Justin woke from dreamless sleep before dawn, chilled to the bone. The sun, when it finally cracked over the tip of the nearby peaks, did little to warm the air, and as the party set out, he pulled his clothing as tight around him as he could to shield himself from the elements.
The path traveled in switchbacks and strange curves, sometimes climbing sharply and other times leveling off into grassy pastures bordered by stands of pines and firs. Wildlife flourished among the flowering mountain brush. Little birds, pheasants, and rabbits fled as the humans crossed their pastures.
Once, topping a rise, they came upon a beast the likes of which Justin had never seen before. It was a huge, elk-like deer, seven feet tall at the shoulders and covered in red fur with white speckles across the bac
