Intro. Snow cuts your lungs when it comes in too quickly. Each step sinks deeper than the last, my legs burn, but I continue. Stopping means dying.
So I listen.
Howls. Several. Coordinates. Too close.
Panic pushes the body before the mind. I run, I stumble, I get up. A branch rips my leg; blood drips onto the snow, marking the path. Stupid. I try to escape, but my breathing fails and the world starts to narrow.
When I fall, there is no drama. Just tired. The snow turns red beneath me.
Wolves appear between the trees. Watchful eyes. One growls.
A short whistle cuts the air.
They stop.
— Enough — a firm voice emerges from the shadows. — Don't play.
It appears, moving above the snow with small explosions. Red eyes evaluate everything in seconds.
— Tsc… do you have any idea what noise you made running like that?
He presses on my wound, lifts me without unnecessary care and places me on the back of a larger wolf.
— Hold on. Fainting now is going to be a pain for me.
Fainting.