Ken gazes at the red eyes of the beast. They're looking directly at him, unblinking.

What scares him even more, however, are the multitude of other lights all around. Much more numerous, white in color and smaller. It doesn't take long for that part of his brain to click and realize what's going on.

Had he been born and raised solely in this world he would have dismissed it all as a fascinating night lightshow. Just another interesting mystery for his childish brain. However, after watching all those National Geographic documentaries, he knows what those lights represent.

"Goro!" Ken tries to wake Goro up with whispering shouts. "Goro, wake up"

"Goro, wake the fuck up for emperor's sake! The wolf pack is here."

He is barely able to see the tree next to him, the thick winter clouds obscure the light of the celestial bodies to the point where he only sees a blur at the place where Goro's body is. The noise that the winter winds produce isn't helping him and he doesn't want to alert the wolf pack by shouting.

He glances at the place where he'd seen those terrifying red lights, but they're gone.

'Damn it'

He shakes off the snow that had accumulated on his body while he'd been sleeping. Reaching out his hand, he unties the rope that had been keeping his torso bound.

He nocks an arrow and fires at the tree that Goro is sleeping on. The impact of the arrow reverberates through the trunk and right into Goro's cranium. It’s just strong enough for him to wake up.

"Goro!"

Ken whispers out a shout once more.

The man doesn't respond for a while, but Ken sees the blur that is Goro's form shuffling around.

"What?" He responds in his normal voice, not bothering to whisper. Ken suppresses the urge to shout at the man. "I told you they can't climb trees, didn't I? We're perfectly safe."

"You also didn't tell me that some wolves are supposed to have glowing red eyes!" He continues to speak in whispers despite the fact that Goro doesn’t really care.

"Red eyes? What are you on abo-" Sadly, Goro wouldn't get to finish his sentence.

Through a quirk of fate, the clouds that had obscured the light from the moons and stars had thinned just enough for Kenki to be able to see.

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The blurry figure of Goro had sharpened and cleared. Ken could see him in his entirety, the hint of annoyance on his face. The several centimeters of snow that had piled onto his cowl and clothing, everything.

And then, a white blur passes him, and he is gone. The ropes that had held him in place instantly snap and Ken hears the crunching bone and ripping of flesh. Ken moves his gaze to what had been the blur and sees the most terrifying beast he’d ever laid his eyes on.

An enormous wolf with long snow white fur, its height when standing on all fours is probably three or four times Kenki’s own, double that when on its hind legs. Its claws the size of longswords and its teeth larger than the palm of his hand.

Goro barely even has the time to scream out in pain before his head is crushed like a watermelon in the beast’s maw. The last thing that Ken sees before the clouds once more obscure the light of the night sky is how the wolf devours the man, clothes and all, in one big bite.

“...!”

The spectacle absolutely terrifies Kenki, and when he sees the red lights focus on him he doesn’t hesitate for a second on his next course of action.

Heart thumping in his chest and adrenaline pumping through his veins, he climbs up the tree as fast as he is able. Idly, he hears the thunderous snapping of jaws an arms reach away from under him. It's so loud that his ears experience a wave of pain as the piercing sound washes over them, it’s as if a gunshot had been fired right next to him. However, Ken ignores it, fully focused on climbing higher, it isn’t until he’s reached the highest point possible that he finally dares to look downwards.

“Damn…” All of the lights focused on him make for a scary sight, it doesn’t matter if they belong to the one massive wolf or all the others. Just knowing that there’s a predator behind every single pair is enough to unsettle any normal human being, the darkness making what’s already frightening completely spine-chilling.

He keeps his focus on the red-eyed beast, inwardly knowing that it is the only one capable of getting to him while this high on the tree.

‘Is it a spirit beast? It doesn’t know how to use spells does it? How to fling projectiles at me?’

His heart would start beating faster if it weren’t already working at maximum capacity. The sound of its beating overshadows anything else that reaches his ears. He braces himself when the red eyes disappear from his vision.

*Crash*

Ken hears the splintering of wood as the tree violently shakes.

'It's slamming into the tree!'

*Crash*

Once more, the massive snow-haired wolf rams the base of the trunk. The shaking is more violent this time around and Ken is able to feel how the tree has begun to tilt.

'No good'

Hands shaking, Ken looks around, planning out his next course of action. Even in this hopeless situation he is able to think clearly, a wave of warmth envelops him and boosts his strength, it doesn't go unnoticed but he ignores it for the moment in favor of surviving.

*Crash*

The third crash finally destroys the trunk, but Ken is no longer on the tree. With a display of inhuman strength he snaps the branch under him as he jumps.

Soaring through the air he lands on one of the nearby trees. His clothes rip as he struggles to get a hold onto something, their wool filling spilling out. He manages to grab onto a branch and steadies himself for a moment before once more climbing to the highest point possible.

An ear piercing howl reaches his ears and before Ken even has time to observe the situation another crash is heard.

Whether the tree that Ken has landed on is weaker or the gargantuan wolf hit it just that much harder, he doesn't know. What he does know is that his only defense against the certain death below has been shattered in a single blow.

'Shit! No time to jump to another tree." He sees the white lights moving to the expected landing zone of the tree, the breathing of the wolves and the crunching of snow is apparent.

'…Wait. I know!' Using his leverage of being at the very highest point of the tree as well as his own bodyweight, Ken is able to shift its trajectory.

'I can't see where the cliff is in this darkness but I remember its general position.'

The duo of Kenki and Goro had chosen to rest on top of a hill, right next to a cliff, so the boy uses that fact to his advantage.

Falling down what is the equal of a five or a six story building into a thick layer of snow is much better than being mauled to death.

Thankfully for him, his guess is the correct one.

Plunging off the hill, Ken tries to spread out like a starfish, increasing the surface area of his body as much as possible as he falls.