Duskfire Glacier Phantom Limb

:D

Malachi thrummed through the glacial land, kicking up the autumn leaves as he wove his way through the forest brush. The youth had long stopped searching for the scent of their missing members in their vast Glacial home, but Malachi refused to give up on them. He had responsibilities here, more than ever before, but he couldn't ignore his need to search any longer.

He could see the land from a distance where the territory stretched inconspicuously from home to the unknown, and toward this end he pressed. The youth did not know where he would go, or where he would run. He did not know where to search, or where searching had already been done. He merely possessed a relentless desire to go, and this time, he would listen.

Malachi moved swiftly to the land's distant edge - and it was then that he saw her, a brush of flame stealing her way through the barren land. The youth drew to a startled halt, blinking rapidly as his mind rushed to keep up with his eyes.

It couldn't be.

Malachi let out an echoing bay of disbelief. "Tuwawi?" His breath puffed a cloud in the crisp autumn air and he took a step forward before breaking into a full fledged run toward the apparition of their fire-kissed leader. "Tuwawi!" He shouted louder, letting his voice ring out as a howl through the chilling land for the pack to hear. His tail whipped behind him in a waving mess as he tore through the undergrowth to where the woman wandered, but in his gut a sharp knot turned. In the shock he saw nothing but her fiery form, and though his gaze brushed over the strange band fastened round her neck, he made nothing of it as his mind fell to a different matter: the pups he'd expected to see beside her. She held none of their scent, and that which she carried held a sharp tang he'd never tasted before. He felt his stomach drop and he drew to a halt paces away, breathless and staring, still not fully convinced the hardened woman before him was more than just a ghost.