The beast was standing quite far from Arix, but its shadow still reached him.

  Arix panicked and stepped backward, leaning against the wall. His breath got faster as he saw the beast standing there and staring at him with its blue glowing eyes and prey in its mouth.

  Arix looked at the prey, which didn’t look like a rabbit this time. It was the same height as a rabbit, but it had no long ears. Its two legs and two tiny hands were hanging in the air.

  Its hands were only one-third the size of its legs, and its body was brown.

  The beast kept staring at him for almost a minute before walking ahead, completely ignoring him.

  Arix’s breath calmed a little when he saw the beast walking away. He made sure by leaning his head forward to look at the beast fading into the distance in all this snow.

  Arix quickly packed his backpack and headed ahead, along the same path he had taken yesterday.

  “Why does it only stare at us and leave every time?” he said loudly. His heartbeat was still loud, and he could feel it clearly.

  After walking for about two hours, Arix heard his stomach growl. He hadn’t eaten anything since last night. In the morning, he left in a panic.

  Arix stopped and sat down, leaning against the mountain wall. Some snow fell on his head. He quickly brushed it off and opened his backpack.

  Because of the cold, the rabbit was still good to eat. Arix ate two rabbits for breakfast. After finishing, he rested for five minutes when he saw more of the small creatures walking in front of him. It was the same as the prey that beast was holding. But it was not alone.

  A group of small creatures, making their way through the snow. They bounced through the snow. Some of them occasionally fell into the snow but quickly got up and went ahead, down the mountain.

  Arix kept staring at them until they too faded into the snow before standing up and brushing the snow off themselves. He picked up his bag and started walking again.

  It felt like endless snow. It was afternoon, but Arix saw nothing except white snow and some rocks on his way.

  The wind started blowing hard again. Arix kept walking slowly, leaning forward a little. He could not see further ahead . It was covered with snow falling all around. His whole coat got covered in it. He was feeling cold, but he didn’t find any shelter or any rocks where he could rest.

  Arix also knew resting in the snow was dangerous, as falling asleep could be fatal. So he didn’t intend to sleep.

  Arix was walking slowly when he saw a bird suddenly snatch something from the snow and fly away into the distance. It was so fast that Arix could not see what it snatched. He took a deep breath before continuing his march. “How will I see the weapon in this weather?” he thought, but there was nothing he could do except walk.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  After another hour of walking, the snow eased a little. He still could not see much, but it was better than before. Arix kept walking in the snow for another hour before the snowstorm stopped completely.

  The snow was still falling, but the wind had stilled. His vision cleared too; he could see quite far now. It was still completely white, and in the distance, Arix saw clouds and clear sky. The sun grew brighter, and Arix could feel its warmth.

  He walked ahead for a while, appreciating that the weather had finally cleared. It felt nice now. He could hear the birds chirping in the distance and a low wind blowing past him.

  His footsteps were loud, and his feet were not sinking in the snow anymore. Instead, there was some occasional grass sprouting from the ground.

  He kept walking for a while until he saw the cliff of the mountain. He walked to it, looking at the view in front of him. There was a field of grass stretching far away. At the edge of his vision, Arix saw something like a group of houses.

  “Probably a village,” he thought. Far to the left of the village, he saw trees covering the ground. “A forest,” he whispered and kept staring into the distance.

  Above the clouds, he saw some creatures flying. They had four legs like a horse but also had wings, and they were flying in a group. Far left from the village, he saw nothing but a grass field stretching to what felt like the end.

  He stared at the view for a while, sinking it deeply in his mind. He took a deep breath then turned left toward the mountain. A path led down.

  “A way down from the mountain?” he said, then looked at the way he had come from “Where is the weapon?” He sighed and headed again in the same direction he came from.

  The snow was still falling, and waves of wind started breezing through him again. He was walking in the storm, this time hugging the wall.

  After another hour, he set his bed for the night under a tree covered in snow. He somehow missed this tree the first time he walked this way.

  The tree was not that big, but its branches were thick enough to block the falling snow throughout the night.

  He was lying on his bed, looking above at the tree, thinking about where the sword might be, when a familiar voice came to his ears. “Feeling lonely, huh?”

  He turned left to find the transparent Elena lying beside him, staring at the same tree. Arix turned his gaze back to the tree.

  “A little,” he replied. He knew it was all in his head, but he didn’t mind it tonight.

  “Missing me?” she asked.

  “Yes,” he answered.

  “How long will you keep thinking of me?”

  “Forever,” he said when some of the snow fell on his face from the tree. He brushed it off and looked at Elena again. She was gone.

  — — —

  In the morning, he woke up covered in snow. He had barely slept that night and kept staring at the tree most of the time. He slept for an hour at most last night.

  Arix quickly got up, ate his last rabbit, packed his bags, and started walking again.

  The wind grew strong again, breezing through Arix and making him feel cold.

  Arix also caught two rabbits in the daylight, which he planned to eat raw at night.

  In the evening, he was feeling very tired when he came across the same stone he had rested on the day before yesterday.

  It was the best thing Arix saw that day. He quickly went under the rock and leaned against it, feeling the same mound he had felt earlier.

  This time, he felt irritated by the bump. His brows knitted together as he quickly tried to pick up the rock and throw it away, but failed.

  The rock wouldn't budge. Arix got curious and started removing the snow from it.

  After removing some of the snow, his eyes widened. His irritated look quickly faded away as he started digging with his bare hands.

  In the snow, he saw something that looked like the grip of a sword.