As Lassim was herded through the forest, the line of dead or dying trees abruptly ended, revealing a village that was the embodiment of the macabre and the feral.
At first glance, it appeared as a sinister spread of dwellings made of ice and bone, set under the oppressive night sky.
The homes, if they could even be called that, were more like an animal graveyard. Fashioned from the skeletons of colossal beasts, their bones formed twisted archways and ominous doorways with ice filling the spaces between the bones.
The glinting of the ice upon the frozen carcasses like the frozen tears of a multitude of weeping gods.
More wildlings slowly emerged, their gait silent but predatory, moving with a grace towards the hunting squad that was as beautiful as it was chilling.
They regarded Lassim with a curiosity that was far from benign, their eyes glinting with the anticipation of untamed appetites.
