada wolves alone. No one else had arrived yet; he'd be the first. And how ironic, this would be the first time any of the others saw him as the new Aegis of the Hallows.

"Seer, Azure," he greeted his two allies with a dip of his head. The yearling was almost as tall as they were by now, and it was evident he wouldn't stop growing yet. Rubbing his aching jaw, Art said, "I'd say 'good day', but uh... I hardly think this qualifies as day anymore." Artorias gazed around the dusky battlefield, the ground desolate and covered with snow. It was much colder up here than it was in Auster. Hopefully the other alphas wouldn't take too long arriving. He didn't exactly relish the idea of being out in the dark longer than he had to.

"Artorias Carpathius"