It's not supposed to snow in the South Forest, but the weather in the second-emptiest corner of Shelha is not the only thing behaving strangely. When an ex-tyrant started acting up again, Sethral had hoped it meant the end of lazy days and monotonou...
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It was a perfect half moon that night, a chunk of textured yellow-cream in a sky of scattered stars. A breeze scampered about like a live thing, silent and still until it came dashing by, poking fur and batting leaves before fleeing again to some other playspace.
"Sethral."
Sethral startled awake at the whisper. She rubbed her eyes, her fuzzy brain identifying the creature by smell before she could make him out in the blackness. "Wing? What's up?"
"Jay's gone."
"What do you mean?"
"He's vanished. Left the fort."
Sethral sat up, suddenly a lot more awake. "He shouldn't have even been walking."
"I know. But I found his trail, and it leads straight outside."
"The forest?"
"No, the flats!"
"What?" Sethral scrambled to her paws. "Why is he on the flats? He wouldn't even go near the window yesterday!"
"Damned if I know; that's why I came to find you. I lost his trail as soon as he left the window; he's still got leaves on his paws and the dew kills the scent. Sethral, has he got anywhere he goes other than this fort or the Rocklands? Anywhere safe?"
"I—" She stopped. Come to think of it. "I don't know, but he does leave the fort a lot, and comes back from somewhere east of here. In the forest. And he always covers his trail."
"Who here knows him best?"
In short order the twins were awoken. Wing explained the situation.
"When was he last with you?" said Fletch.
"By the smell, just after moonhigh."
"Was he acting weird this evening?"
"He was sound asleep." Wing raised an eyebrow. "Plus, I get the sense that I have yet to see his 'normal', so it's kind of hard to tell."
"You've got a point there," muttered Taz.
"Before he fell asleep then," said Fletch.
Sethral rapped her knuckles on the ground, her eyes narrowing. "Wing, there was something. You noticed it too, I know you did. He collapsed as soon as we left the main hall yesterday evening. As soon as we got out of the wind."
