![\"snarlinggraywolf\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.olympusrpg.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/snarlinggraywolf.jpg?resize=300%2C180&ssl=1\")
<\/a>Cold.<\/p>\nMeadhbh huddled over a makeshift fire, her back facing the wind that howled through the forest around her.\u00a0 The small flame had already been extinguished by the wind and lack of dry wood more than once, and this one threatened to die as well with every frigid gust.\u00a0 She shivered as the cold had begun settling in her bones, and she knew that she needed to find better shelter, or even better, the rest of her hunting party, or she would not make it home.\u00a0 The winter had been especially hard on her clan, and a desperate need for food had forced their hunting parties farther and farther away from Bryn Euryn in an effort to hunt game.\u00a0 Just that morning, they had all given chase to a scrawny looking deer, but in the unfamiliar territory, Meadhbh had lost her way.<\/p>\n
A long, low howl sounded through the forest, and Meadhbh’s head snapped up, the lull of the cold temporarily forgotten.\u00a0 Shortly thereafter, another howl followed, and then another.\u00a0 Wolves.<\/em>\u00a0 She stood slowly and hefted her spear with her stiffened fingers.\u00a0 Her fire gave one last pitiful flicker, and died at her feet.\u00a0 Her breath puffed out from grayed, chapped lips in the twilight darkness.\u00a0 Another howl, this one much closer, echoed across the small clearing.<\/p>\nIn the fog of exhaustion, Meadhbh did not realize that she was running for several moments.\u00a0 A thought drifted upwards, what am I doing?\u00a0 I don’t even know where I’m going.\u00a0 But she didn’t stop.<\/p>\n
Her panicked flight through the forest was cut short by an errant root that caught her foot, sending her sprawled face down on the ground.\u00a0 She briefly tested her ankle and found that miraculously, she had not injured herself in the fall.\u00a0 She started to stand to hunt for her spear, then froze.\u00a0 Not ten yards away, a pair of glowing, golden eyes shone out from the darkness.\u00a0 The eyes blinked slowly, then were joined by two more pairs of similarly golden eyes.\u00a0 The eyes loped closer until the shapes of large gray wolves formed around them.\u00a0 The largest of the three shadows snarled.<\/p>\n
I am dead<\/em>, Meadhbh thought.\u00a0 Better to go out in battle, but my spear…I am so tired.\u00a0 Where are the other nine<\/em>?\u00a0 I only see three?<\/em><\/p>\nShe could not see her lost weapon in the darkness.\u00a0 Deep in the fog of her thoughts, she wondered how she knew that there were twelve wolves nearby, but instead of dwelling on it, her thoughts turned inward, and images of family came unbidden to her mind.\u00a0 Father…Bradan….Marcus…<\/p>\n
Pack.\u00a0 ?.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\nMeadhbh blinked.\u00a0 The largest wolf had ceased snarling and was regarding her quizzically.<\/p>\n
Pack.\u00a0 ?.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\nAm I going mad?<\/em>\u00a0 She thought, and nearly laughed out loud when the large wolf whuffed impatiently, and once again, her family came to mind.\u00a0 “Pack,” she creaked out hoarsely.\u00a0 “Den.”<\/p>\nMeadhbh held her breath as the beast sniffed the air and began circling her slowly.<\/p>\n
Den.\u00a0 !.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\nThe wolf turned, his tail wagging ever so slightly.\u00a0 He stopped as he nodded once towards a small footpath.<\/p>\n
Den.\u00a0 ..<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\nMeadhbh stood and took several tottering steps down the path.\u00a0 The wolves left her then; she didn’t even need to see them go.\u00a0 She knew.\u00a0 She could feel it.<\/p>\n
“Thank you,” she whispered.<\/p>\n
A low howl was the only response.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Cold. Meadhbh huddled over a makeshift fire, her back facing the wind that howled through the forest around her.\u00a0 The small flame had already been extinguished by the wind and lack of dry wood more than once, and this one threatened to die as well with every frigid gust.\u00a0 She shivered as the cold had […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[33,35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2361","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-casusbelli","category-cb_pcs"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.olympusrpg.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2361","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.olympusrpg.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.olympusrpg.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.olympusrpg.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.olympusrpg.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2361"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blog.olympusrpg.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2361\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2604,"href":"https:\/\/blog.olympusrpg.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2361\/revisions\/2604"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.olympusrpg.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.olympusrpg.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.olympusrpg.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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<\/p>\n![\"snarlinggraywolf\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.olympusrpg.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/snarlinggraywolf.jpg?ssl=1\")
<\/a>Cold.<\/p>\n