sundappled and melancholy, germanicus roamed the quiet forest where he had first found completion in his service to celnes and her crazed family, all bent upon the inner squabbles of their family and the appearance of the Great Elk.

first he had hunted for artyom, and then when the stream had ended, he had followed celnes across the wilds to the hinterlands.

he should have never left. silhouetted in dismal jetstone and ash against the golden billowing of a weald caught in a snapshot of autumn, germanicus felt tears rise.