The Cold Comes South

"The Cold Comes South" is a short Cthulhu Mythos story by American author Matthew Baugh. It was first published in the first and only issue of Ron Shiflet's Lovecraftian fanzine In Lovecraft's Shadow in March 2007.
== Synopsis ==
Fleeing from an unseasonable storm in the old west, Dave Mather and his group of buffalo hunters rescue a mysterious squaw from a group of thugs intent on violating her. The woman is revealed by one of the group to be a buffalo-spirit, and her cloak is taken away by the men, removing her access to her magical abilities. She in turn reveals the source of the storm: one of the group has offended the Great Old One Ithaqua, who is coming in vengeful pursuit.
Later, the group encounter the woman's would-be assailants, who have succumbed to the depredations of the storm: one has become a cannibal, subsequently consuming the others and becoming a malevolent Wendigo. Mathers is able to kill the creature with a pot of boiling water, and Billy, the man who stole Ithaqua's heart as a youth, decides the time has come to burn it. The squaw tells them that this is enough to end Ithaqua's hunt, and they return her cloak in gratitude. She immediately departs the camp.
Later, the survivors, too weak from their ordeals to travel, begin to starve in the wilderness. The buffalo-woman leads a group of white men to rescue them, but her selfless actions result in her own death.
Category:Matthew Baugh works
Category:Expanded Mythos Works