Duskfire Glacier blood in the snow

her body trembled as it shifted against blackfell’s spine, frail limbs sliding into place where he set them. every breath came shallow, a soft whimper pressed into his dark ruff. she did not fight him, did not answer, her voice a thing long broken and left somewhere in the dark.

eyes closed, lashes wet, she let herself be carried. the weight of her own bones too much, the press of his strength beneath her the only tether. gjalla’s words sank into her, a balm she could not yet believe but could not let go of either.

so she said nothing. curled tighter into herself, into them, into the promise of home.