Neverwinter Forest Monza

Favorable indeed — the panther was charmed to be addressed as a fellow traveler. He carried now the scent of the glacier pack, but he liked to imagine his wayfaring routes had left some tangible mark upon him. This wolf seemed to see it, and so he was eager to at least make her acquaintance.

"Without being too vain," said Dutch, coming to a halt as soon as the young woman stepped back, "I consider myself positively enchanting. The crème de la crème. A prince among men."

But the smile he offered invited her to laugh at this.

"My name's Dutch," he said, and he looked over his shoulder at the dark of the woods. He knew he could find his way back by scent, but he was not all that sure he was pointing in exactly the right direction when he told her, "I came down from the glacier pack. Morningsong. That way."

His head swiveled back to her, burnished gaze bright and curious. He hoped she would fill the silence with her name and origin, but he was ready too for his conversational skills to be further put to the test.