“It’s no good, Stay low and run back to the cave.”

The icy air scraped my lungs as my breath quickened. ‘No… I can’t run… If I give in…’ He grabbed my arm and my feet carried me after him. It swept back around but was too weary of my spear to dive, and before it could come around a third time we were back in the cave.

I took a deep breath, stepped deeper in, and dropped my spear on the ground, finding comfort in the clanging, as opposed to the crunching of snow. As I exhaled I squatted down to catch my breath.

“You going to tell me what that was about?”

“I’d rather not…” I groaned, sitting down against the wall.

He let out a steep puff of air, brushing the snow off his pant legs. “Alright, fair enough. So where do we go from here.”

I started out into space. “Running was the right call, there’s nothing wrong with falling back… But…” I paused. ‘I froze up again, just like before, but for some reason when I’m in a fight, a switch flips in my brain. If I want to get over this absurd fear of snow, I’ll hardly have a better chance than this.’ “I’m gonna kill it.”

He crossed his arms, widening his stance. “Do you even know what “it” is, or are you just being reckless.”

I slowly stood up swinging my arm to make sure I could move it properly without any old wounds opening up and sure enough it was good to go. “Terror bird. They have sharp talons and strong enough wings that they can use them as bludgeons if they need to. I’ve read about all the monsters at least once.”

“Ok… What’s the plan? I can only use light magic and a bit of metal, nothing that can help in a fight, I’m a thief, not an assassin. The footing is bad, it’s faster than us, and we can’t fly.”

Picking up my spear I checked the new tip and shaft, making sure it was sturdy. “Fighting birds is like fighting horses. Point the spear up and aim for the neck, easy.”

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

“Right…”

I walked back out to the edge of the cave. “If the field of battle is not suitable to your needs, then change it.”

“And now we're quoting a war saint… Ok, so how are we going to get the bird to fight us somewhere else?”

“Wait that’s what the quote means?” I looked back at his blank expression before he let out a snort with a faint smile. Turning back to the snowy plane I pointed. “No, we just make it so the snow isn’t a problem. The ground is hard to work with because it’s frozen, and snow is harder to move than water, but I don’t have to use magic to fix the issue. Just draw its attention while I get on top of that hill.”

He took another deep breath, walking up next to me. “Ok, I can handle two dives on my own without getting caught, is that enough time, or do you need me to bait for three.”

“Two should be fine, how much riskier is three.”

“It’s like fifty-fifty I probably won’t die, but I’d take a hit.”

“Yeah, two should be fine…”

“You’re sure…”

I looked back over to the hill, judging the distance again. ‘I be more sure if I’d ever run in the snow before… But I could make the run in the sand. “Yeah. I’m sure.” ‘I don’t want him risking his life when It’s my idea…’

“Like 100% sure, because I’ll pull for three.”

“I’m sure, now are you ready?”

He rolled his eyes with a sigh. “You better know what you're doing minotaur slayer…”

“I know what I’m trying to do…”

He cracked his neck jumping up and down a few times to get the nerves out. I can’t believe you're smiling right now…

My heartbeat quickened anticipating the fight. He was right, I was getting excited. A life-or-death battle was the only thing that forced me to get over whatever thoughts haunted me, and every time I faced one I felt myself grow. Even recovering from my battle with the minotaur, being bathed in its blood strengthened my muscles, that was the only explanation I had for why I had suddenly become so much stronger. Strong enough to do something crazy.

“I have a pretty good healing potion and decent armor, so the question isn’t whether I’ll win, it’s how close I’ll get to dying.”

“Not helping my confidence, but that’ll make a good story.” He groaned before bursting out of the cave like a bolt from a crossbow. In a flash he was gone, screaming to get its attention.

The moment it saw him I took off for the hill. The snow was deep, but not up to my knee, so I could manage, carrying my feet as fast as I could until my legs started to burn and my lungs started to sting.

It swept down and before it could reach him he almost seemed to split into three people for a second like a mirage, slipping directly between the bird's talons.

I made it to the hill, trying to climb it, but slipping on the wet snow. ‘Sparks…’ I turned back to see it dive after him again. ‘That’s two…’ This time he blinked and stepped to the side, traveling several meters so fast it almost looked like he teleported. ‘Gotta move…’ I felt a sharp spike rush through my heart as I pulled out my ax, lodging it into the side of the hill and using it to climb higher, jumping from its head and sticking my dagger into it to help me pull myself up to the top.

I turned to find the bird, but when I traced it with my eyes it was making another dive at Finn, just before it got a hold of him he somehow managed to parry its talons with his knife, doing the other.

‘So much for giving me two…’

After the third sweep he turned invisible, at least from where I was standing, from then on I was on my own again. ‘Let’s get to work.’