Blacktail Deer Plateau Long may she reign

The distance from The Sunspire to the plateau was unreasonably short to Tytonidae. She both dreaded and yearned for Blacktail Deer Plateau, and she worried about how her friends and family might react to her abandonment of them. The girl felt terrible guilt, even now, with Summer assuring her over and over again she had nothing to be afraid of. And yet, fear gripped her heart, and she felt unable to move as she approached her birthplace. Each step was a struggle, but she pressed on, knowing once in her life that this was actually something she had to do.

As they grew closer, Ty suddenly changed her mind about bringing Summer. “I need to do this,” she said, feeling bad about bringing him so close, only to turn him away. “I’ll come see you at The Sunspire when I’m ready.” And for all she knew, that would be right away. Leaving no room for argument, and thanking him for his company as she traveled here, Ty watched him go back to The Sunspire, and she knew she would see him again.

It was dark now, and Ty had originally planned to wait, but a flurry of voices and commotion beckoned her forward, and she bolted up the winding path to the top of the plateau, ignoring any sense she had to retreat from the borders. The blanket of darkness made it hard to see any distinct figures, but Tytonidae could smell her sister, blood, urine, vomit, Dante, her aunt Osprey, and Finley, one of the wolves who had left with her father and Fox.

Well, this was overwhelming, and it left Ty speechless. This was not what she had wanted to walk into, and she nearly turned around right then and there.