Nova Peak Pēadze

set for the 7th

You are the first here, but there will be more. Make the most of your time.
Father and his taciturn advice.
Yes, moonch. That is why I have brought them the caribou.

She is lifting her chin as she goes inside, jaws abundant with ungulate and ermine; soft things to ply the hardground of her birthing hollow. The den itself is not much; a modest, snow-cradle where icicles grow in the corners and the low dome is faceted. Not a wolf’s cathedral of stone, nor a divine’s temple within the trees, but time’s blue sanctum.
Ayovi had known earlier within the day, never so suffused with the weight of herself. The soles of her paws pink and aching. She was sick; sick within her own body, eyes wide and churning.
The spread of furs, the silent hollow. A far wind moves through her ears. Outside the indifferent world is calm, but there is only one truth the huntress knows: soon will come Skorpa’s children.

One cry; she stumbles.
It is not pain she feels but such sweet joy.