I enjoyed this one-shot greatly. Even the ambiguity at the end where it wasn't clear if he turned into a wolf or if he just joined his old kinsmen in the Fade with Witherfang.

That was wonderful. Not a line too much, not a word out of place. It was a lovely and heart-wrenching-fading-towards-happy tale of the end of Swiftrunner's human life. Magnificent. :-D

Wow! The descriptions here are just amazingly well done. From the beginning I was drawn in and already sorry this was not the start of an epic. There’s a crafting to this story that is really masterful.

The metaphor of Solus to the house is exquisitely told. The whole of his life is summed up simply, and yet there is a complexity to the tale where we only see snatches into a life lived in struggle. I felt instantly for Solus, coming to the end of his life, the slow deterioration. Yet, there’s this great parallel to an animal’s nature, that a wild thing does not stop until its life is fully done.

The ending… god, this story is just so perfect. Seriously, Ole. This brought me to tears.

This was fascinating! So full of this bittersweet longing...really well done.

Wow. I knew from the first words that this would be my kind of story - lyrical and heavy on description, strong imagery being conjured up in my mind almost from the get-go. Very powerful stuff. Took me a while to realise the story you were writing too - and then there was that "Aha!" moment when I realised it was Swiftrunner. Oh, I never liked Swiftrunner! But this was beautifully imagined and told, and I will definitely be reading more.

So very few take on the wolves, I am so so glad you did. Beautifully written!

Oh, wow, Ole, what a wonderful take on the challenge! Stunning story, original and so well written, it feels so... real, if that makes any sense? I loved it! I may have gotten a bit teary-eyed at the end, even. Simply wonderful.

Oh, this is lovely! Gorgeous imagery and a pairing I haven't thought about before. So creative and evocative. Well done!

My word, this is so incredibly beautiful. There's such a sense of time flowing and whittling to a single point that when the Lady and the others arrive, it's such a relief; the reunion so perfect. And you paint this drab, sad picture of an elderly man succumbing to old age, then splash the story with a burst of colour at the end. Truly wonderful.

Oh, Ole, this is simply beautiful on so many levels. That rather than going to the quick challenge response of 'love' as Eros, you took it to Philia - the loving bonds of the wolf-pack's sense family and community and Solus' (the solitary lone wolf) isolation & loneliness; to Storge - the Lady's affection for these unruly wild-children of hers and Solus' stoicism in accepting his fate; and to Agape - the transcendent, sacrificial love.

And all wrapped in such elegant prose & visceral, vivid imagery. Brilliant, poignant. Those three final lines leave me with a lump in my throat on every reading - and there have been several already, and promise to be many more.

Beautiful!

For some reason, and I am not sure why, I just love to read from the perspective of old men? Why is this? I love all the wolf imagery, their shaggy coats, their amber eyes, among the trees. Its all very lovely. And to think that he would get to run with the herd again. THhs is an unusual choice for the challenge, but it really works!

Woof!

I am...this is...WOW. This is incredibly powerful and emotionally moving. The language, the imagery it creates, just really...I'm still stunned and I've read it three times now.

I want to have words to tell you how much this moves me, but I can't seem to find them. The title is perfect and this just sings to me: "A warming breeze, bringing pine pitch and rain and wilder things."

And this: "Swiftrunner rose to his feet, warmth and new strength flowing through his powerful frame. A rush of air filling his deep chest brought a dizzying array of scents, familiar and foreign. His large ears twitched at the step of a doe through the underbrush, the scurry of a vole through the leaves. The restless stir of his fellows brought him back to himself." The emotion captured here is so deep and powerful, I am left with tears again.

Incredible. Thank you for sharing this.

Absolutely gorgeous. Your talent always leaves me in awe.

Wow, Ole! This was amazing! Beautiful and touching. And the pairing... very interesting and unexpected!