Martyrrrd

Time: Early afternoon in late October Place: In the Northern Highlands about half a day’s journey west of Hoofstock Weather: The ground is moist from the morning’s rain, but the clouds have since mostly cleared away and the sun is shining Councilor Kaukainen It was almost surreal, this. Kaukainen could remember the days that his own mother had taken him and his siblings out hunting. He could remember the days where his lungs would only start to hurt after having run for several miles, rather than after traveling for just a few. He could remember how the wind felt as it coursed through both fur and feather; of the sensation of flight without truly flying, as well as the incomparable thrill that shot through him as his jaws closed about his very first kill. And now? Now it was his turn to be the mentor, and give his own children that very same experience. Of course, times were very different now than they were then. The family had more to fear than just the wildlife or weather, and