A wolf as white as snow and ruby eyes stood on a cliff overlooking a valley. Save for blinking, it appeared scarcely to move. The wind rippled its fur, making it an ocean of frothy water mirroring the moonlight shining from the sky. For many minutes the wolf stood, staring out at some unknown point. A strange scent clung to the breeze, like the smell of an animal just before it takes ill. The smell of illness smashed the nose of any living thing, animal or plant, and yet the wolf made no movement, didn't waver once. The moon inched across the sky, the stars creeping along with it, but the wolf persisted, as well as the stench. The wolf looked at a singular point, a black spot that appeared to float just below the horizon. As long as the wolf stared, the dot didn't move. The moon climbed to its peak, hovering there for many long moments. Then, as on a timer, it began its slow decent. Now and then the wolf would twitch its tail or sigh to...