Salim could hear the lynxess’ screech as his claws grazed her fur and penetrated her skin. But it didn't fill him with horror, as he would have expected, instead he was filled with satisfaction. The murderess of his cubs and sister was to die and perish in the same agonizing way as his loved ones had done.

But then something happened that he hadn't expected at all. Suddenly he was pushed to the ground again, his face was in the snow and the weight that had been holding him in place had returned. His breathing was rapid, so full of rage and hatred for her, but it only melted the snow that had built up in front of his snout.

And so, he lay panting again under the much too strong lynxess, barely able to move, she had him so much under control. His chest rose and fell rapidly, and he was only able to calm down slowly. He barely managed to tame the storm of emotions, but at least the trembling of his body subsided, even if he still couldn't think clearly.

After a few long and countless heartbeats of silence, the lynsess’ voice broke through to him again: “If I let you go, will you stop attacking me?” He couldn't understand how she could still have such strength with the injury she had inflicted that she managed to push him to the ground. And he found it even more incomprehensible that she would ask him such an impertinent question.

“Never”, he hissed and he felt the lynxess loosen her grip briefly. But before Salim could jump up, she was already pinning him down again.

“Then I'll just have to teach you like this.” She was silent for a moment and the lynx heard her panting with exertion. “I didn't kill your sister or your cubs. And I didn't kill those other lynxes either. I am not a murderer.”

But Salim would not and could not listen to what his opponent was saying. Now he had finally found the murderer, but she denied having killed? She was conscienceless and ruthless, without showing even a hint of compassion.

“Then how do you explain your smell at the crime scenes?”, he grumbled and immediately decided not to believe her. It had to be her, because who else would be able to murder Alicia and Miles and then have a territory next to Salim?

But he didn't get an answer to his question at first, until the lynxess decided to reply: “It can't have been my scent that you think you picked up. As you may remember, you already had a territory here before I arrived and that means you encountered these dead lynxes before I did.”

Salim didn't answer as his brain was finally able to compose clear thoughts again. Of course, she was probably right about that. And there were thousands of other lynxes who could have killed his cubs. And yet it had been her he had smelled, the one who had invaded his territory.

“I can't believe you”, the lynx mumbled, giving himself yet more endless minutes in the freezing snow, which was now penetrating his skin and beginning to freeze there. This happened very rarely, as he had extremely thick fur, but when he got cold, he got really cold.

It wasn't long before he pleaded: “Please let go of me. I won't attack you anymore.” It was still a mystery to him why she didn't kill him on the spot, as she had done with all the others.

The weight on his back disappeared and he rose somewhat laboriously, immediately returning to his piece of land. Only then did he dare to look at the lynxess again, her strong body now covered in snowflakes. And he could also see the wound on her right cheek, which wasn't too deep but was still leaking a lot of blood and darkening her light and fluffy fur.

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But he couldn't apologize, he just couldn't bring himself to do it. Apologizing to a murderess for a scratch was simply a disgrace, which was why he quickly put the thought out of his mind.

Her bright brown eyes eyed him suspiciously, but Salim no longer wanted to fight. He knew by now that she could easily defeat him and that he had absolutely no chance against her. Besides, the lynx really wasn't keen on lying in the freezing snow again and barely being able to move.

“I'm Freya.” Salim looked up and his eyes widened a little in surprise when the lynxess said her name. How could she confide that in him after all this? He managed a slight nod, but the murderess, who finally had a name, was not satisfied with that.

“And you?”, she said uninterestedly, although the curious flash of her eyes spoke a completely different language.

He answered her reluctantly: “Salim.” What was she supposed to do with his name? Did she want to name her victims before she killed them?

“Your cubs? What are their names?”, she simply continued to ask, even though he could clearly see that she was more interested in the answer than she was letting on. And Salim didn't know if he should like that.

“Valya. My daughter's name is Valja”, he said, quietly adding the names of his deceased sons, ”Akuma and Miles.”

“And who was with you at the lake?”

“Valja and Akuma. Miles couldn't join us. He was already dead, as you know.” Salim lowered his eyes briefly as he thought of the unspeakably grave mistake he had made back then. He should never have left Miles alone in the cave. How could he ever forgive himself for that?

“What were you doing at our lake?”, he asked quickly to distract himself from the dead lynx, ”In our territory? Were you trying to see the cubs you were going to kill later?” Thousands of reproaches resonated in his voice.

The lynx visibly embarrassed Freya. For her, this was probably one of the most serious and almost unforgivable offenses a lynx could ever commit. The way she had reacted after he had invaded her territory for the first time. With just a single paw, mind you.

“No, of course not. I was traveling to my own territory. I came from the northeast, where the rivers and lakes only thaw in the green season, and when I heard the splashing, I just couldn't resist.” He could tell from the twitching of her tail how true her statement was this time. She looked at him dreamily and somewhat sadly at the same time as she remembered her home, which she had probably only left with a heavy heart. She even seemed to want to say something about it, but probably recoiled from it when the lyxness remembered that he thought she was a murderer.

But Salim knew he wouldn't apologize. Not ever. Not after everything he thought he knew about her and what she had told him. He stood up.

“The wound will heal quickly”, he said in parting and was about to turn around when Freya asked him to answer her last question.

“Do you know what will help? I only passed my test in the knowledge of herbs by the skin of my teeth”, she admitted somewhat sheepishly and Salim smiled triumphantly when he finally found something he clearly knew better than her.

“Try broadleaf plantain if you can still find it somewhere. And chickweed prevents inflammation. You can often find this herb near Baldskins.”

“Thank you”, Freya said, nodding slightly to make a mental note of it all. “Then I'll go and look for it. And please believe me. I'm not a murderer.”

Salim just nodded silently goodbye to her and then turned around to get back to his territory as quickly as possible. Now he was giving the murderess of his cubs advice on how to heal quickly. How much lower could he sink?