The sun was shining on Arix's face. He was sitting on his knees, staring at the sword which had already gone silent.

  The snowstorm had eased a little, with the snowfall too. The weather was good.

  Arix took a deep breath before standing up. "I will die if I drop it, huh?" he thought before packing the bag.

  "Alright, how am I going to find this beast?" he said, picking his bag up onto his shoulder, ready to move on.

  Arix looked at the endless snow stretching before his eyes before heading out from the rock and starting his journey.

  He was going up again, toward the peak. He thought it would be a good idea to go up and start his way down.

  It would take a full day to reach the peak again. It would be a long walk again.

  "It would be so much better if the beast just walked in front of me," he said loudly, trying to ease the unfamiliar loneliness creeping in during his travel.

  Snow was falling in front of him, with walls stretching on both sides. He could only see in front of him and behind him.

  Looking behind at the path he had already taken was pointless, so Arix only kept his vision ahead. He could hear his foot sinking in the snow. The sinking was not very deep like the day before, and his speed had improved too. Still, Arix thought the way forward was long. He wanted this mountain to end already.

  His breath misted from his nose, and the wind stung his ears.

  After a few hours of walking, the snowstorm got stronger again.

  Arix was walking slowly, each step placed with caution.

  He was watching the snow ahead when something caught his attention.

  The blue eyes emerged again from ahead. He stopped walking, looking at its next move.

  The beast emerged again, holding prey of the same species it had carried the day before.

  Arix kept staring at it, breathing hard. He didn't try to attack or hide from the beast, nor did he get afraid this time.

  He kept standing there in the path of the beast.

  When the beast saw him, it stood still too, staring at Arix. They were both staring at each other, waiting for the other to make a move.

  Arix brought his hand forward and started walking toward the beast.

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  The beast, seeing a human walking toward it, lowered its horns and stepped back, ready to attack.

  Arix didn't stop. He walked toward it with both his hands forward. "I will not attack you. Come here to me," he said in a very low voice. His eyes never left the beast.

  "I am your friend."

  The beast didn't react as Arix wanted. Seeing that a human was closing in on it, it ran toward him, lowering its horns.

  Arix saw it striking toward him, but it was fast and Arix had no time to leave its path. And he didn't want to run either.

  "I will not run away," he thought when the beast finally slammed into his body. But Arix didn't fly away. He stood there, gripping both the beast's horns.

  "Agh…" he screamed, channeling all his strength into his hands. But it was not enough. The beast was stronger than him. He was sliding backward through the snow.

  The beast let out a haunting moan before releasing more force at Arix. Its prey fell to the ground when its strength finally overpowered Arix.

  Arix fell to the ground, breathing faster than ever, staring at the beast's blue eyes. The beast stopped too, watching Arix.

  After watching him for a while, the beast howled at the sky. Its voice was very high-pitched.

  It then turned around, picked up its prey, and started walking away from Arix.

  "Hey, wait. You can't walk away again," Arix screamed before standing up and trying to walk forward, but he failed as his legs got twisted because of the fall.

  He ground his teeth and clutched his legs, falling into the snow again, and then watched as the beast faded in the distance.

  "Aghhhh…" he screamed to the sky, beating his hand on the snow in frustration.

  He then dragged himself to the wall and leaned against it, resting for a while, gasping for breath.

  After a while, his legs recovered enough to walk. They were just twisted, but still took longer than usual to heal. But he decided to rest for a day, as the sun was about to set.

  He rested under a jagged rock jutting out of the mountainside.

  In the morning, he headed toward the top again, following where the beast had gone yesterday.

  "I should have followed it yesterday when I could see its footsteps. But these legs…" he thought, looking at his legs.

  "I hope they are not worried about me," he whispered, thinking of the group. "Has Tarin recovered? What if they start looking for me?" Thoughts started spiraling through his head when he shook his head, focusing on the snow in front of him. He sighed and kept walking ahead to the peak, which was still a little far.

  Not much happened throughout the day. He saw the same snow and his footsteps until afternoon, when he reached the peak again.

  He looked down and saw large footprints in the snow, leading down the mountain.

  There wasn't much snow at the peak, so the beast's footsteps from yesterday were still visible. Arix's eyes lit up and a big smile covered his face.

  He headed quickly in the direction of the footprints.

  There were still traces of wind, and the snowfall was still there, but not strong. The grasses were sprouting from the ground a little.

  Arix moved quickly, following the footprints in a straight line. Then the footprints changed direction.

  He saw the footprints going left into the cave, similar to the cave where Lyra and Tarin were resting. This was a different cave on the opposite side of the first one.

  "This must be the place," Arix thought, staring at the entry of the cave and the footprints leading inside.

  He took a deep breath, tightened his grip around his backpack, and headed inside.

  The cave was dark. Water dripped at the edges and a foul smell hung in the air. Arix grimaced and covered his nose before walking forward.

  "What is this wicked smell?" he thought.

  He walked slowly, looking around and ready for any danger.

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