Nova Peak End Game

Their eyes met, locked. Masquerade held the stranger’s gaze for a moment, emboldened a little by the distance and the heights, but then looked away. They crept backward from the lip of rock, disappearing from his view as they cast their head side to side, assessing their surroundings.

Their marigold gaze lingered on the footpath winding down the mountainside, in a direction that would carry them away from the unfamiliar wolf. But they would not escape unseen; he would be able to see them descending. Unless they decided to take a much riskier leap from elsewhere, they didn’t have much of a choice. Masque blew out a breath.

They darted along the footpath, immediately glancing downward to clock the stranger’s position. Would he pursue them? They faced forward, gait steady and swift. They were losing altitude but gaining ground, as far as the other wolf was concerned.

Masque paused to check his position again but the angle worked against them. Hastily now, they dropped down the slope until the ground evened out underfoot. The path delivered them at the far southeastern corner of Nova Peak, the grotto and its canine inhabitant currently hidden from view by the flank of the mountain.

The Caru loped due south across the grassy partition between the sleeping dragon and the neighboring bulk of the glacier. Here, Masquerade swiveled and squinted again, gaze seeking any sign of the swarthy stranger.