The Tangle airë

aw but maybe @Marina ! <3

The days bled together in a monotonous haze, but Astier did not stir. War was not a beast that rushed to meet its master; it required patience, precision. So he waited, silent as frost creeping over stone, his breath lost in the glacial air. When the stillness stretched too long, he moved; not out of restlessness, but calculation. The sea was near. He had seen it once before, before the glacier whispered his name and he answered. Now, he would see it again.
His passage was swift, soundless. Nova loomed in the distance, but he spared it only a passing glance: allies. A word that meant nothing until tested. Politics, diplomacy; he would deal with those when necessary, not before.
The ground shifted beneath him as ice gave way to jagged rock. The scent of salt thickened in the air, sharp and bracing. Astier inhaled deeply, filling his lungs with the cold sting of the sea before exhaling slowly. Then, without hesitation, he continued forward.