The edge of the world.

Snow came heavily as evening fell, gathering not only on the ground of a vast frozen waste but atop the shoulders of a lone wanderer. The wolf trudged onward, pale paws dragging with exhaustion and sterling ears splayed backward in defeat. 

He was lost; he did not know where he was, nor was there was there any recollection of who he was. For days he'd trailed the tundra, vulnerable and exposed, forever searching for something - his own kind, a purpose, a hint of his identity, anything. When it became clear to him that he'd been travelling in circles, he feared that the end would come for him sooner rather than later.

Something made him stumble and, as he gathered himself to keep from sinking miserably to the ground, he lifted his head to look upon something most unexpected: a white stag stood several yards before him. It tilted its pallid muzzle to quietly regard the lone wolf in his domain for a long moment, unafraid, before turning his proud antlers away and disappearing into the snowstorm.

"Wait," the silverwhite murmured through chattering teeth and pressed forward after the beast, desperate enough to pursue the guidance of a cervine, "please!"

But the ivory beast was gone and bitter wind whipped at the fur of his cheeks, its cold nipping at his nose and eyes. He stumbled onward with newfound strength to carry on, gaze narrowed against Winter's wrath as he studied the ground for hoofprints to follow. Just as he convinced himself that the deer could be nothing more than the conjuring of his fragile mind, he happened upon the shelter of evergreen foliage. The forest welcomed him with the promise of safety from the blizzard and there, beneath the protective frosted pine of this cluster in the middle of nowhere, the young wolf curled close to himself and willed sleep to finally embrace him.

"Look to the South," some faraway voice called out from the endless darkness of his dreams, "find your destiny on the silver towers."

When he woke at last, he was met with pastel shades of a new dawn. He gathered stiffly onto travel-worn limbs and looked for any sign of the creature who'd shown him the way, nosed around for some easy prey that he might hunt to ease his hunger, until the sight of distant mountains drew his ears forward with hope and intrigue.

After what felt like a lifetime of numbly wandering the edge of the world, something at the heart of him thrummed to life. He knew then where he had to go and set off at once, fresh optimism in his gate as he loped from the forest's Southernmost edge and toward what was sure to provide the answers he sought.


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