Impetus

Walter stopped to survey the land ahead.

The blessed warmth from above revealed a sharp, forbidding land. Jagged rocks littered his path. A huge, dangerous volcanic rock with dozens of pointy spires stood as a sentinel on a hill, like some kind of dark, hellish cathedral. He would go around that.

The land was an uncompromising barrier for such as him. He imagined predators lurking in every crevice, behind every boulder, even in the sky. But then he spied a sliver of blue peeking over a distant hill -- a promise of safety and sustenance. The lake!

He slithered on.