You're surprised by how far your words reverberate across the starscape, but you no longer see the canine shadow among the starry trails. Nonetheless, Beaver twitches a little, like a dragon troubled by a fly. You push your hand against the ice and feel it part like fog. The way is open, and you prepare to step through.
As the wind howls and the wall between the worlds starts to come down, Black Tarn appears as an occulting of the frozen stars. She drifts toward you, half wolf and half woman, eyes like galaxies, her clawed hand reaching for you. But you can see her inner struggle, and as the barriers fade and she floats within reach, her expression grows vague again in a way you recognize…then hard and cruel.
"Stupid cub," she says, her voice wild and mad. "Let it end here! No more ambitious little pups! No more footprints in the snow! Leave us alone!"
And she brings her fist down on the wall from the other side. It shatters and collapses, blasting you with ice and grit.
When you can see again, the river-ice is cracked and frozen, and the way is shut.
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