Duskfire Glacier [m]wen se solèy la

His grudge took him in to the north. To see the riverside, to climb the glacier - to prove he could, and that his wounds were closed enough. His nephew had fought well against him but Tulimaq had lived; that much proved that Kigipigak was not worthy of his Tartok name or his heritage. The scarred man had come to remedy that.

The river called to him first; there, he found an old den which had been claimed by foxes, and he left them to it. He spread his own scent along the riverbank - and while it was clear this village had been abandoned, Tulimaq relished the activity.

He left that behind to climb higher; and it was there among the ice shelves, where the air reeked of lupines, that an added spice drew his focus. She was a sharp-bodied red thing; he thought of the foxes, briefly, as he climbed after her.