Leona climbed the frigid ice cliffs, paws smarting from the ice and rocks. She had braved the winter wind to come up here, because in Leona’s old home, it had been a custom to climb the tallest peak in their territory to send a prayer off with the dead. Leona was fulfilling that now.
She spoke out to the snowy wind. “Natalya, Vader, Elara, Jack, Onai. You were a glorious group. You served well. Go in peace to your god.” She bowed her head.
Suddenly a pink line speared through her. Leona yelped. “All the gods and your uncle David!” She spun around. The line seemed to wind all down the path. A soulmate tie.
Lightning split the sky over tranquil Starfall Shores. It hit the water, echoing with a booming crack. Leona flinched.
When the lightning storm came, quickly accompanied by mist and ice over the water, Leona backed into a crevice. Water steamed off the surface of the lake. Thunder resounded. The sky over the lake seemed to go dark. Leona quickly shrank back. What in God’s holy name was happening? This was a phenomenon she’d never seen before. Could it be Nightingale causing a stir? She knew they had a kitsune with power over darkness, and their queen was a storm Elemental. Her children were Elementals as well. What the literal f u c k . . .
The cliff began to rumble. Leona tensed. The lightning was having an effect. The echoes and thunder were causing an avalanche. But by some holy grace, there was no landslide. The snow stayed in place. Leona blew out a breath.
She was superstitious, and she believed in saints and God and omens, and this was a moment if she ever saw one. The saint of the Shores. Lovely. Leona would need to go down and check it out.

“No there’s nothing that I wouldn’t do; to make you feel my love.”