The rising sun filtered through thick and grey clouds, and my steps were left uneven in the snow. The vividness of the forest faded with the rising sun.
I knew that I was as good as dead. My vision blurred with the headache, and the taste of acid burned my throat. I was weak with a sickness that my body did not understand, and I could not comprehend. But everything just felt twisted and wrong.
"owoo." I squinted my eyes and remembered I was not traveling alone. A wolf three-fourths my height walked a few feet ahead of me. It was one of Fenret's aids, tasked with leading me back to my partner, a service he gifted in kind, and yet the wolf was not amused by my pace.
"WOF!" The wolf barked in annoyance as if ringing my ears would help. Its disappointment only grew as I fell. The snow was cold and soft, and my body was hot and stiff; for a while, I considered melting into it.
I heard a huffing whine, and my world was lifted and overturned, landing my back on a bed of grey fur. Its roughness and stench were the only things I would complain about.
"How are you this heavy after just one night!" A boy's voice exclaimed. Raising my head from my bed of matted fur, I could see that no one else was there. "Why did it have to be me?" The voice whined and huffed. And I realized who was talking.
"You can talk?"
"You can understand me?" The confusion on their face was clear as mine, and it was the first time I learned a wolf could make such an expression. Wind whistled to fill the silence, carrying the fragments of snowfall.
Snap! A broken branch fell and crashed softly on the snow near the base of a tree. Both our heads quickly tilted up, trailing up its base, scanning the dark bark of the sky-piercing tree, and for a moment, we saw nothing. Then a yellow smile appeared.
"RUN!" I yelled, and an electric shock ran through me, expelling the sickness instantly.
"GO!" I yelled again, feet scrambling for grip.
The smile grew bigger and wider, showing a black maw lined shoulder to shoulder with pitchfork teeth!
Suddenly, being pulled forward as my guide came to his senses, the trees blurred as we passed them. An explosive crash plumed behind us, and hiding underneath the cloud of snow, their white scales shimmered into existence. A white basilisk. It was my first encounter with one, but that did nothing to calm my racing chest.
"Aren't we under the lord's protection!?" I exclaimed, looking back, the black eyes of the creature made me tighten my grip around the guide.
"WE ARE!" They barked, not daring to look back, but even then, fear and fading shock were clear on his face.
"We should go b-"
"No!" I interrupted, taking a breath to steady my voice. "Continue on the path back to my partner."
"Are you sure?" Uncertainty flickered on his face for a second, but the roar of the basilisk drowned it. "I hope you have a plan."
I did not, but I held hope.
"I do," I said, mustering what confidence remained. "Trust me." I was shocked by my own voice; the tone was unfamiliar even to my ears.
The basilisk roared after us, trailing clouds of snow, its white scales shimmering in and out of existence. And even for a beast, its movements were erratically wild. It leapt onto a tree, long muscular legs and arms quickly grabbing, sinking its nails into the bark before jumping onto the next, leaving a rain of wood and splinters in its wake.
My hand frantically rummages inside my coat, hoping to find anything useful against it. But only found a compass, a map, rations, and useless knives.
"How close is she?" I asked, quelling the nervousness in my voice.
"Her scent is still far, a few tree- DOWN!" I quickly complied and felt a large hook tear off the hood of my coat. Followed a horrid screech and muffled crash.
"Run faster!" I yelled, looking back at the beast, which was already leaping from tree to tree.
"I AM!" They bark, glancing back at me, and they quickly turn their head back once they see what is behind. "YOU DO SOMETHING!"
"Like what!?" I retorted, failing to steady my voice.
"ANYTHING!" They blared, pleading.
My hand went back inside my coat, fingers brushing every item, and my mind raced for ideas. But what could I do against a ravaging beast whose skin was white iron and limbs were tall and dangerous as a knight?
Stupidity or pure brilliance, an idea came, and I took out my rations. A rectangular slab of dried meat wrapped in cloth. Barely a snack for a beast of that size, but maybe it would be desperate enough for an easier meal.
Biting my tongue, the taste of warm iron quickly filled my mouth. Its viscosity made me gag, but I kept my mouth shut. Looking back, the basilisk was nowhere to be found, and I looked up and saw its grin.
"RIGHT!" I commanded, spewing blood on the clothed meat before throwing it to the left.
In a second, its black eyes shifted before pouncing, and I reveled for a moment as it crashed into a mound of snow and wood.
"How did you know there was a log there?" The guide interrupted, panting
"I didn't," I answered, looking at the ravaging cloud of scales and claws. Was my blood that enticing? I shook the thought off and looked forward. The plan had worked, but it would be naïve to think it would hold off such a beast.
"How far is she?"
"Where closer, but her scent is far and…" Their sudden pause made me look forward, but there was nothing there but snow and black bark.
"What is it?"
"It's everywhere…" Their answer was one of confusion and wonder, as if it were the first time they experienced such an event.
"I don't know what happened," they said, shaking their head. "It's almost like a sudden avalanche, her scent is everywhere!"
"Can you still find her?" I asked, controlling my voice. They sniffed the air and reacted as if smelling something foul.
"…I can."