The ugly state of winter had only grown worse; it had transformed from a mild, bitter season into a landslide of ice and snow and death. Everything around them had died: the plants, the spirits, everything. Even Romul, who bounded through the snowdrifts not unlike a whitetail deer, cursed the cold from time to time. The Sleuth couldn’t blame him and instead nodded lightly each time the expletives bust through the solemnity of her mind. Of course, in the wake of realizing just how unified she and the wolf had become, it was no real shock for the mare to reconcile with the fact that it was no longer her mind, but theirs.

For the first time in so many years, the pair moved west toward the coast and, for the first time in what felt an eternity, the decision was entirely Romul’s. He’d wanted to see the ocean and the ice that stretched out over the shallow waters until the warmth of the depthless tide was too much for even the winter’s chill. He longed for the briny scent of the salty surf and the clean air that wafted in from across the sea… Native lands from so far away rolled in against the beach and the foreign taste of the unknown came with them upon the wintry gale. All that lingered outside Helovia could be found there and those with a hunger for mystery could be found lingering at the water’s edge.

When at last the heavy berth of the beach stretched long before them, the wolf and his Queen moved effortlessly onto the snow-covered sands. Despite the chill and despite the season itself, the sands moved beneath their heavy steps, soothing and relaxed, as if a calming heat existed just beneath the blanket of white. Romul pranced about, heedless of Essetia’s anxiety for the endless lengths of the ocean, and yipped and snarled not unlike he once had as a pup. The new, young sleuth had taken to the ocean’s brink, or what was left of it, and stared longingly toward the horizon, hoping for answers to the question of her future in Helovia. She’d become something of a brooding mess since arriving in the Throat. Everything she’d been promised and everything that she’d taken now felt so empty. What did titles do for the title-less?

Even as she watched openly the wide boundary of the realm that trapped her with her past, she felt oddly at home with her wondering. For once, her loneliness was nothing more than an idea… She’d escaped it. She was on the mend. That was all any of them could ask for anymore.

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tag: @[Cheveyo]