It was not that they hurt him at all, but they did make too much noise for his liking, and there were so many of them littered on the forest floor at this time of year. The rattling in the wind of tree branches that had shed themselves into naked skeletons did not help his mood in the least. Nor did the chill air that he could no longer escape no matter where he went in this new land.

The coming of winter would bring the ...