“Make haste, you two! We’ll go through harsh terrain to find the lair of that savage.”

We bolted to our horses,I prepared my bow and arrows. Despite using a bow a couple of times in my life, I felt confident in my abilities. I knew how to aim and took environmental factors into account. Years of experience in the battlefield would pay off today. Nahia gave me some of the old clothes she found in the attic, so I didn’t look like a homeless person. I climbed to the horse, and helped Alba to climb on my back.

“What’s your plan, Nahia? We can’t just kill a behemoth with a frontal assault.”

She climbed to her horse and huffed at her bow. Alba and I looked at each other but before we could ask the question, we got our answer. It spread red sparkles around it as if she casted a spell on it. She looked at us, puzzled.

“You’re not going to do it?”

“Do what?”

I had no idea what I was supposed to do. In a state of panic, I raised the bow and blew on it. Alba locked her arms around my waist and huffed at the bow. The red glow of the bow shifted to a dark blue. We all watched it in amazement. Alba and I must’ve channeled our magic to the bow. I still had to figure out how to make use of this energy at hand. Nahia came closer to inspect it. I somehow managed to surprise her once again.

“I’m amazed by your capabilities, but be careful. Condensed magic will overwhelm you.”

“John can handle this; I believe in him.”

“Let’s hope nothing bad will happen. Now listen, my plan is that we’ll injure her by shooting at her paws. Don’t kill her by any means.”

“Shouldn’t we just kill it?”

“We must find its lair first. It was pregnant a couple of months ago, we need to kill its offspring or it’ll continue to be a threat.”

“I’d like to be useful as well, but I don’t have any weapons,” Alba groaned.

Nahia shrugged.

“You will protect us with spells. We need a supporter to cover our back.”

Alba didn’t seem to be satisfied by the answer, but Nahia went on.

“It’s an agile monster so always be on the move. Before we’ll find her, she’ll find us.”

I nodded, and we moved out. We went through forests that looked identical to each other. Nahia shot glowing arrows on the way to the trees. We’d use these to find our way back home. A snowstorm caught us in the open, and Nahia ordered us to ride behind her. I couldn’t keep up with her, the distance between us grew to the point that I couldn’t see her anymore. A set of panic crept into me.

“I’m afraid we lost her, Alba. I hope we won’t die here.”

“You can get us out of here, John. I believe in you.”

I remembered the time where I got lost on snowy mountains chasing rebels, and my skin crawled. Worse, I had someone else with me, so I had to bring both of us into safety. All of my failures in life resurfaced once again to torment me. I teared up, yet I had to go on. If I learned anything from life, it wasn’t nice to losers.

Alba must’ve noticed my mental state as the horse slowed down, and stopped. She gave me a kiss from the back.

“Hey, don’t take all the responsibility for yourself. We’re in this together, darling.”

I couldn’t hold myself anymore, so I turned back and kissed her. We hugged and I didn't let her go. I’ve been deprived of love for so long that even a sign of affection drove me crazy.

“What’s your plan then, princess?”

She threw me off the horse into the snow and took the saddle. As I tried to make sense of it, she gave me her hand.

“I’ll ride, you’ll shoot. It’s that simple.”

She pointed at the tree lump on our left. Startled, the horse also made erratic movements. That monster must’ve been stalking us all the time. I got on the back of the horse and turned my back to Alba. She blew a huge whistle and the horse bolted. In a futile attempt, the monster lashed at us, but the glowing arrow that landed next to it scared her away. She growled from the woods, and withdrew for a while.

“Prepare yourself for the best ride of your life!”

I shot some senseless arrows into the trees, but it took me some time to realize the cunning nature of the animal. Since she couldn’t confront us face to face, she’d instead try to ambush us in the forest. Alba steered clear of the area she lurked in, and circled the area so I could get a good shot. I let my guard down for a moment to estimate the whereabouts of the animal, and that’s when she jumped at us.

If I tried to aim at her, it would be too late. I took a shot from the hip, and the arrow pierced through her left front leg.

She stopped the chase and limped to the forest. But Alba didn’t let her go, we chased the injured animal and this time, I landed a shot to her right front leg. That also went through her leg, and the animal let out a huge roar. Now she wouldn’t dare to attack us, which guaranteed our safety. At this point, Alba slowed the horse and we kept a distance with her. I turned to Alba, who had a devilish grin on her face.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

“See? Together, we’re stronger!”

“You’re right, I should ask for help more often.”

“If you won’t, then I’ll force my way into your problem.”

As we hugged and kissed each other on the way, Nahia appeared behind us. Both the horse and her turned pink from the cold. She gathered herself after she reached us. She didn’t seem happy, though.

“I thought you got killed when you got lost in the snow. You only had to follow me, idiot!”

She got off the horse to hug Alba, the agitated horse took deep breaths.

“Hey, I apologize. But we managed to evade it, and even wounded her as you told us.”

“And you did a great job of that. Let’s finish her off here.”

We approached the creature’s den, and heard a few weak growls from the darkness. This monster retreated to its den as one last resort. The animal’s crystal blue eyes challenged us for one final time. It wouldn’t be a good idea to go into a dark hole with a desperate animal inside, willing to do whatever she can.

“Any suggestions on what to do?”

Alba avoided eye contact; she had something in her mind. After I pursued her to give her opinion, she finally said it.

“Can we find a way to not kill its babies?”

Nahia replied with a stern “no”. The idea of letting the cubs go loose also didn’t make sense to me. True, this would make me a cruel being, but the threat to humans was far greater. On one occasion, a friend tried to bring an injured comrade to safety, and turned to minced meat from an unnoticed mine. Being the nice one didn’t change his painful death. Still, I never reveled in the suffering of others, and I doubt Nahia did as well.

“I’m sorry Alba, but we have to kill all of them. That’s how mother nature demands it.”

“But John-”

I held her hands.

“I know how you feel, Alba. I promise we’ll cause as little pain as possible.”

“Agreed. If there’s one thing I hate more than the cold, it’s senseless cruelty.”

“I’m glad we found a common ground. Now, how are we going to kill this animal?”

“Your arrows have armor piercing capabilities if you blend your magic with Alba’s. If we land a few decisive shots on her, she will die.”

Alba and I held our hands above the arrows. A river of magic flowed from my hands to the bow, and they turned to purple. Since the animal emanated some kind of magic, I assumed magic wasn’t just limited to humans, but also to animals and plants as well.

I shot an arrow to the point where the animal’s eyes glowed. The cave shook from the roar and it lunged at us. Nahia shot extra arrows to guarantee the kill, and sure enough, it collapsed at the entrance. Nahia let out a victory scream, and turned to a crazed lunatic. She unleashed her fury on the defenseless animal. She kicked and mocked the dying animal. Both of us froze for a moment to process what just happened, and I berated Nahia for her cruelty.

“What are you doing? Just let it die in peace. You don’t need to do this.”

“Do you have any idea how long I’ve been waiting for this moment? It killed my family; I have the right to enjoy my victory.”

“You can just kill it, Nahia. Please don’t torture the animal.”

She sighed, and crouched next to it. In one swing, she beheaded the animal. I’d congratulate her if she didn’t poke the animal with her sword just a moment ago. Alba took the head as Nahia headed into the cavern.

“If these animals continue to breed here, they’ll be a danger to the villagers. It's best for us to kill the puppies as well.”

“Be gentle with them.”

Her sour face softened for a moment as she stared at the beheaded corpse.

“I’ll try to.”

Every minute turned to grueling torture for us, Alba put the lifeless head next to the animal and watched the dead body. While I had conflicting thoughts of Nahia, I couldn’t blame her. She lived alone in this desolate area for who knew how long. Anyone would be molded by this white hell. The only people she cherished in her life had been killed by a monster. Still, her cruelty against a defeated animal churned my stomach.

The cub’s cries got silenced sharply, and Nahia came back after what felt like years. Blood dripped from the sword, its death must’ve been quick. She didn’t seem happy or sad, she just had a distant look which I knew too well from my friends in the army.

“They will no longer threaten the humans here. Now help me to skin this animal, their fur and meat is worth a fortune.”

We skinned the animal while Alba watched it from the side. She helped Nahia to carry the meat back to the house. She explained that various kinds of rare potions could be made from it. Additionally, the nobles loved it not just for the taste, but also the prestige that brought it to that noble’s house. Despite the energy she had just an hour ago, Nahia seemed tired. She averted her eyes and remained silent until we arrived at home. Alba let me ride back home as she carried the meat.

We got off the horse and carried the meat inside. Before I carried the furs inside, Nahia stopped me to apologize for her behavior.

“You’re right, I should’ve killed her honorably. To make amends, I’ll wear her skin as much as I can.”

I cut some wood to prepare the fire while the other two cured the meat. Obviously, people didn’t have a fridge in this day and age, so they had to preserve meat in different ways.I brought the wood inside and saw a few weird colored bricks next to the cauldron. Nahia chopped some vegetables and threw them in it with the bricks. This intrigued me, but the colors of them also put me off. Nahia rolled her eyes after my weird question.

“These are dried meat stocks I prepared a couple of months ago. I can drop them to the cauldron and my dinner is ready.”

Just as she said it, a beautiful smell filled the house. Alba put the meat into the soup and we sat in front of the fire. We roasted the meat on the side to try it, and we both loved it very much. It tasted like a prime rib with some spice in it. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the noise of fire mixed with the wind outside. Alba liked it so much she munched on the meat while the soup boiled.

“At this point you won’t have any empty space left in your stomach for the soup.”

“But this is so good,” said Alba as she stuffed her mouth.

We got our bowls of soup, and I enjoyed this delicacy to the last drop. The herbs accommodated the meat nicely. I found the right moment to strike a conversation.

“Well, what will you do now?”

She didn’t say a word at first. She got busy with the soup.

“I don’t know. Rot here until I die, I guess.”

“Well, hey, you have much more to live for. Life is full of wonders.”

Alba jumped in.

“Giving up is not the answer. See, we fought together and won the fight!”

She seemed hesitant to give an answer, but my smile melted the ice between us.

“It’s so strange. Someone comes from the depths of the white and drags me out of the nightmare that I live in.”

“They say life is stranger than fiction.”

She giggled. She looked happier, and I appreciated the way she was.

“I wish I could bring the past back again. But no being is capable of such a thing.”

“That’s right, all we can do is move on.”

We both got startled as Alba pointed at the frozen meat in her hands. I struggled to explain to myself how a cooked meal just a minute ago turned to an ice cube.

“How did you do that?”

“I have no idea, I just huffed a cold breath to it, and it froze.”

Nahia took the meat from her hands, rolled inside her palm and put it over the fire. Bewildered, she gave it back to Alba. She huffed again and all the ice melted.

“Not everyone can use their magic to this extent. You’re a rarity among the folk.”

She nodded, and didn’t say more. I took another bowl of soup from the boiling cauldron. The vegetables melted in my mouth while I chewed the tender meat.

Our feast came to an end as everyone started to yawn and we went to our beds. Tomorrow we’d finally see a village and I was excited to see how they differed from ours. We wished Nahia good night and went to bed.