Witch's Marsh Ascend

two figures materialized; one with hard, primal eyes — the other sending a howl curving out into the jagged clouds. 

qiao looked upon the fallen giant. blood rimed the dirt, and here the infant was baptized in the life-blood of its own mother. 

it was a powerful totem, and she must have it. 

her odds were not good against two. she ignored the command of the she-wolf, watching the duo at safe distance. the storms are too loud for howls to carry - go! i will watch her until you bring help. 

in that moment, the slithering dark obscured what qiao truly was; she appeared frail, old, and matronly — a powerful guise sharpened by years of preparation.