Pack of Breaking Ice

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You crunch your way through snow deeper than your forelimbs, ascending up the mountainside. Your breath mists out in great plumes, reminiscent of smoke; exhaustion burns through your body, but the ice frosting your muzzle warns you that you cannot take respite on this open cliff. Though a great forest dwells below, the trees here grow sparse, and you know better than to seek refuge in the tree's shadows once the wolf of the night blinked open its one great silver eye. Cold as it may be up here, among the great frozen rocks and icy cliffs, you know that once you find an open cave, your shelter will not fail you.

You do not get much farther, however, before a deep growl pierces the cool air. You come alert in an instant, teeth bared, hackles raised, and watch, wary, as two huge wolves lope down the slope, one silver marked with black, the other black marked with silver. They seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, like spirits of the coming twilight, but you don't let yourself stoop to such superstitions, at least not yet- They've undoubtedly know the land far better than you do. Judging by the thickness of their coat, the length of their limbs, and the ease with which they travel down the slope, they were born and raised here, as you were not- and you are helpless and exposed in the snow as the two leaders stand before you, tails raised, while their pack melts out of the gloom and watches you silently from afar. 

"Hail, traveler. I am Cairn, Breaker of Bone, one of the two leaders of the Pack of Breaking Ice. Shira of the Wind's Blade is my mate, and stands beside me as co-leader." The male-Cairn's- tail falls slightly as you tuck your ears back to submit, but his rigid stance does not change as he surveys you. His sharp eyes make quick work of picking out the tremble in your limbs, the exhaustion palatable in your scent. Shira stands silently beside him, tail still raised, her still-bared teeth glaringly white in her black face, but you glean nothing from her as she stares you down, as if she were a statue of a wolf come to life rather than a living, breathing creature made of flesh and blood. "We are the owner of these mountains. Submit to us peacefully, and you may be allowed to pass. Perhaps, if you wish, you can join us, and we can teach you the way of the mountain vyrwolves. But heed me, now, wandering loner; if you challenge either of us, or sow dissent in our ranks, then we will not hesitate to destroy you."

His keen eyes seem to cut right through you. What does he see?