“Could you stop being a motherfucker for two damn seconds—”

Roooaaaaarrrrrrr.

It was so loud, it nearly shattered my eardrums. The horses were immediately startled, releasing loud cries as they fell back on their hind legs.

Kingsnake was on his feet instantly, the hilt of his sword in his grasp. Fang burst out of his warm bucket and slithered to our side so quickly. Kingsnake grabbed me by the arm and shook me. “Take the horse and run.”

“I’m not leaving you—”

“Do as I say.” He ran into the darkness.

Aurelias was gone too.

It all happened so fast, and I couldn’t see a thing.

Roooaaaarrrrrrr.

Holy shit, were there two?

And I was stuck in the dark, unable to see a damn thing.

The sound of fighting came to my ears, so I knew the battle had begun.

Do something, Larisa.

I reached into my pack and pulled out the matches. I grabbed a pile of logs and made a pile then set it ablaze right at the base of a large tree. It wasn’t big enough to cast much light, but within seconds, the base of the tree caught fire, and then the rest of it was aflame.

I could finally see—but now I wished I were back in my blissful darkness.

These yetis werenothinglike bears.

Taller than the trees that surrounded us, with razor-sharp teeth protruding from their mouths, they were far more terrifying than a mere orc, which looked like an ant in comparison. It was far more terrifying than the werewolf I’d encountered, more terrifying than anything I’d ever heard of.

Kingsnake dodged the mighty swing of the monster then slammed his sword down on its wrist, drawing a pool of blood. The monster roared before it swung again, but Kingsnake rolled out of the way and sliced at his ankle.

I was just about to join him in the battle when I saw Aurelias go flying through the air and collide with a branch of a tree fifteen feet off the ground. Then he fell, landing at the base with a loud thud. He didn’t move.

“Shit…”

Aurelias tried to get up, but he slipped back to the ground, too disoriented to stand and fight. His sword was lost somewhere in the snow. His hand reached around him, looking for the sword that was nowhere nearby.

I expected the yeti to move toward Kingsnake instead, but he lunged forward, ready to finish the job.

“Fuck.” Without thinking twice about how stupid the decision was, I sprinted forward, pulled my dagger out of my belt, and threw it at his right eye. It was dark and snowing, and I didn’t think there was any chance I’d hit my mark, but if it got his nose, it would still do enough damage to distract him.

But by a fucking miracle, I got him right in the eye.

Roooaaaarrrrrrr.

His giant hands reached for his face, the dagger deep in his black eye.

That was my opening.

I sprinted to him and stabbed my sword into his stomach, pushing with all my weight to get that blade as deep as it would go.

“Move!” Aurelias shouted from where he lay by the tree, trying to push himself up but was too weak.

I ran underneath the yeti’s body and barely avoided the large hand that swiped right at my head. My feet got caught in the snow, and I tripped forward, coming face-to-face with Aurelias’s fallen blade. Just as I grabbed it, the yeti turned around to face me, my blade still protruding from his lower stomach.