It didn’t take Alvar as long to prepare as she thought it would, initially.

While it was true that she celebrated the Festival of Remembrance differently to the people of Elswyth, it didn’t mean that she didn’t know what to do in order to keep up with their own traditions.

“Mark our ways.” She told her wolves as they watched her get ready.

“I will come at nightfall to observe the rituals. Until then, I leave you in charge.”

The wolves howled as one in agreement to her words.

The largest of them, a black wolf that she called Brune, nuzzled against her hip.

“I’ll be fine, Brune.” Alvar said after a moment. “I will always come back to Aiyanna, it’s written on my heart, after all.”

Brune lead the other wolves deeper into Aiyanna, ordering them to spread out across the forests. It wasn’t often that Alvar left Aiyanna, but they still knew what they had in order to keep their home safe.