Nova Peak mistook you for the sight of god

— blackfell moves in a slow lumber across the empty peak.

a bitterness lives like iron under his tongue and will not dissolve no matter what combs over the ridge and wipes away the scent of winsook.

nova peak is a ledger and he knows what is written in it: weakness. he reads it again as he descends, recalling memories bitterly from a war he shall never forget. they had turned their backs when darukaal called. when sun eater struck for his wife, their hands went not to steel but to salve. mercy for saatsine.

why does he come to nova peak? it is not to gloat. it is not to reminisce, no, certainly not. maybe, just maybe, to ensure skorpa and ayovi do not return.

blackfell moves along the slope. each step a muted thud pressed into old ground and stone, and then the mountainous brute trails along the winding river. there, the lingering, fresh scent of a woman. he must have missed her presence in the mid of his brooding.

his head swivels, and he takes off in a trot after her trail.