Chapter Twenty-Six
Retreat
Following the summer solstice, the global winter’s relentless advance began more quickly than anticipated. On the Northern Shelf, bitter gales scoured the tents of the Uri’madu with hail and sleet that quickly turned to snow. Temperatures could plummet within seconds. Each day their range grew more limited. No one went anywhere alone or unplanned.
On their final day, the Uri’madu awoke to a campsite encased in ice and their door-flaps frozen shut. After breakfast, leather drummed as they beat the ice from their tents before packing them for their return south.
The marquee was last to come down and Huldar paused to watch. The baring of the hearth was always a poignant moment for him, as if a trust had been violated.
Andel crouched nearby, sorting geological s
