Chapter 161

Stalking was never something I was good at, and I didn’t need it anyway.

We arrived at the area of the underground caves. The snow had transformed the landscape into a labyrinth of death traps; each step could be the last, to further despair. We had to go around thick trees to avoid sinking. In the canyon the acoustics were different; suddenly I heard a growing boom. We managed to get down to the frozen river, but the party was coming our way: a massive mountain of muscle broke through the low branches of the pine trees on the other bank.

He was fleeing, he was running without looking where he was going. Until he turned his head.

“Here we go!” I exclaimed, and remained motionless.

He saw me. I don’t know if he recognized me, but he saw me; at first he hesitated and in a split second he lunged toward me. There was blood and open wounds in his fur, a fang was missing from his red-tinted mouth, and his entire solid body trembled as his feet stamped on the snow.<