By dawn the next morning, the heavier pull of the Blood Moon had faded from the air.
Averik still felt what it had left behind. His Corruption Core sat full and steady as he crossed District 2 with Evelyn, while Snow padded beside them with the same loose stride as yesterday. Her ears kept turning toward the distant gate noise long before the wall came into view.
He wanted to see the Rimeburrow first. It had spent the night outside Vardel.
Unit 1’s primary gate yard was already busy when they arrived. Workers hauled rope, marker stakes, and crates toward the wall. Two cargo sleds stood nose to tail near the gatehouse, and yesterday’s articulated crawler idled beside them while its operator fought a frozen latch on the rear rack.
The gate horn rolled over the yard.
BRAAAM!
Snow’s ears snapped forward. Evelyn glanced toward the opening gate, then back to Averik. "It’s louder today."
Averik kept walking. "Better."
Yesterday’s quieter lane had told him less than this mess would.
Caedren stood near the gatehouse with a probe tucked under one arm. "Small one’s still out there?"
"Yes." Averik crossed the threshold and stopped beside the packed strip from yesterday.
Fresh powder had softened the lane without hiding it. Beyond the packed snow, the outer drifts rose unevenly toward the berm.
He called through the bond. For a breath, nothing moved. Then a patch of crust shivered. A blunt white muzzle broke through, followed by stiff whiskers and broad forefeet. The Rimeburrow wriggled free, shook snow from its back, and trotted to Averik’s boot, bright-eyed and breathing easy.
Caedren stared at it. "Huh. Dug deep enough after all. Didn’t think that little burrow would carry it through the night."
Caedren was crediting the burrow. Averik wasn’t going to correct him.
Averik sent it back toward the outer drift, away from the packed lane and the crawler. It vanished under the snow again.
Caedren watched the hole collapse, then crooked the probe at a passing worker. "Mark that roof. Burrow underneath."
The larger tracks from yesterday still crossed the exposed patch beyond the worked strip, their edges dulled by wind and fresh powder.
The gate opened again. A two-man sled came through first, runners rasping over packed snow. Three Unit members followed on foot with frost crusted along their coats while men shifted crates and cleared the crawler’s nose under another short horn signal.
Snow moved closer to Averik, alert rather than frightened, and lifted her nose toward the outer berm. He followed her attention. At first he saw only a broken ridge of dirty-white snow. Then a dark eye blinked.
A compact beast stood almost motionless against the berm. Its winter coat matched the crust well enough to hide its outline until it moved. Gray darkened the lower legs and belly. Two short black horns swept back from its head.
Caedren noticed it a heartbeat later. "Splayhorn. Young."
A crate hit the ground behind them.
CLANG!
The Splayhorn bolted uphill, split hooves spreading against the hard crust instead of punching through. One hoof struck beside yesterday’s larger print, matching its split shape. It drove up the slope in short, violent strides, throwing loose snow behind it. Averik went after it.
Evelyn had already shifted toward the crawler side, spear kept low while workers crossed behind her. "Should I keep this side clear for you?"
Averik said, "Do it. Snow, stay with her."
Snow broke off and went with Evelyn.
Above the Splayhorn, a worker carrying rope saw it coming and scrambled off the crest. The animal swerved into the space he abandoned, giving Averik the angle he wanted.
He reached it before it could cut across the berm, caught the base of one horn and the shoulder behind it, and turned the head away from the open slope. The Splayhorn twisted with enough force to tear free of an ordinary grip. Its hooves clawed hard crust, found purchase, and shoved.
Averik’s boots barely moved.
He dragged the animal off its climbing line and pinned its shoulder against his thigh. It kicked and twisted again, but never opened enough space to break his hold.
The worker with the rope had stopped several paces away. "Need a hand?"
Averik didn’t look at him. "Move."
The man did. The Splayhorn wrenched against him again. Averik tightened his hold and invoked Beast Tamer. The beast was still fighting his grip when the bond locked into place.
::···:::···:::···::
[Target Successfully Tamed]
::···:::···:::···::
The Splayhorn’s next wrench died halfway through. Its sides still heaved, and its ears snapped toward every metallic bang from the yard. When Averik opened his hands, it backed across the crust instead of bolting, still facing him.
Caedren came down from the gate. "Another one. You’re going to make the gate crew learn a lot of new footprints."
Averik said, "They’ll."
Averik sent the Splayhorn up onto the outer berm and kept it off the packed lane. It climbed until the churned ground fell below it, then stopped with all four hooves planted on the harder crust.
Work resumed almost immediately. The crawler lurched toward the gate. A loaded hand sled rattled behind it. Snow moved around Evelyn before either needed telling, leaving a clean path for the runners. Under the outer drift, a faint ripple marked the Rimeburrow turning away from the crawler’s track. The Splayhorn held high ground until the next sled clattered past, then started edging downhill toward the noise.
Averik called, "Higher. Off the lane."
It stopped, backed once, and climbed. The next sled rattled through without another command from Averik.
When the traffic thinned, Evelyn came to Averik’s side with Snow near her boots. "Do you need me to stay with Snow while you watch the new one?" she asked softly.
"Leave them. Let me see what they do on their own," Averik said.
Snow yawned. Evelyn’s mouth curved, but boots were already hammering through the gate passage.
A man came through at a run with one glove missing and frost caked over both knees. He slowed only when Caedren stepped across his path.
"West route," he said between breaths. "Past the second bend. Frost Zombies on the road. More than one. We broke off before they got close."
The crawler operator killed the motor. Work around the west-route rack stalled with it.
Caedren’s expression flattened. "Anyone hit?"
The runner said, "No. We pulled back clean. They were just past the marker, maybe farther. Drift hid the rest of the road, and I couldn’t count the whole group."
Caedren said, "Tell Garran. Now."
The runner took off toward the Unit building. Caedren turned to the yard. "Hold routine traffic on the west branch. Keep the gate throat open."
Beyond the gate, the west road bent out of sight through the snow. Frost Zombies could fight back. That made it more interesting than anything he’d found outside the wall so far.
Evelyn said, "You want to go when they clear it, don’t you? Would you take me with you? I want to see how the refit feels in a real fight."
He answered at once. "You’ll be with me."
Her eyes warmed. "I thought you would. I wanted to ask anyway."
Garran crossed the yard a few minutes later with the runner beside him. His attention went to the open gate first.
Garran asked, "Anything turn toward Vardel? Any tracks?"
"Not before we lost sight of them," the runner said. "Wind’s stripping the top layer. Couldn’t tell what came this way."
Garran said, "Keep routine traffic off that west stretch. Tomorrow, recheck from the gate-side marker line. If they’re still holding the road Monday morning, we clear it."
"Traffic’s held at the gate," Caedren said.
Garran finally noticed the Splayhorn on the berm. "Another tame?"
Averik said, "It came close enough."
Garran looked back toward the west road. "You asked for field work. Monday gives you some, if the route still needs clearing. Interested?"
Averik answered, "Yeah."
Garran said, "Be here before first light Monday. If the recheck changes anything, you’ll hear it here before anyone moves."
When Garran’s attention shifted to Evelyn, Averik cut in. "She’s with me."
Evelyn said, "I’ll be ready, Commander."
Near the gate, a worker lifted the west-route board from its post and swung it across the lane. Behind it, the road disappeared around the bend into white.