Duskfire Glacier i'm cauterizing the veins you lacerate

---

—why had he returned?

towering frame blocking the entrance of a cave blotting the dense, unfurling expanse of the duskfire's glacier. those unfeeling eyes of crimson red unblinking against the pale white, sweeping in a predator's swathe upon towering peaks of ice and open, uncharted snow.

he is a metronome. ticking. hardened jaw twitching to life with the exhale of a visible breath, mist breaking past the sudden movement of the beast. muscle hardened from war unflinching across his body. shoulders and legs falling in muted thuds upon the path he weaves now.

further into the glacier, ears upon a stiff swivel. thinking that perhaps, if he listens close enough, he might hear those familiar sounds of what had once been.

but—

there is yet only silence.