As the days passed, the wind around the village grew colder. The leaves on the nearby trees slowly turned yellow, then brown, and fell to the ground, covering the paths in a soft rustling layer.
Outside the village walls, near the line where the forest began, a special fenced area had been built.
The Mountain Ridge Beast lay inside it.
The wooden fence was thick and tall, reinforced with stones at the bottom. Inside, there was clean straw, a small pool of water, and a pile of herbs Cyrus had gathered to help it recover.
The beast's wounds had already closed in many places. New fur was growing slowly over the scars. Its eyes, which had once glowed with a red haze, now looked clearer, though still wary.
Glimora stood on the outside of the fence at first.
She was small compared to the beast, with soft fur and bright eyes. She sniffed the air, circled twice, then hopped through the gap between the lower planks and padded in.
