The storm had quieted, but the world outside the cave was colder than death.
Snow hissed beneath Kael's boots as he stumbled out into the open, his breath rising in pale plumes. Behind him, the Alpha hunter limped after, blood trailing behind in dark streaks across the white ground.
The childlike wendigo followed, crawling on all fours through the mouth of the cave. Its movements were jerky, twitching, too fast for its shape. The light from the moon caught on its body — the skin pale as frost, glimmering faintly with shards of ice.
It smiled when it saw the snow.
"Outside," it murmured, voice soft and high, like a memory of a child. "Cold… I remember this cold."
Kael said nothing. His sword was raised, the edge faintly steaming. The Alpha hunter was half a step behind him, teeth gritted, using his blade as a crutch.
"We'll lead it deeper," Kael muttered, his breath harsh. "Use the trees to limit its tails. Keep it moving."
The older hunter coughed blood, nodding. "You talk like we've got a plan."
"We don't. We have instincts."
The wendigo tilted its head at the exchange, eyes glinting blue.
"Instincts," it echoed, crawling closer. "That's what you called it. Back when I was human."
It rose onto two legs — short, unsteady — then fell back down, landing gracefully on all fours again.
"I remember… starving. Days without food. Skin against bone. Then came the cold, and the hunger louder than thought. You don't know hunger until it changes you."
It took a step forward. The snow froze solid beneath its claws.
"But now, I don't starve. I don't feel the cold. You could too. You could be free."
Kael's jaw clenched. "No thanks."
He shifted his stance, drawing the wendigo's attention away from the Alpha hunter. The creature grinned wider, crouching, tails twitching like whips ready to strike.
Then it moved.
Snow burst upward as it lunged, claws raking the air. Kael sidestepped, parrying the first strike, then dove low to slash at its arm. The blade met icy flesh with a ringing crack — but the wendigo twisted, letting the sword glance off its shoulder. It spun and lashed out with both tails, the air whistling as they cut past Kael's face.
He ducked beneath one and countered with a rising cut that grazed its ribs.
The creature staggered a step, then laughed — a brittle, childlike giggle that echoed through the trees.
"Still warm," it said. "Still bleeding. You smell so good."
The Alpha hunter raised his sword from the side and charged with a hoarse yell. His strike connected — a clean hit that severed one of the wendigo's tails. Blue blood hissed into steam as it hit the snow.
The wendigo shrieked, spinning with unnatural speed.
Before the man could react, the remaining tail slammed into him, sending him tumbling into a tree trunk with a dull crack.
Kael's heart lurched. "Hold on!"
"I'm fine," the older hunter spat, though his voice trembled. "Keep it busy!"
Kael surged forward, blade flashing. The wendigo blocked the blow with its claws, locking with him. Its eyes gleamed like ice shards — ancient, cruel, and almost pitying.
"You fight because you fear to rot. But everything rots, Kael."
The sound of its voice using his name sent a chill down his spine. He hadn't told it that.
It twisted its claw against his blade, forcing him to step back.
"Your kind always fights. Always dies. You could join me… never hunger, never fade."
Kael drove his sword upward, cutting across its chest. "I'd rather die human."
The creature's expression flattened, almost sad.
"Then die."
It lunged again — this time faster. Kael barely raised his guard in time. Claws met steel, tails whipped through the snow, and shards of ice erupted around them. The ground cracked beneath each strike, frost spreading outward like veins of glass.
Kael rolled under its arm, slashing low, aiming for its leg joints. The cut landed, but the blade barely bit — the wendigo's regeneration already sealing over the wound with a layer of icy tissue.
"You can't win," it hissed. "I was human once, too. I tried to fight. I remember the fear — the trembling — and then the warmth when I stopped."
The Alpha hunter, still kneeling, shouted hoarsely, "Don't listen—! It's trying to break you!"
Kael gritted his teeth, blocking another barrage of strikes.
The wendigo's movements grew more erratic — almost playful. It darted to the side, pounced, then circled, claws dragging across the frozen trees, carving deep grooves into the bark.
Kael tracked it with his eyes, controlling his breathing. The snow muffled sound, but he could feel the vibrations — small, quick bursts as the creature darted closer again.
He timed it. Waited. Then swung.
The wendigo ducked — but Kael was ready. He kicked up snow into its face and brought his sword down hard across its shoulder. The strike hit clean this time, splitting through part of its armor and drawing a hiss of vaporized blood. The creature shrieked and recoiled, slamming a tail into the ground that shattered the ice beneath them both.
The Alpha hunter crawled closer, sword trembling in his hand. "If you've got a plan—now's the time."
Kael's gaze swept the forest. He could see the slope just beyond the treeline — where the terrain dropped off into a frozen ravine.
"We take it downhill," he said quickly. "Force it into the narrow path. Its size will work against it."
The Alpha hunter nodded weakly, hauling himself up. "Then move."
Kael slashed once more to draw the wendigo's attention, then turned and sprinted toward the slope. The creature hissed, bounding after him on all fours, its tails carving the air with murderous precision.
Snow sprayed in all directions as Kael dove over the ridge, sliding down the frozen incline. The Alpha hunter followed moments later, half-stumbling, half-falling. Behind them, the wendigo leapt — its shadow crossing the moonlight as it descended after them.
It landed hard, sending tremors through the ice.
Kael twisted mid-slide, sword ready.
The wendigo lunged.
Kael deflected a strike, spun sideways, then drove his blade through one of its tails as it swung. The appendage severed completely, spinning off into the snow.
The creature screamed — a sound of pure, feral rage that shook the forest.
"You still think fighting will save you?" it snarled. "You can't even die right."
Kael stood his ground, chest heaving.
The two clashed again under the pale light — Kael's sword gleaming silver, the wendigo's claws glowing blue. Their movements blurred — hunter and monster locked in a dance of desperation and fury. The Alpha hunter joined from behind, striking low, forcing the creature to retreat a step.
"Good. Make me feel alive again."