Deepwood Weald [M] To the sound of the bird that mourns

Dutch had known.

Anticipation grew within him with each step they took further from the others. The followed the strand of trees from the seal hunter village into a darker woodland — the place where he and Sulukinak had first met. In the spring time, the territory felt much warmer. The mists were playful instead of foreboding, and the panther felt correspondingly coltish.

He grizzled back at her, frisking toward her with his jaws wide and grinning. He went for her scruff, hoping to provoke a playful fight.