Ouroboros Spine sun of the houses

The tenseness in Fjall’s body melted away as the she-wolf embraced him. He leaned into her, unsure at first, then starved for touch. When they parted, he looked at her, misty-eyed and quivering with barely contained desperation.

Shikoba!

A name from many of his mother’s lucid stories. Atchaga. His family. The boy’s tail whipped the air back and forth.

You are home.

He felt a sudden clench upon his heart. A cold icy touch that caused him to inhale sharply. A single thought telegraphed itself across his emptied thoughts.

How could this be home without Löté?

Fjall continued to smile. There was much to smile about! He recognized the name Kukutux, moonwoman. He wanted to spend time with his found aunts. He was glad to know that Shikoba’s husband, Inutsuk, knew his mother… But it all came back to her.

His whirring tail stilled, his joy turned to regret. I cannot stay. Not without her… It- It will not be right without her. He was honest with his heart. He wanted the starhunter to know he was scared. And hurt. Fjall swallowed hard. She will come back, he said, trying to reassure himself. She will come back and I will see her again. It sounded like a chant spoken a thousand times. He dared not mourn what was surely but a temporary displacement.

Do you, do you know where is Winterglade? I will find her there… He had a sort of scared, faraway look as he peered around them, wondering if any of the forests in his limited view had once been his birthplace.