“Wow, really? There are wolves all over the place in these woods. I'm surprised we haven't seen any so far tobe honest. Though the weather has been pretty poor, so maybe they've holed up in their dens.”
“I'm glad we haven't. That would be awful,” Lori spluttered.
“Wolves are fine.” Lephas shrugged. “They wouldn't be interested in us anyway, not unless they were starving to death and had no other options. They tend to avoid civilisation as much as they can.”
“I find that hard to believe,” Lori muttered.
“It’s the truth. Wolves mean no real harm, but bears? That's a different story. I wouldn't fancy running into one, especially at this time of the year. They get aggressive when they're hungry and aren't afraid to fight you if you get in their way.”
Satisfied that he had skinned and gutted the rabbit to the best of his ability, given the poor light and rigor mortis that had set in, Lephas scooted to join Lori on the floor by the fire.
He hastily piled together handfuls of dried foliage. It would burn quickly, but there was plenty of it going spare. There were even some larger, thicker branches where it appeared the bear had dragged half a tree in to the den.
“I thought bears hibernated during winter?” Lori asked curiously.
“Most do, but there are sable bears in this part of the forest. They tend to roam all year round. They're big so the cold doesn't bother them too much and they're fast enough to catch deer, so they manage to find food even in the depths of winter.”
“That's terrifying.” The faerie gazed up at him, eyes wide.
“They are pretty fearsome.”
Lephas struck a match and held it to the fire. It lit easily and the flames coursed through the dried leaves. In seconds the fire had taken hold and began crackling and flickering.
The heat from these flames was far greater than their pitiful fire from the previous night. Lephas sat near it for a few moments, enjoying the warmth on his face.
“I hadn't realised how cold I was.” Lori took her gloves off and held her small, pale hands out towards the fire.
Lephas nodded in agreement, before reluctantly moving away to prepare the rabbit for cooking.
“Keep an eye on that fire for me. Those leaves won't last for long. Just keep throwing more branches in – the thicker it is, the longer it'll burn.”
Lori snapped a few dry twigs and threw them dutifully onto the flames. Lephas stripped a thick branch of its leaves and speared the rabbit with it.
He sat back down beside Lori and placed the meat into the fire.
“I think maybe we should try to keep some of this for tomorrow, if we can.” Lephas suggested, turning the spit in his hands. “I'm not sure what we're going to do for food tomorrow yet.”
“Which reminds me...” Lori dragged his pack to her side and rummaged through it. She silently produced the metal pot and got to her feet, brushing the dust and debris from her behind.
“I'll go get some snow.” She wandered back towards the cave entrance, returning moments later with the pot full. Her hair was covered in a generous layer of snowflakes, she shook them free.
“I take it it's still snowing out there then?”
“It's still falling pretty heavily,”” Lori replied and sat herself down heavily beside him once more. She placed the metal pot into the embers as he had taught her.
“If it would let up, just for a day or so, a bit of sunshine would start to thaw the worst of it. It would make our journey a lot easier,” Lephas sighed and turned the rabbit again.
“How are you feeling today?” Lori asked.
“Sore. I've broken ribs before, but usually Haros fixes them right up. It's been years since I’ve had to heal anything of any significance on my own. I'd forgotten how painful it is.” Lephas grimaced.
“How did he learn how to heal anyway? I thought you said it was forbidden?” The faerie probed curiously.
“It is. Very much so.” Lephas nodded. “When Haros was a child, he was sent to a secret underground school where they taught him the basics.”
“So, demons can't usually use majick then? Not without being taught, I mean.”
“Not usually, but that’s not a hard and fast rule. There are some rare individuals that are born with a natural ability that don't require teaching.” He paused.
