sun eater had not called out for grey man when it was decided they would depart. too much danger in that, alerting the gathering of moon villages and their assumed allies to his presence.

some rebellion to set foot in the wilderness forbidden him by exile, but sun eater was finished here. at dawn upon the third day, he gathered his son and sheep killer, saying not a word as he led them through the thickbranched forest and out into the flatlands.

his intention was to follow the coastline back into the taiga instead of another mountainous crossing, and it was to this aim that he led his wolves, ranging ahead. but sun eater had not remembered the great winter storms that the ocean offered.

a cold squall rose, lashing the sand and its cliffs. with them the clouds brought much snow and stood their fur to frosted end.

yet sun eater pushed on; he allowed little rest and only hunting along the way, wanting sheep killer and ghelan to understand in part what saatsine expected of their ability.

pathways through the taiga were cold, but sun eater eagerly followed them inland, and here his spirits seemed to lift. the river was not far off, he assured.

snow fell softly over the territories of the sprawling world, clinging to the banks of the river against a backdrop of air steaming above the cold river. for a long moment, sun eater only gazed at what he had claimed, and then he tilted his head back to call their arrival.

grey man come after. meleeys, sulukinak. i have brought a caribou boy for you to teach.

comforted thereafter, more relaxed in his stride, sun eater looked for movement among the cold trees, satisfied by the success of their time outside the earth possessed by his sun clan.