Hushed Willows Lithium

She is tired. She can admit this to herself, but she will not admit it aloud. Camazotz is watching; Riq will not displease him with her trivial weaknesses. 

Fresh blood is hard to come across. There are few sickly beings even in this frigid land. The frozen corpses they do come across are unable to give blood though the priestess is grateful for the meat. 

After much travel, K'atik leads her through the brine-scented forest in search of passage through the mountains.

The fireflies dance among them as he approaches. Riq watches him calculatingly, unable to understand his foreign words.

He is a pale man, nearly bleached colorless in the twilight, a stark contrast with her and K'atik. He is devoid of blazing eyes as they have, instead they are a deep purple like the insolent whelp who approached her mother. 

Riqtajinaq studies him. Perhaps he is more than a godless heathen like the apparition Nimue.