Her return to the Mountain is a march in slow-motion. She weaves between the kingdoms and territories on foot, a trek she had bypasses with her teleportation last time. She had lived the last half-year without such gifts, and the journey is nothing short of grueling.
But when she reaches her destination, the true trial begins.
She had told Raul she didn't know how long it would take, and on her fourth night, she sleeps at the base of the mountain. She dreams of the comforts of home, of warmth and security, and she dreams of the afterlife. It's one of the later dreams that wake her, her chest still throbbing, pumping icy blood from an imagined death-wound.
She doesn't try to sleep again.
From this mid-night moment until the next day's dusk, she climbs. The leopard-skin warrior watches her feet as the hours fade in some mindless, disassociation. When the earth plateaus, she almost stumbles. Halting instead, Will regains her balance and looks around to see where her hooves have taken her. She recognizes the lands stretched out below, causing her stomach to churn from the height, and she decides that this place will do. Lifting her head and strengthening her shoulders, Warlight calls for the dark god.