As quickly as they could, Uther and Aresis descended the hill, weapons at the ready. Much of the rubble was covered in a thick layer of snow, indicating that whatever destruction had been wrought was not recent.

“I was just here,” Aresis muttered in confusion. They entered the outskirts of the village and the sounds of combat grew louder. Short wolf barks mingled with yells and indistinct words. What walls remained in the village obscured the view of the combat, however, and Uther ran ahead of Aresis, weapon at the ready.

He turned a corner to see the wolves that had run ahead of them in a semicircle, nipping at a fur-clad, orange-skinned Solari member fending them off with a spear. A large fire built in front of a mostly-intact building protected her flank, and several humanoid bodies were burning in it. Two of the wolves lay motionless already, while the other four struggle to gain an advantage. As Uther and Aresis approached, the girl stabbed at one of the wolves, catching it in the throat. But as her weapon was so occupied, the other three took their opportunity to pounce at her. She had to leave her spear stuck and draw her knife as a last resort. But with three wolves pulling at her, it was only a matter of time before she went down, even wearing a thick fur coat as she did.

Uther finally moved into range and threw his dart. With the mountain the village was built behind blocking much of the wind, it was finally possible to use his favored weapon. The dart flew true, burying itself just behind the front leg of one of the wolves hanging on the girl’s coat. It didn’t have a chance to register the impact before it died.

But the sudden twisting of the dead wolf threw the girl off balance, sending her to the ground. She desperately stabbed at the wolf snapping at her throat and tried to protect herself with her arm. With the three of them rolling about in the snow, Uther couldn’t get a clear shot. Aresis ran past him, sword at the ready. Uther wasn’t far behind, having drawn his axe. A moment later, they had reached the scene of combat. The girl buried her knife in the first wolf’s flank, but it kept snapping and scratching at her. The other wolf turned to face this new, dual threat, and was quickly cut down by the pair. At the same time, the girl twisted the knife out of the wolf’s ribs and stabbed its throat. She rolled to her feet and faced the pair, knife at the ready.

“Istune?” He said, dropping his sword.

“Seer? What are you doing here?” She lowered her knife slowly, and then dropped it altogether. She covered her face with her bloody hands and stepped toward Aresis, who embraced her. Her body was wracked with deep sobs.

“Move these wolf bodies out of the village,” Aresis whispered to Uther.

***

On top of the hill that Uther and Aresis had descended to find Istune, the wolves that had not jumped into the ice tunnel to chase Uther and Aresis had gathered. They watched as the smaller warrior dropped three of their kind just outside the village borders. One of young, hot-blooded wolves started to pad toward him, but was nipped back by one of the wiser wolves. It wasn’t time, not yet. They were about a dozen strong, but their prey had shown themselves capable. As hungry as the wolves were, they had to wait on reinforcements. Even now, the rest of their pack was coming their way, led on by the markers they had left and howls they periodically gave. When they arrived along with the great bear, the three in the valley wouldn’t stand a chance, no matter how strong of warriors they were.

***

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When he returned from disposing of the second set of wolves, he found Aresis and the girl sitting next to each other around a smaller fire. A clay pot hung over one portion of the fire, and meat roasted on a spit. The girl held a steaming cup of tea in her hands, which were now clean. Her cheeks were still tear-stricken and her eyes were closed as she leaned against the seer, who had wrapped his cloak around her. They murmured back and forth in low voices. Aresis indicated a seat across the fire for Uther.

“Istune, this is the one I told you about.”

Her eyes opened and she straightened up. “You will raise the Sun?”

Uther poured himself a cup of tea and sat down. “So I am told.”

Istune smiled faintly. “Strange, that one of the Lunari would be Anointed, rather than a member of the Solari.”

“Indeed,” Uther agreed. “But I didn’t have much say in the matter.”

Aresis stayed silent and Uther glanced around at the destruction. “What happened here?”

Aresis spoke up. “Now is not the time for that.”

Istune shook her head. “No, it is alright.” She took a sip of tea and wiped her tears. Like Syrath, she had pale orange skin. But unlike her, Istune had angular facial tattoos of white ink. Her hair was shaved. Uther remembered that Syrath had done that on significant anniversaries of her husband and children’s deaths.

“Aresis stayed here for a couple of days around a week ago,” she began. “And we sent him on his way with what supplies we could. He told us that he was on his way to Anoint the one who would raise the Sun. Before staying with us, he warned that he was being followed by Shaaldir’s son, Cegvir. Our chief would not let him move on without resting, though. Over the last year, we had lost contact with almost every single other Solari village scattered along the coast, and there would be nowhere for him to rest. We suspected Shaaldir’s hand in the vanishing of those villages, but there was nothing we could do about it. We thought we were safer than the other villages because of our isolation. Still, when Aresis arrived, our chief saw it as a chance to strike a blow, however small, against Shaaldir. After Aresis left, we set guards to watch for his pursuers. We hoped they might just go by the village and leave us be. But instead, Cegvir took revenge on us for sheltering his enemy. He sent his bear from west, and he came himself from the east. He burned all the boats and collapsed our caves. We had nowhere to go, and none of our weapons could stop either of them. When the giant made short work of our best warriors, my father hid me in an old root cellar and set the house on fire over me so that the giant wouldn’t look inside. I hid there for three days. When I came out, I found the village just as you see it. I gathered what supplies I could and began burning the bodies of the village according to custom.”

Istune looked at Uther, eyes like flint. “Wherever you’re going, whatever you’re doing to harm Shaaldir, I’m going with you. I don’t care if we’re raising the Sun or burning down Tel Eramin, I want to help.”

“Are there any boats left at all?” Aresis asked.

Istune shook her head. “I already checked.”

He sighed. “And even if we did have one, we have no way of getting to the Bright Lands without a navigator.”

Istune looked at Aresis askance. “What do you mean? I’m a navigator!”

Aresis lowered his brow in suspicion. “Aren’t you a little young for that?”

“Perhaps,” Istune admitted, “But I’ll wager I’m better at navigating than either of you.”

“What about the tools you need?”

Istune nodded. “I’ve got those too.” She went into the building behind them and brought back a long tube, somewhat like the one Aresis used for his scroll. Inside were several rolls of animal skin and a long, hollow bone with holes down its length. “The maps and flute. Father gave me his when he hid me.”

“Well, then,” Aresis said, impressed. “All there is to do is find a boat, which is the difficult thing.”

“The nearest place with boats is Tel Eramin,” Istune finished.

Aresis rose to his feet. “Both of you, get rest. We leave at first light on the morrow. I don’t want that bear and his wolves to catch up to us.”