Common

Driven by fate, the silver-haired shield maiden walked, a ghostly presence. Her course, predetermined by the Norns and the mighty hand of Odin, unfolded with each step.

The autumn fog, thick and chilling, writhed about her, its vaporous tendrils clinging to the feathered plumes on her legs as she glided soundlessly through the dense, skeletal trees. Her ears, nestled within her intricate, knotted tresses, strained, attuned to every subtle sound of the hushed world. From a shadowed hollow deep within a gnarled trunk, the faint hoot of an owl echoed. A distant croak called from a hidden swamp, and the mournful sigh of the wind whispered through the leaves who clung desperately to the bare branches, a final lament for the fading season.

Her hooves faltered, her heart a wild drum against her ribs, as she paused at the clearing's edge. She had never before ventured this close to the commons, nor had she ever desired to, yet something profound whispered deep within her soul, compelling her forward. Every muscle taut, she cautiously stepped into the pale sunlight, which shimmered against her silver tresses and bathed her gold and white dappled skin in its ethereal glow. She kept close to the treeline, her progress halting abruptly as the shuffle of hooves across drying grasses caused her to freeze mid-stride.

Her ears vanished into her tangled tresses, and her lips curled back, a silent snarl of warning, revealing glinting teeth. The pale stranger’s scent was foreign, the salty tang of the ocean still clinging to his coat.