Dion and Sola, miniature companions for a lifetime beneath a starlit curtain and descendants of an ancient people whose history had vanished into a place of distant memory. Two lovers ventured beyond the dark of the woods they called home, gathering for the coming winter, but not all creatures of the forest take kindly to the fragile. A booming crack resounded in the mud and tall stalks of grass. A mouth filled with venom. Thick furry spines that covered a body and eight legs. Dion choked on his own breath and grabbed his lover's arm.