Neverwinter Forest lxvi. never quite close enough to see your disguise

hope it is ok for me to snag this!

viorel walked north.

the days did not grow much warmer, but they thought that they had seen the worst of it. the flatlands stretched for miles, and they saw no one else, as though they had all been swallowed up in the snow. it was no surprise. winter was hungry, and it clung to what prey it could find.

it was a relief to find shelter at last.

the bite of the wind was not as sharp, and the further viorel ventured, the thicker the trees. quiet, as everything was in the snow. they were not so confident as to believe it entirely safe. their head remained lifted, muzzle unfurled from where it had pressed against their throat, and it was not for a long time that they smelled anything at all.

they were not hungry enough to bother with the deer, but a single wolf was something of another matter.

eyes narrowed thin against the cold, viorel weaved through the trees until they had sight of the woman in question. beneath the overhang of the nearest pine, they stopped, breathing smoke into the air.

“are you here to seek shelter?” they murmured. “or something else?”