The Sunspire Stuck in Colder Weather

When Bazi had returned from a trip to the mountains and told the pack of the Vale's demise, it was hard for the warden not to be surprised. Pleased as well, he realized, that an enemy to the creek had vanished. Given the chance to go abroad for a few hours, Njal had taken up a route towards the mountains in order to see things for himself; he did not doubt Bazi's word, and it was not with skepticism that he took to seeking out the Vale wolves. The guilt he felt could have been the deciding factor, or simply curiosity; it was a nameless feeling. As much as he enjoyed lingering upon the creek's bank in lieu of the summer heat, the shelter of the mountain's forests would suffice today.

Njal headed west, intent on being discreet in his advance even if the pack was surely gone. A tiny piece of him still afforded the Vale wolves respect, dutiful to the friendship that he had once held with their lady leader even if it too had become a tedious thing. As the day wore on and the wolf marched around the base of Apikuni and in to the deep darkness between it and the mountain range beyond, he paused. The shadows engulfed him - but that was not what piqued his interest. A wiggling nose and furtive glance later, Njal realized that the scent he now followed was not a Vale wolf, but something closer, something far more familiar.

He ascended in to the range, pursuing whoever it was that now took refuge among the rocks.