She swallowed hard. “Like the buffalo?"
“Yes. Exactly.”
The beast snorted, pawed the ice, then lowered its head again.
The canyon narrowed as they neared the final stretch, the ice walls rising high on both sides like frozen cliffs. The herd of wild ice beasts moved restlessly across the basin—massive, horned creatures whose footsteps made the ground tremble. Vaelor kept Mara close, guiding her with slow, rhythmic steps, matching the herd’s pace just as she’d described from her childhood story.
It was working.
For them.
The others… not so much.
Ahead, the Slurchan and the Rasilian were practically crawling across the ice, their bodies flattened low to avoid drawing attention. It might have worked—if they hadn’t chosen a path directly through the herd’s center.
A thunderous bellow shook the canyon.
One of the beasts stomped down, its massive hoof slamming onto the Slurchan’s gelatinous back. The creature flattened like a pancake, then sprang back into shape with a wet fwop.
The Rasilian wasn’t so lucky. The stomp sent him skidding across the ice like a kicked crystal sculpture.
Yet somehow, impossibly, both of them kept going.
Mara whispered, “They’re… still alive?”
“Barely,” Vaelor murmured.
Farther ahead, Esto—the Sorian—decided subtlety wasn’t for him. He broke into a sprint, darting between the beasts with reckless speed.
“Esto, no,” Mara muttered.
The herd reacted instantly. A wall of fur and horns surged toward the movement. Esto zagged, fast but not fast enough. A beast clipped him with a sweeping horn, sending him flying into a snowbank.
Arian, his winged partner, panicked and launched into the air.
The herd hated anything above them.
A chorus of enraged bellows echoed through the canyon as several beasts reared up, swiping at him. Arian dodged once, twice—then a massive clawed paw caught him mid-flight, slamming him into the ground beside Esto.
Both lay still.
Mara winced. “That’s… not good.”
“They are alive,” Vaelor said, though he wasn’t entirely certain. “But they are out.”
They continued forward, careful, steady, nearly at the canyon’s end when—
A shove.
Hard.
Mara stumbled out from behind the protective ridge of ice and into the open.
Vaelor’s heart seized. “Mara!”
He lunged after her, grabbing her arm and pulling her against his chest just as a nearby beast lifted its head, sniffing the air. Vaelor shifted his body to shield her, lowering them both into a crouch, mimicking the herd’s posture.
The beast snorted, pawed the ice… then turned away.
