Phoenix Maplewood true like ice, true like fire

she wanted to go.

augur brushed his shoulder against her own. then they would go, and before they reached the rise, he would ask blood eyes to come.

his tongue lolled with the delight of having her beside him. from time to time he would turn to caress her ears with a warm breath. there was no thought in augur of what might come. he existed in the present, and in their present, instinct suggested new snow might carry his young.

he thought of sweet leaf and buffalo hunter and red woman. he had not seen the first since that time, nor the second since the bisin hunt. but his alpha female had delivered good strong children. his own might not be welcomed, especially now that her nephews were also growing in the rise. augur wanted to keep new snow close all the same.

a barren patch of silver earth marked the land between the forest and the taiga where the rise began. he stopped here, hunting for tracks. there was always time to hunt.