I awoke today as usual to the sound of metal against metal. The candle had burnt for long enough that the nail driven through it slid out, crashing down into the metal pan.

  I rose from the stone-tiled floor, readjusting my spinal cord with a stretch. A characteristic pop travelled through my vertebrae. Sliding on my boots, I made my way out the door.

  I was full well expecting to see the sun, but in its place was a raging tempest. Snow lashed out in every direction as if it meant to kill, and it could for how cold it was out there.

  I closed the door.

  Naught but a sigh escaped me, as I thought about all the progress I was unable to make today. There was no room to run, no space to practice without shattering some precious old trinket. Most importantly, there was no smiling, happy faces of the people I could have helped today. I would read The Practical Applications of The Scrawl, but by this point I had the entire thing memorized.

  I heard the sound of uncovered footsteps against the cold stone floor. Marilleth’s hair lie unkempt and untied as she appeared in the commons.

  She blinked slowly, her emerald eyes readjusting themselves as she slowly woke up.

  “Ughhh... What’s up with you?”

  I was confused. If there were anyone that would know about the raging snowstorm outside it would truly be her.

  “I was going to go train, I wake up every day at this hour.”

  “Then why haven’t you yet? I heard the door...”

  The door flew open at a push, causing the cold to bleed into the house.

  Realizing what I had earlier scrutinized for herself, she jumped awake.

  “Well of course I knew that! I was just tired.”

  A smirk ran across my face, “and you don’t lose track of your prey. Won’t ever forget that.”

  She had been tossing and turning last night, and I heard so until I drifted to sleep myself. I suppose I could let it slide this time.

  “Well the second one’s true!”

  “Aren't they both supposed to be true, Marie?”

  She tripped over her own tongue, landing square into the palm of my hand. She looked away, bouncing around the room, before returning to meet my stare.

  “Did... you just give me a nickname?”

  “I did.”

  At least the friendly gesture returned some color to her face. Before that she looked ghastly. Probably an after-effect of the grueling work we did yesterday, hunting an elk, before hauling what we could back here. That and the rabbit.

  “I guess you did save my life yesterday. But don’t think that you can get away with mocking me.”

  She walked over to me, gently shutting the door I was holding open. “You’re an idiot, too.”

  Laughter escaped me as if it were chained down for years. The contagion passed to her as well.

  After taking a moment to catch our breath, she made her way over to the hearth.

  “Leonn, grab the firewood for me, will you?”

  I shifted over to a tall looming shelf to my right. The sound of crunching leaves emanated from behind me as I grabbed the best pieces I could find.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  The fire cast light across the room within a few moments. I sat myself in front of the beast, which was more mewing than roaring as it started to build itself up. Marilleth sat at the fire with me, basking in the arms of its warm embrace.

  The moment lay uninterrupted, all lay quiet. There was nothing to do, yes, but sharing in that stagnation with another made it bearable.

  “Leonn, do you want to learn how to bake bread today?”

  “Sure. I could help out around here even more, and you wouldn’t have to cook everything by yourself.”

  She sighed, complaining “Do you only ever concern yourself with helping?”

  An incessant pounding came from the door. Who could possibly be out at this hour? More importantly, in this weather? I wonder if it was a fool like me, cast out from gods-know where.

  Eligor emerged to the sound as Marilleth moved to answer. “What's with all the racket, boy? Can’t an old man get some sleep-”

  A hooded man stumbled through the door, snow crusted his beard and his breath ran ragged. I had only ever seen him once, on account of his bout with the plague, but why was he here? Essa’s husband...

  “Gilban, what’s going on?”

  Marilleth grabbed his arm as he stumbled further into the house.

  “Eligor, Marilleth, its... Donvan’s gone missing.”

  A veritable terror ripped its way through my chest. What could have caused this? Donvan’s young, but there’s no way he would just disappear into the storm.

  “I think...” The tired Gilban continued, “...he chased some tracks in the snow. Maybe he thought something was going to hurt the Oxen.”

  His feet gave way, sending him to the ground.

  “His favorite stick was missing too, the one he puts by the door.”

  Donvan had told me about the stick once. Kingscalibur, a sword to his imaginative mind. Gilban was practically wheezing out his answers between shallow breaths. I couldn’t just stand back now. Without hesitation I began armoring myself up to face the tempest lurking outside, adorned in my fur.

  Eligor continued watching in silence, trying to process what was happening as he shook off his tiredness. Marilleth’s lower lip hugged her upper lip, indecisive.

  “Leonn, I’m going with you. Give me a second.” She disappeared into her room.

  The old man grabbed something hanging off of the armrest of his chair, a lantern. He lit the candle inside with an insignificant spark, before handing it to me.

  “My body isn’t like it used to be, boy. I’ll leave it to you two to find the kid. In the meantime I’ll keep watch over Gilban here, keep him from goin’ crazy.”

  I nodded, turning to our guest “what direction?”

  “His tracks went northeast.”

  As soon as Marie re-emerged from her room, bow slung across her green cloak, we entered the white hellscape outside. I extended my hand out into the dark abyss.

  “Northwest, right?”

  “Hey you’re getting good at that.”

  Our boots hit the ground as fast as we could manage, carefully balancing distance with pace. Soon enough, fresh tracks appeared in the snow. Large pawprints, followed shortly by small boot prints, were the only impressions in the snow. Everything else seemed to be washed away in the frozen torrent.

  A howl emanated from the distance, and Marilleth collapsed to the ground, as if the sound was her queue. I reversed my momentum, dropping down beside her.

  “Marie, are you alright? Did you sprain something?”

  No snap, nor quick-witted retort came from her now trembling mouth, as if the sudden chill she had yesterday returned to haunt her again.

  “I... thought I heard something. Lets go.”

  I refrained from crushing her denial, but the kid was definitely after something.

  We made our way through the storm. Marilleth struggled against the wind, but my feet found themselves rooted. A third track trailed alongside the small boots, a thin line. No doubt that we were after Donvan at this point. Likely he had been dragging Kingscalibur through the snow. Why did that change now?

  Our feet cared not, trudging forward regardless of the answer.

  The forest began growing ever quieter. Once again preparing a vigil, but for who? At that thought, my eyes snapped themselves wide open.

  A fourth track joined in, fresh blood that seeped into the snow as if it were paint.

  “Marie, we need to hurry up.”

  She said nothing, but nonetheless sluggishly trailed behind me as I leaped into a dead sprint. Another, much smaller clearing appeared around us as we made our way in-between two pines.

  In the distance, a howl surfaced once more. Growls permeated the air with the viscosity of honey. My sapphire eyes followed the trail highlighted in red. Barely visible due to the flurry, a small figure stood encircled. I turned to Marilleth — frozen once again — as her arms tied themselves around her.

  I figured that the trembling wasn’t due to the cold, and that she had not sprained her ankle earlier. Marilleth was afraid of the 4 legged hunters of this forest. Wolves.

  “Hello? Is anyone out there? I don’t want to die!”

  Marie had no chance of steady aim in her current state. What the hell can I do, though? Seconds became minutes, became hours, became days, became weeks, became years. I grasped at the air, searching desperately for resolve.

  “To hell with a decision, just go! You damn noble!”

  I plunged into the circle, ducking past the wolves’ snapping fangs. The wind shifted suddenly, tugging me aside just enough to slip through.

  Taking this as their chance to strike, they all leaped toward the center. I wrapped myself around Donvan, shielding him from what was about to happen. I faced death for the first time, but I found that fact irrelevant. A disgusting voice surfaced from deep within: I will tear them apart.

  Something inside of me split open. Amidst the freezing winter, I burned.