I like the cold up here, it's a refreshing relief from the warmth miles below, but still even the frosty north was not free of this horrid summer. I'm here on patrol, to see the snowier side of a land I do not often visit, yet still I wonder if I am not just lying to myself in order to escape Tallsun. I wouldn't be surprised. It is not the only reason I am here, however. There's a newborn youth at my side who much preferred to stalk the mountain range than hunt the woods, though his current abilities left much to be desired in my own opinion. I let him roll around and flaunt his adolescence knowing that it would one day leave him, he might as well enjoy the only freedom there was in life. In fact, it was rather a relief to feel his innocent influence on my own mind and enjoy his happiness, my life has been void of such things for so long I was almost thinking him a gift. Almost. He was a handful and a pain most times, I still don't understand how I have come to end up with a wolf pup at my feet, but this land has never been known for conforming to the natural process of nature. Just look at me!

Eventually I find myself at the doorstep of a frozen archway that stood like an opening invitation for shelter away from the sweltering sunshine. I quite gladly enter it, my feet making a soft thud as they connect with the harder surface whilst I admire the icy structure. This was more like a wonder of nature that enveloped me in its frosty embrace. I could quite get used to this beautifully cold feeling, perhaps I have found myself a new favourite place to hang out. For a while I forget the worries of my title and enjoy a solitary moment of peace.

I remember a boy I once found whilst roaming this mountain range. He was odd, certainly stranger than myself and at the time I admit I was a rather weird child. With him had been a tiger cub and I had pleaded him to take my wings from me, the feathered extensions that I had loathed so much only to come to love. In the end I had failed to be rid of them and that boy passed into memory like most things did. I still remember him though. I never met many souls as a kid, I strayed often from my disgrace of a mother and lingered in lonely places.

Looking at myself now, I begin to wonder what on earth happened.

(@[Volterra] & Open)