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The she-wolf's paws ached in the frigid cold, the pads feeling as though they might crack open and begin to bleed if she dared to take another step out into the night. But she must. There was a job to be done; her territory had to be defended, even in this weather.
Trudging through chest deep snow drifts, Somber pushed onward. The pain would numb over time, she told herself, shaking the chill that crawled its way beneath the layers of her winter coat, that was the one small blessing from these freezing temperatures that she could count on.
Hours passed as she patrolled the edge of her territory in search of intruders and small prey, the moon and stars overhead casting the world in a soft blue illumination. She was almost certain that the sun should have risen by now, duty bound to bring a touch of warmth back into the land, but perhaps that was her weary legs talking.
Exhausted, but with still more ground to cover, Somber allowed herself to take a small break to recover. Wandering out across the frozen edge of the river that ran through her territory, she crouched down at its center where the water still flowed freely beneath the thinnest crust. Clawing away a small hole in the ice so that she could drink, the cold of it on her tongue and in her throat shocked her back into an alert state.
A deep, threatening bark sounded from behind her at the river's edge, startling her so badly that she lurched away from her self-made drinking hole. The ice beneath her paws began to give way in response to her sudden shift in weight, one of her legs plunging into the frigid water. Before the rest of her could follow suit and be dragged down beneath the ice where death awaited, she turned and fled back to solid ground.
Croaking laughter arose from above and Somber looked up to spy a raven perched atop the lowest bough of an oak tree. As she stared at it, it mimicked its threatening bark from before and then began to make that same throaty, croaking laugh.
Furious that this mischievous creature had nearly been her undoing, Somber's hackles began to rise. She barked and snapped her teeth in its direction threateningly, but the bird made no attempt to leave. Even as she leapt against the trunk of the oak, as if she aimed to perform a mythical feat and run up its vertical surface solely to ring the life from the raven's neck, it continued to laugh in the face of her anger.
"Forgive him," an unfamiliar voice spoke from deeper within the forest, carried on a wind so fierce that it whipped Somber's ears back flat against her head. "He is still learning how to interact with mortals."
The she-wolf whirled around to face the stranger, but could not determine which direction the voice had come from. Nor could she smell anything but falling snow and the promise of eternal sleep on the wind that tore at her fur.
No one should have been able to sneak up on her, even in this weather. Was she really so tired that she had failed to notice someone following her?
Backing towards the river's edge, Somber peered out into the forest, feeling her heart pound against its prison of ribs. When had it gotten so dark? She should have been able to see past the tree-line - her night vision had always been impeccable - so why was everything now cloaked in a shroud of shadow?
"Show yourself, stranger," Somber demanded, baring her teeth to the cold.
A pair of pale blue eyes appeared beneath the oak tree where the raven still perched, cocking its head down at her.
Had the wolf been there the entire time, mere inches away from her?
As she stared at those eyes in confusion, the shadows beneath them unfurled to reveal long, sharp teeth, twisted into a most unnatural grin. Instinctively, she retreated a few steps out onto the icy river bank behind her.
"Do not be alarmed." The stranger took a step forward, revealing his face to her first. He was a black and white mottled wolf, ice crystals clinging to his fur and covering him in a layer of sparkling frost. Still sporting a smile too wide for his face, he assured Somber, "I come bearing no ill-will."
"What do you come with then," Somber questioned him, still bristling from head to toe.
Inexplicably, that grin of his grew even wider. "A blessing."
Somber scoffed, taking another step away from him, back onto the ice, "No offense, but you don't look the blessing type."
The wolf barked out a laugh at this. "Truly, it is not my blessing that I offer. It is my master Ullr's."
"I'm not interested."
"It would be wise of you to reconsider," the stranger chuckled as he took another step forward. It is at this moment that Somber realized the rest of his body was not hidden beneath the shadows of the oak tree bough, as she had previously suspected, but beneath two massive black wings which sprouted from the wolf's - no, the creature's - back. "Those who have denied his blessing in the past no longer wander this earth."
"Is that a threat," Somber snarled, snapping her teeth at the entity.
"Of course not," he answered with a smile. "It is a promise.
"The long night is upon us. The flesh of your kills will turn to stone before you can fill your bellies. Pups will freeze inside their mother's wombs. Darkness will drive many to insanity; friends will turn to foe as they feast upon one another just to survive. This night is a test of perseverance and resilience that many will fail, but my master is generous. He will bless your hunters with success and shield you from the cold. All you need do is accept."
Somber laughed humorlessly at this, "That's all? He wants nothing in return?"
"Well," he smiled, sounding suddenly sheepish. "I would ask for the companionship and hospitality of your family - just for a little while. It is lonely in the long night with only an ill-mannered raven to keep you company. And I promise that as soon as Sköll chases the sun back into the sky, I will take my leave."
"Why us?"
"Fortune shone upon you to allow our paths to cross tonight. You have proven that you have luck on your side, now we will see if you have the endurance to overcome the trials set before you," the stranger answered, taking another step forward.
"That sounds like a challenge," Somber remarked cooly, rising out of her defensive crouch. Instead of retreating further onto the ice, she took a step back onto the river bank, standing tall as she faced the creature disguised as a wolf.
It grinned again, unfurling its massive wings as it strode towards her. "Do you accept?"
Standing her ground as he approached, she weighed her options and found them lacking. What choice was there? If this was all a vivid hallucination brought on by the cold then it would do her no harm to humor it, but if it was real? Denying his gift may mean death for her family. With a respectful bow of her head, Somber relented, "I do."
"Very well." Now looming above the much smaller she-wolf, the stranger placed a massive paw over one of hers. "May Uruz lend you its strength and vitality so that you may defend your borders," the stranger prayed in a commanding voice that shook the snow from the nearby tree limbs.
Somber watched in fascination as the pale white fur of her legs turned black as night. Her cracked and bleeding paw pads hardened against the earth, the pain leaving them as she no longer felt the cold that surrounded her.
"Allow Thurisgz to grant you courage enough to persevere in these dark and trying times," the stranger said as he dragged his tongue across the fur atop her head.
The she-wolf winced in pain, blinking stinging tears from her eyes as her vision warped and shifted. And suddenly she could see through the darkness as if the midday sun had eaten away the shadows, revealing all of the night's secrets unto her. She would not know it until later, but her irises had turned the same pale blue as the stranger's.
"And may Fehu give you prosperity and protection," the stranger finished, standing to lay a great wing across her back.
Somber nearly cried out, her knees buckling and sending her crashing into the snow as her spine cracked and bent as if broken. Agony caused her vision to go white, the world around her ceasing to exist for a time as she lay there, writhing upon the earth. When she finally returned to her senses, an inch-thick layer of snow had gathered atop her. Only, when she moved to stand, she realized it wasn't snow at all. A pair of great white wings unfurled from her back and she stared at them in horror and awe.
The stranger sat nearby, cleaning his paws as she waited for her to shake away the shock that had taken her. When she finally rose on shaky legs, he smiled that strange smile of his. "You may henceforth refer to me as Kaamos," he told her.
Still shaken, Somber disjointedly folded her wings against her back before stepping forward to touch noses with the stranger. "Well met, Kaamos. I am Somber."
"So you are," he said with a chuckle.
The raven flew down from the bough of the oak, perching upon Kaamos' back as the two wolves headed deeper into the forest, side by side, one of his great black wings shielding the she-wolf from the falling snow.

Lore written by the talented Shunkana #110039