Blacktail Deer Plateau wheatgrass

it was another plateau, which amused chakliux to great end despite his misgivings.
he had forged ahead, ranging on long legs to come alone into blacktail.
it was a well-placed land, defensible in a way the seaside sprawl had not been. and yet it was lonely here without the lapping rush of a hard sea.
snow had billowed among the pines; chakliux stepped around them toward the precipice beyond, thinking for a numb moment of moonsong and ariadne.