Duskfire Glacier And the walls keep tumbling down

Perhaps @Maera, if you have the time? Otherwise, all welcome (:

It had taken the boy a few days before he realized Njal Sveijarn was gone. The realization dawned on him when he passed a stale remnant of the stone man's scent and couldn't remember the last time the wind had carried it fresh. From there he'd scoured the territory, seeking out any sign of the father. But as the sun passed from east to west, the boy came up empty, and he slowly accepted that the patriarch was gone.

It surprised him how easily his thoughts accepted the conclusion. His heart felt little surprise, only a bitter disappointment. Malachi would neither pursue the man nor seek him out. He had given his advice, advice the boy had thought wise, and if Njal had spurned him then that was his decision. But he'd picked up on a different scent - fresh and present - that fuelled a small worry in his mind: if the winds did not play tricks on him now, Maera remained.

Njal had made it clear that when he left he intended to take Maera with him. If the man was truly gone for good, the girl's scent should have been as stale as her father's. But it wasn't. Lifting his head from the ground, he scanned the horizon before lowering his muzzle again, brushing across a parcel where her scent lingered still. He paused, hesitated, then paced forward to follow the trail.