The young woman tilted her head and looked thoughtfully at the wolf who stood before her. It seemed to her Wraith and Zeus had similar perceptions of the world and weather around them, but completely different conclusions about what it meant. Odd eyes moved from her companion’s form and back to the water at their feet. It can, though. Not the same life, but a different one. It can take away from the world around it, wash it all away in its fury but leave the seeds of new life behind it. Then it has the power to make those seeds grow. She thought of the reeds on the riverbanks. Every year a melting flood to wipe away the dead and decayed. Every year the new growth sprouts up to take the place of its fallen ancestors, reaching into the air to claim its own life. In torrents it tore away at the face of the earth, creating caverns and caves, forever changing what once seemed so solid. But even there, in the shadows of the scars, trickles of life and steadfast strong moss clung to their new homes and drank in the gentle mists of water.


She watched him use his paws to snap and splinter the ice underneath them. He had said it could be weak, fragile. But even so, if he dared put his full weight on the weakened ice he would tumble into the freezing depth below, and even she could not jump forward to help him.


And ear twitched. At his request her tail started to sway in unconscious interest. What kind of answer are you looking for, jealous man? she asked with a kind smile. Already she had an odd affection for a strange man.