Alpine Lake xxxxiv. destroy the middle,

AW, ecologist mastery #7

The Hinterlands remained much as the Coast and Flatlands had before she took to exploring and mapping them, untouched and unknown. But if it were true that she might come to wed Adrastus and bear his children with the coming summer, then there was a chance that she might not get another opportunity to investigate any regions of Tuktu until well into the autumn when her children were a little more independent. 

Such was what led her to skirt around the range that was home to Moonspear's remains, observing the sapphire gem of the Lake nestled out of reach in the heart of the tall mountains that separated the Hinterlands from the foothills of Great Bear. There was no way to reach the Lake from up here so Lótë contented herself with exploring the cliffs and crags of the mountains -- drinking in the faded tracks of a pika, the sight of an eagle drifting slowly overhead.