A gargoyle or a weathered shell,
A sort of lunar sentinel.
A big crow came and landed on a bone pile, black feathers ruffled against the wind whipping off the lake. They cocked their head and fixed Kassandra and her fire in a beady eye, feet stepping quickly to avoid freezing solid to the ice-encrusted ribcage. It was a deer of some sort, white-tailed, fallow, roe, or red, dead by an unknown cause. It’s final resting place was in the pebbles on Vitreus’ bank, sidelong, organs long harvested by opportunistic carnivores. Most all that remained was a layer of scruffy fur, cemented to the frosted bank, and bones bleached white in the sun. Bits of the nose, face, and eyes had been nibbled away by carp when Vitreus still moved in tides but now, completely frozen, the bottom feeders had returned to their given place, forced down by inhospitable temperatures and a layer of ice two feet thick.
Mid-afternoon, and the sun was a bleak, white beacon above her. Kas shifted forward slightly-- the crow awked, unappreciative of her sudden movement, and settled on a different rib-- and breathed on her little fire, sending the flames up a little higher. Her star-painted body lay in a comfortable nook made by a cluster of giant rocks, certainly deposited here when glaciers crossed Novus millenia ago, forming the mountains, valleys, and lakes. Or perhaps Tempus put them here as some sort of lesson, or reminder, for that seemed the godly thing to do. Maybe Caligo placed them, adorning her land of frequent frost.
Kassandra remembered a swirling, blackened form standing tall in the centre of Denocte’s court. The memory brought a grim smile to her lips and made her stomach flutter with disdain.
Stone windwall behind her, fire in front of her, Oculos nestled in and warm against her belly, Kassandra let the negative feelings dissipate. This was why she was out here, after all.
As if on cue, Oculos gave a dramatic, falsified shiver, and huffed, out of all the time to go camping in the whole ass world and you choose now.
“I prefer it like this,” Kassandra said, voice a salve. She stretched her neck long and rested her throat over the hound’s furry back. “I needed some time, space for my thoughts. We’ll go back to town soon, I promise.
A grumble from the pit of her companion’s stomach vibrated her jugular. we’ll be dead soon, I promise. But he made no move to get up, betraying his comfort.
