Agora Hills

Xairo listened to Absinth's words, his heart pounding in his chest. He was barely more than a pup, yet every syllable his mother spoke felt like a weight he was expected to bear. He watched her stern expression, her eyes like shimmering emeralds, cold and hard as the stone cliffs of Polar Sound that surrounded their sheltered valley. It was here in this harsh terrain that she anticipated they would come of age, in the midst of short grasses and lichens, under the shadow of freshwater waterfalls cascading down steep cliffsides. It was here in this cradle of ice and stone that they would have to prove their mettle or fall prey to the creatures lurking beyond their home- or perhaps, to maintain their strength against those lurking within.

"Xairo Saxe"