5 THE QUEST
It is morning, and the three of us are ready at last to begin our mission. The first part of our journey will be the hardest, as we must walk a few miles before we can act on the shadows. We have secured our packs, and the wolf, my two companions and I set out on our path.
The wolf takes up a pattern of weaving in and out of the underbrush on either side of the path, seeking any hiding prey or skulking watchers that might lie hidden there. Mile by mile we eat the distance until it seems that our entire lives are contained within the roads of our travels.
We are finally at that place where the mind of the walker can shape the shadows. We are as one with the image of our first destination, and the middle distance becomes shifting shadows. We walk, and now snowbound elms surrou
