Now I see fire, inside the mountain

A voice -- not mother! -- sounded from behind him, and Leshen spun about to fix his bugging, newly red eyes on the speaker. The she-wolf's emerald gaze, beset by a fiery mask, was the first thing he zeroed in on, and it was the only evidence of unfamiliarity he needed to turn his initial surprise into full on defense. He took an uncertain few steps backward and growled a note of high-pitched uncertainty deep in his throat. A warning maybe. For despite retreating slightly, his wiry tail remained hoisted up like a pirate flag: waving slow and tenuous like it was too heavy to hold up.

There came no verbal response to her question, even though he was quite capable of providing one, and instead the child gave her a good and long stare.