Holding the reins, I guided the stout horse through the snow.

It was a large beast. Far taller than me. So tall that it was difficult for Witch to get up on it, and off it. Yet for all its massive size it was strangely scared of walking through the snow. It had to be led through snow, and refused to do so otherwise.

“I understand helping people, teacher. I really do. But I feel like you should rest,” I said loudly over the wind.

“I know, Rennalee. I really do. But this is my price. My duty. And this isn’t just about helping people, but destroying an evil. An evil that only those like myself can destroy,” Witch said. Her voice was muffled and not just because of the heavy wind. She was wrapped heavily in cloth and a thick coat of dense leather. I knew no human would have been able to hear her. The wind alone would have likely tossed her voice beyond the ears of humans, and the several layers around her mouth and face only made it harder.

“Evil,” I scoffed the word.

Those like the Elder and that snake had not been evil. They had just been giant beasts. People. Just like me and her… just… different.

I understood her concept of evil. I even agreed with it, to a point. I’d readily call my family evil, and did so often when she and I spoke of them… but…

Was my great-uncle evil? That large cat?

I didn’t think so. He had been just another predator. Another animal.

He had not abused my family like my brothers and father had. In fact he had even stopped it on occasion.

The snake was the same. It may have killed and ate my family, and others, but had it done so out of evil? It had not relished in the act, but had instead been acting on purpose.

But I was not going to argue with her… since she was likely correct in her accusations. She was wise beyond means, far beyond me, after all.

A hard gust made me flinch, and I had to hold firm on the reins as the horse tried to shy away from it. The massive horse tugged away, as if to turn, but I remained firm. I could feel it startle and stop tugging the moment I tugged back.

It wasn’t sure what to think of me. It seemed to not like the fact I was strong enough to not let it pull itself free from my grasp.

Honestly it should be able to. The thing was huge. Even standing straight up I only came to Witch’s knee while she rode the thing. That was how tall it was.

Witch has never been able to explain why I was so strong. Only that I wasn’t human, and so was blessed by gods in ways similar to her.

I wasn’t sure how that made me stronger, but I was glad for it all the same. It allowed me to help Witch in moments like this.

“We should camp, Renn!” Witch shouted as the wind grew stronger.

Right. Right…

Scrunching up my face, both because of the bite of cold and to see through the thick snow, I looked around us.

We were still in the same thick forests we had lived in all this time… but this was still somewhere else. A different place. The trees were the same, but there was a different way they were spread apart. They were just a little less dense than the trees back home. Enough to be noticeable, even in this snowstorm.

Yet other than those trees there wasn’t much else around us.

We were on a mountain, but there was no where nearby for us to find a cave or something like it. And as far as I was aware we weren’t near any human villages either. I couldn’t smell fires, cooking, or anything the humans stunk of. I only smelled the cold snow on the air… and the horse breathing heavily behind me.

Was the horse sick…? Its breath felt oddly hot.

That wouldn’t be good. Witch wasn’t well enough to travel in this storm or cold. We needed this horse…

Maybe that was why Witch had suggested we stop. It wasn’t for her, or me, but the beast.

Tugging the reins, I dragged the horse through a thicker clump of snow. Over to the thickest section of trees around us.

It didn’t take long for me to find a suitable spot. A small hill, combined with several large trees that had grown in close proximity, had made something of a large wall of snow. One that blocked a lot of the heavy wind and snow thanks to how high it had stacked and packed.

I allowed the horse to sit down in a section of thin snow, behind the wall. Then I helped Witch off the horse, and carried her over to the largest tree. Some of its massive roots were poking out between the snow, creating a small enclave. One small enough to keep her safe from wind, yet large enough that soon in a moment I’d be able to make a small fire.

Witch curled up between the roots as I quickly went to work. We had brought some dry wood and kindling, in expectations of us needing it, but I knew it’d only last a few hours. After starting the fire, which flame’s danced wildly thanks to the wind, I immediately went to finding more firewood.

It wasn’t too difficult; thanks to growing up in such forests I knew where to look. Just under the snow, near the mounds of snow just under the taller and thicker trees. I found branches that had been broken and fallen during the initial storms and had gotten buried. Many of them were frozen, but I knew that they’d thaw and eventually burn just as well as if they hadn’t been.

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Once I had gathered enough wood that I knew it’d keep the fire going through most the night, I returned to my teacher… and found the horse had drawn closer. It had lain down near the roots she hid in, near the fire. To keep itself warmer.

“You’re such a lug,” I complained to the thing as I walked around it. Thanks to how it was lying it was a little difficult to get between the roots, without having to slide down them.

With a new pile of wood near the fire, hopefully thawing already, I went to check on my teacher. I pulled back some of her thick cloaks and hood, and found her glowing eyes glaring at me.

“Stay warm, Renn,” she warned me.

I nodded as I smiled and patted her back. She felt like a thick bundle of leather, not a person.

Dragging her a little closer to the fire, I huffed as I went to digging out one of her blankets. I wrapped it around myself and sat down next to her, and kept an eye on the fire as the world roared around us.

The wind was cold, and harsh, but there wasn’t much snow in it. Even as the night arrived and grew thicker, and the wind died down a little, the air remained relatively free of falling snow and sleet. It helped, since it let me keep the fire going through the night, but it also somehow made it even colder than it was.

Witch slept through most of the night, luckily, and so did the horse. I was a little surprised at how hardy the large beast was. It didn’t seem to shiver once even as the snow began to pile up against it thanks to the wind.

Twice I had to go find more wood for the fire, and upon returning on the second trip… a little before daybreak, as the storm died down and calmed, I found my teacher warming her hands at the fire.

“Good morning,” I greeted Witch as I dumped some of the wood I had gathered near the fire.

“It is not morning yet, Renn,” Witch said with a sniff.

I twitched at that sniff. It had not sounded good. “Are you okay?” I asked worriedly.

“Yes. Just cold. I wish Fredlo was here,” she complained.

I smirked at her. “You could have brought him, teacher,” I said as I sat down next to her.

“And suffer your staring the whole time? I think not,” Witch said, teasing me.

“I don’t stare that much…!” I defended myself as I went to tossing some sticks into the fire.

She giggled at me and shifted a little, making her many bundles of clothes make noises as she did. “Are you okay Renn…? Did you not wrap up at all?” she asked.

“I did for a bit, yes. And I feel fine. It was a little cold but not that bad,” I said honestly.

“Hm… I wish I had your resilience. It’s strange since you actually don’t have any fur,” she said.

I shrugged, and chose not to simply say that it was she and her human fellows who were weird instead.

The snow had been cold, yes, but not enough to kill. At least in my opinion.

Yet without the bundles of clothes, and this fire, Witch may very well have died. That was how frail they were.

I should be more careful from now on. Next time I’ll stop earlier, before the storm got this bad. Or just outright keep her from traveling… but how would I do that…? Although frail and weak, it wasn’t like I could force Witch to do anything she didn’t want to do. I wasn’t able to hurt her, or make her sad, even if it meant it’d keep her safe.

“What are you thinking right now, Renn?” Witch asked gently.

“How to keep you safe better. And how I could go against your wishes somehow, if I needed to,” I said honestly.

Witch giggled, it was music amongst the crackling fire. “You’re adorable like always. Is what we’re doing bothering you that much?” she asked.

“Yes. You’re in no condition to hunt an elder, teacher,” I said.

She hummed and nodded, as if agreeing with me. “Indeed. I’m not only frailer than I’ve ever been… I’m…” she shifted a little and I waited apprehensively for what she was about to say.

“You’re…?” I asked, when she didn’t continue.

“I’m afraid to say it. What if by saying it I bring forth a terrible future?” she whispered.

I gulped.

“We can go home, teacher. We can hunt that elder later. I’m sure that woman will understand,” I said.

The one who had sent us on this quest, the one I had found dying at our lake, had died not long after I had brought her to teacher.

Teacher's magic had not been able to help her. A part of me was glad for it… since it meant she would not be bedridden… but…

If she was going to die anyway, why couldn’t she have done so before telling Witch about this supposed beast terrorizing several villages nearby?

She should have just passed in her sleep. Then we’d still be at home… Witch would be warm… she’d still be with that man, Fredlo, and be flirting and happy. Not cold and scared and…

I sniffed, and was thankful it was so cold. She’d never know it was because I had almost cried.

“It’s my duty Renn. As one blessed by my god… I must do this. Just as I hunted that snake. So too must I hunt this one,” she said firmly.

I nodded, but wished I hadn’t.

“Don’t fret too much, Renn. They’re not all like that snake, or even your elder! Most are only a little more dangerous than bears. Something tells me this will be easier than you think,” she said.

“You saw such a thing?” I asked.

“No. But the fact that woman survived its attack and found us tells me the kind of elder it is. I mean… think about it, if she had encountered something like your elder or that snake would she have survived at all? Let alone survived long enough to reach us?” she asked.

I shifted a little and reached for another bundle of sticks. “No… you’re right. She’d have not survived at all,” I admitted.

The giant bundle that was the witch shifted as she nodded. “Right…? So it should be okay. Plus I have you now, so it should be easier,” Witch said.

Frowning, I wondered if that was true.

She had used me as bait for that snake… and honestly, I’d be okay with doing it again. For this woman, my friend and teacher, I’d be willing to risk my life… I’d even be willing to die for her, really. I loved her that much.

But that didn’t make me feel any better.

She was so weak now. She had been weak even back then, when she killed that snake, but compared to the her then… the her now was a shadow of herself.

“Maybe it won’t even be there anymore,” I whispered in hope.

My teacher giggled. “Sadly Renn, it is! I can sense it now,” she said.

Heaving a sigh I threw more sticks into the fire, and wished the storm would return with a vengeance… to keep us here longer; in hopes of letting the elder beast we were on the hunt for to escape.

But not only did the storm not return… the world had even begun to warm a little, as if to invite us into battle.