Fairspell Meadow the twice-invoked

it was this open, coverless meadow qiao sought. she measured the span of the sky, watching as the sun began to sink behind a drift of falling snow. 

soon it would be nightfall. in those starlit hours she would begin her search for owls and their discarded pellets. 

a lanky form stole across the meadow in a pantherine slink. qiao regarded the wolf with a moment’s pause before she began following after in light steps.