Moonsong Glacier [m] going toe to toe with an enchantress

they can be frightening? no no no - they were always frightening. to val, anyway. unlike aventus, he held no such rapport with the ursine variety.

val had never possessed a good pokerface. he listened, genuinely interested -- but the disbelief that quickly flitted across his features betrayed him. they lived in a bear's domain? they spoke to aventus' father? val could take this at face value, and he did, but who in their right mind wanted to talk to bears?

as far as living besides them... val wasn't keen on it, but aventus was right about one thing: val was hungry. he truthfully wouldn't make it through the winter, and he knew that -- which was exactly why he had fallen into step with the saints in the first place. "i .. uh.. what are you getting at? is that something that can even happen?"