King Elk Forest civilization is coming and it means to exterminate us

like fog in the night or the darkened sky above the elk vanishes, leaving behind only him, his antagonist, and the slowly shifting shadows beneath them as light re-enters the sky. delight releases a breath he hadn't realised he was holding, and looks at uka - or rather, past him - with silver-wide eyes. "he - the king elk is real," he says, hushed, more to himself than the other man, thinking of his joking conversations with trajan. "and i met him."

we can fade here if you want!