The call announcing Aithne's retirement, and Halcyon's ascension to power, had brought with it a sense of relief for me. If the Empress was stepping down, then so too was my brother from his position of Emperor. Part of me felt a responsibility to attend the meeting called by Aithne, to congratulate Halcyon on his promotion and to wish him well. But in the same breath, I knew that I could not look my brother in the face and tell him that I was leaving. It was easier this way, after so much time spent apart, to make the distance more physical. So I had howled my well wishes to Halcyon from the outskirts of Iromar, before taking my leave.

This choice had been a long time coming. Though I had settled well within Iromar and learned to appreciate its beauty over the past few years, it had never felt like home. Where Praetor had found purpose, a life and love - and children, no less - I had spiraled. Originally I had intended to serve the pack to the best of my abilities, and I had earned a rank quickly. But it had been a hollow accomplishment and left me with little else to strive towards in the moorlands. Somewhere deep within I knew that though the choice to leave Glorall with my family when Tesseract had fallen was the right one, I was not destined to stay in Iromar forever. The day that I had stumbled upon my mother in the crags had infused me with a joy I had not felt in many months. Dancing upon the crags together, I was reminded of my younger days and how carefree life had been before the move to Iromar. It was as though the heaviness of the very air weighed upon my back, keeping me from finding my own happiness in the effort to ensure what was left of my family stuck together. But they had found their own bliss in life - Praetor with Aithne, and Tesseract with some female I did not recognize. My lip curled at the memory - I had been coming back to Iromar to tell my father that I had seen Caligula, to bring him back to the crags with me and reunite our family, but he was walking with another female much too close to his side. Their body language spoke volumes, and I had turned away from them.

So when Halcyon dissolved my rank, there was no longer any obligation to keep me in Iromar. Praetor had his family, and Tesseract had his mistress. I had not been needed there for quite some time, but there was no scorn in my realizing and accepting it as fact. There was only freedom expressed in my long, graceful strides as I moved south, back in the way we had come all that time ago. I was well aware that Eden may turn me away - I was a daughter of the former King, and with how strongly some wolves in Moladion believed blood ties could make a claim to land that once belonged to their family, my arrival could be perceived as a threat. But Cersei had stayed behind when we had left, and so far as I knew no threat had ever been made against her. And besides that, one only needed to look at my light frame to know I was not a fighting wolf. I was built for grace and speed, not might or strength.

Angling further south, I loped towards the coastal reaches of Glorall. The closer I got, the stronger the tang of salt in the air became, leaving behind the stale odor of the murky waters of Iromar. Slowly, the soil beneath my paws began to shift to a more sandy consistency. Even as I slowed to a jog beyond the reaches of Eden's borders, I strained to see the dunes in the distance, where sand ruled the landscape. Here, there was still a certain firmness to the soil, and I craved to roll my toes in the soft give of the sands I had played in as a pup. Turning my eyes towards the coast, I settled for the spray of the sea instead. Stepping upon the rocks that would grow in not only diameter but height the further south one moved towards the point of Glorall's coast, I looked out across the never-ending sea. Iromar's coast paled in comparison to the view from atop the craggy shores of Glorall. My eyes slid shut as I lifted my nose into the summer breeze as a small wave crashed against shore, spraying droplets of sea water across my toes. The salty scents of home washed over me, and I felt at peace in this moment, no matter how my homecoming was received.