Too many months had passed since the trio of siblings had left. Too many months since Ezra had turned south to live with his uncles and Elli's life had been taken by the festering wounds of bear. Yet it was Vitus which had returned to the north. Vitus which had come to reclaim a rightful place among his family's natal claim. He was there seer and had already proved himself a grand one at that despite his age. It was not the painful rage between two siblings which she turned to, but the corpse of a young brethren of Northfall.

Seer… The valkyrie keeps her distance as she is wise to. Lifetimes ago she could have easily struck both down with a spin of her wings and swing of her sword, though that was ages beyond and she was far less warrior than either of them now.

Instead, she lowers to the ground, her ears sweeping back against her skull as she offers silent prayer. I would have carried him away, if I could. But she had not felt the weight of wings upon her back in too long. Had not shepherd souls unto Valhalla in far longer.

A warmth touched her cheeks, anxious sorrow burning there and she felt her pulse hard at the edge of her eyes. A new mark on her now, too, pulsed with its own faint glow in a rune stretched over her shoulders. They had all been marked by this war. Some more than others. It would be a long and cruel journey in bringing him home.