Dragoncrest Cliffs ∷ x̂uux̂

— he had thought the trail might vanish with the melt, that kanuux’s shadow would finally dissolve into earth, but it had not.

taktu, in the end, chose to follow. every step south gnawed at him: with the ridges easing, the air thinning, trees clawing into sky where once there was only white and black. it was wrong. all of it. wrong, and yet it was here kanuux had gone.

the gods had given taktunir nothing except the rasp of his own breath, the empty groan of ice collapsing in the distance. and so he walked, thinking maybe he was already dead, and this was what came after; endless earth, endless hunger.

but—

suddenly, his scent was there. a thread of brine and old storms, carried south where it did not belong. kanuux. his chest tightened, breath catching and for a long moment he only stood, head bowed against the wind. the truth of it swelled in him.

kanuux.