Bramblepoint every spear and ax

it had been difficult, at first, shortly after she'd renounced her position. the absence of power, a threshold for her ambition to cross, had left her wanting. even doubting, once or twice. but the nightwalker's throne had been a barren one, and she'd made up her mind to find a crown better suiting. but more pressing than finding that what her mind demanded was that which her stomach did, and so she returned to the hunting grounds she knew best in the interest of finding something filling. 

stepping neatly across a stream, pulling herself with a slight hitch of breath up the steep bank, she hesitated a moment among the reeds, ignoring the blackflies and mosquitos as she tested for a scent. something beckoned to the east, and so she altered her course slightly, setting off into the wood with a stiffening of her spine.