Twenty minutes later he trotted up a sharp incline on a narrow path made by goat feet that wove between rocks and boulders on the mountainside.
The cave was at the top, its mouth open to a ledge, but overhung by trees. Or at least, it had been, three years ago when he left.
As he made it to the top, he sighed with relief when he saw the tree—thicker and bushier than it had been three years ago, but now an even better screen for the mouth of the cave—and shifted back to his human form.
Being naked in the chill wasn't fun, but his body was much more efficient at moderating his temperature than a normal human's. It would take much colder temperatures than this to make him more than uncomfortable. But he would need food and water quickly. There was little fat on his body, and the energy it
