Sunset Valley mine to hold

I know we already have one unfinished, but @Siofra Hawthorne !!! <33
happens sometime after this

The valley breathed in silence.
Evening had settled softly over the basin, painting long shadows beneath the rustling canopy of deciduous green. The runoff from the twin peaks great white shoulders traced quiet veins through the underbrush, the water cool and clear as it threaded between mossy stones and fern-laden soil. Here, where the glacier’s reach had long since receded, life had flourished in its absence. Birds still called, distant and unbothered, while the wind curled down the slopes in gentle hushes.
Astier moved without haste, but with purpose. The Wraith did not often descend from the higher ridges without cause; but tonight he was not a ghost retreating into snow and stone. His pale form passed beneath the branches like a sliver of moonlight, untouched by the golds and greens around him, yet very much present. The earth here was soft, sun-warmed and alive in contrast to the bitter wind of the heights.
He had not yet seen her, but her scent lingered faint and recent; folded into bark, clinging to the wildflower tufts that dared bloom between roots. His ears turned, catching no sign of her footfalls, but he knew she was not far.
There were things she would need to know.
The glacier had stirred. He had climbed and been tested. And in the wake of the silence that followed, war had taken root upon the horizon. Astier paused beside one of the many creeks, the water dancing over stone. He did not call out; not yet. If she was near, she would find him. And if not... he would wait. As always, patience was his weapon, and tonight, he had reason to wield it.