During the next months, Rane’s life fell into a pleasant routine. He’d spar with Loric every night and practice his magic at the cabin each day, while the Lanar was gone. He’d gotten good at it too. The fiery sphere in his hand could now fill the entire room with warmth. The number of spells he could cast had increased, but his memories of learning how to cast them were still hazy. All attempts to remember his past proved futile. It was irritating. His memories were there, a foggy mass of thoughts so desperately wanting to be let out, like a name on the tip of his tongue. The more he tried, the more he’d feel them slip away.

His mind would often drift as he gazed out the window. Had the early signs of spring mellowed out the harsh winter, or was he just getting used to the climate? It was hard to tell, but the change was a welcome one. He’d almost forgotten how seasons changed while locked up in the dungeon. The cabin was about the size of the cell, yet it felt much larger. The time he spent here had helped him feel like a person again, regain some dignity. He could finally bathe, eat and sleep properly. Loric had even taught him how to shave and cut his hair.

There was a knock on the door and Rane grabbed the sword Loric had given him. It was a little rusty and the hilt hurt his palm, but it had become his own. He found the Lanar waiting outside. They nodded to one another and began the hunt. The wind howled today, piling up snow in drifts, blinding the afternoon with ice-white dust. Rane walked bent over against the cold, shielding his eyes with his arm. Trees loomed into his vision, then vanished, swallowed in white.

Loric stopped walking, knelt, then pointed south. They had found tracks. Rane could tell the difference between most after a month of hunting with Loric. These footprints were too small for a borash, too shallow. Perhaps they belonged to a lone Togari, a species of winged white wolves.

Wind is favourable for the hunt, Loric had said. Even though it limited visibility, it also drowned out sound and carried away smells. This weather allowed them to tread across the icy forest quickly. The beast’s tracks were fresh too, easy to follow. The hunt would be simple today. Yet when they saw specks of blood mixed in with the snow, Loric stopped dead in his tracks. Rane peered ahead through narrowed eyes and saw a creature, not four gaits away. It was enormous -the bark of the tree it was leaning on curving under its weight- with thorny, tree-like branches protruding from the smooth white fur that covered its head and back. The winged wolf they were tracking had already been crushed between its burly arms. It lifted the carcass up and bit down, dying the snow with bits of blood. Half of the wolf vanished in a single bite. Just the sight of the creature filled Rane with unease, and the crunching sound made him wince. Thankfully it was too absorbed in its meal and hadn’t noticed them yet.

“A dori?” Loric whispered, confusion evident in his voice. He stepped back and motioned for Rane to do the same.

Rane had learned that some things in the mountains were better left undisturbed, and this seemed like one of them. The dori swallowed the rest of the wolf whole and lifted its head, fresh blood dripping from its teeth and tainting its fur. When it looked down at them, Rane’s heart skipped a beat.

“To the left, boy! Hurry!” Loric screamed the order and leapt in the opposite direction.

The creature moved faster than he did, dropping on all fours and breaking into a run. It swung its arm, smashing a tree aside like a thin stick. Rane woke from his stupor, lunging to the side. The dori rushed forth, its fur an avalanche of white.

“Go for its legs!” Loric screamed, drawing the beast’s gaze on him. He weaved beneath a swinging claw and slashed his sword against the dori’s burly hind leg. It reached all the way to the bone. The monster roared in anguish and swung again, but the Lanar was too nimble. He ducked under the blow, forcing a shallow cut across its chest as he moved away.

Rane used the chance to close in under the creature’s shadow. His sword felt heavy in his arms and his hands trembled with anticipation. It was the first time they fought something that massive. Just its hind leg was twice the size of him. He fought back the instinctive fear in his heart and swung his own sword vertically, tearing the creature’s flesh. The slice wasn’t as clean as Loric’s, but it drew blood.

The dori turned and raised its arm. Rane let go of his weapon and spread his hands, willing a frozen shield into existence over him.

Loric dove forth as the creature attacked. He grunted, slamming the sword against the exposed bone. With a loud crack, it shattered, blade slicing through the creature’s flesh. The dori wailed and the arm it used to attack Rane lost the strength behind it. It slid across the ice shield’s surface and the creature collapsed under its own weight.

Rane moved away as the dori struggled to turn upright without the support of its severed limb. The creature gazed at its wound and pressed the stub against the snow to stop the bleeding.

“Back off.” Loric circled around the beast. “Give it space to run.”

Rane picked up his sword and retreated to a safer distance. He caught himself panting. Just one exchange was enough for his body to tire despite all the training he had done. Yet he was glad. He felt muscles he never knew existed and the lightness and energy his body now sported had him hooked.

The monster sized them up again. It bared its teeth and its howls grew wild.

“Not good. It’s male,” Loric said.

“Which means?”

“It means there’s no retreating now. It will follow us until it dies.” The beast snarled, revealing fangs painted red. “Well, or until we die.”

As if responding to Loric’s words, the creature charged at him. Even though it was clumsy, its speed was even faster than before. It had abandoned all attempts at caution and fierceness flashed through its eyes.

“Aim for the other hind leg!” Loric yelled and dashed. The dori pounced after him, an ugly mess of fur and blood. The Lanar dodged claw after claw, but the monster was closing in dangerously. Rane was hot on their heels, desperate to land a solid hit on the remaining leg. The monster’s movements had turned erratic and he could at most graze its skin before it moved away. Should he use his magic? If its fur wasn’t wet he could–

“Help!”

Rane felt a jab of panic. He could make out Loric on the other side, rolling around in the snow. Above him, the dori pounded the ground with wave after wave of claws and teeth.

Before Rane could even react, Loric allowed an attack. The monster’s backhand sent him tumbling through the forest. He didn’t get up. The monster trumpeted above him and raised a claw. Rane paled. The man who had saved his life, who had nursed him back to health and given him the strength to defend himself was about to die. And he could only stand there and watch, powerless. Slashing did nothing, and he was too far to cast a spell. Unless… Could his nora reach far? He had never done it before. He couldn’t–

There wasn’t time to doubt himself. He shook himself into motion. The mist left his body and he willed it to move, willed it to amass above the fallen Lanar. Within a heartbeat it had arrived and after another it had turned solid. Keeping it suspended was taxing, draining his nora by the second. Then the monster’s arm slammed against it and Rane’s breath left him. Every ounce of power within him surged to keep that shield afloat. Yet the weight behind the monster’s arm was too heavy to bear. His mind grew fuzzy as he pulled at his nora. He’d fail, and Loric would die because of him. He couldn’t let that happen. No one else would die because of him.

“You can’t have him.” he forced the words out with a breath.

The beast bellowed in anger and propped itself off the ground to strike with both claws. Rane was allowed a second of rest before the monster’s entire weight slammed against the shield. Blood burst out of his nose and the pressure in his head grew asphyxiating. And yet he held. His ears rung with pressure, as if he suddenly dove deep beneath the sea. He could barely feel the hold he had on his nora. The force seemed much lighter now. Had he let go? He steeled himself and looked over.

The Lanar was down on one knee, holding the shield, pushing up a monster many times his size. He was alive! Rane didn’t dare loosen his hold. He pulled as much as his remaining nora allowed him to. Loric propped the ice up with a grunt and balanced it between shoulder and hand. His free hand reached for his sword.

“Let go, boy!” he yelled.

Did he hear right? Loric wanted him to stop pulling?

“Just do it!” Loric snapped back. There was an urgency in his voice, so Rane could only trust him. He let the magic he had struggled so hard to maintain vanish. Loric moved at the last second, letting the shield slam to the ground behind him and raising his sword to the sky. The dori’s body crushed onto the blade, breastbone shattering with a sickening crunch.. Loric carried the blade with him through the torrent of blood, tracing through the creature’s underside as it fell. The dori toppled to the side.

Rane and Loric were left panting. They looked at the creature that lay motionless, then at each other. “Is it dead?” Rane walked closer. He couldn’t believe they had actually managed to kill that monstrous thing.

“We won!” Loric yelled in triumph and lifted his short arms up in the air. He grabbed Rane and pulled him close for a short, tight hug, almost stabbing a cheek with his horn. When he let go though, Rane felt weak in the knees. He fell on all fours onto the snow, tired in arms and legs all of a sudden. Red pulsed in his vision from one moment to the next as his heart hammered in his chest. “What–” Something warm trickled from his nose onto the snow. Blood. His blood.

“Rane?” Loric hurried onto one knee next to him. He palmed Rane’s forehead and lifted his head up. “Damnations! You went wild, boy, way too wild! ”

Rane could hear the worry on him. “What’s happening to me?”

“You got soulburned. Released too much nora too quickly.” Loric had him lay down on the snow. It did little to help. “Take some deep breaths and try to relax. As your nora returns to you, you’ll feel better.”

“It hurts.” Rane hissed. And it did. Heat grew from the inside, like hot steam trying to tear a hole through his chest to escape. Sydell’s torture paled compared to this, but it had prepared him.

“I know,” Loric stroked his hair with one hand and squeezed his palm with the other. “I’m here for you. I’m here. It will be over soon.”

"Damn it,” Rane grabbed some snow and brought it up to his face, trying to shave off the dizziness. Mere moments later, he felt a surge of nora finding his chest and being sucked inside by the pressure. Almost instantly, he could breathe again. His arched back relaxed and he let his head hang back.

“Rane?” Loric yelled in his ear. “Don’t you die on me boy!”

“I can see the light,” Rane coughed out. He lifted one hand up to the sky. “I’m going towards it.”

“You friggin bastard!” Loric stood and kicked his sides in one motion. “If you ever start dying on me for real I’ll think it a joke too! See how you like it then.”

Rane let out a grunt, then a dry laugh as he sat up. His limbs throbbed a little, and tiny prickly needles poked his skin, but he could move. “Couldn’t help myself.” Rane glanced at the fallen dori. The monstrosity bled out terribly, its hot insides pouring more and more onto the snow. “What about this?”

“What about it?” Loric snorted. He always had this sharpness after being the butt of a joke. “It’s useless. Inedible and with horrible fur.”

“Seriously?” Rane wiped the blood from his nose with a sleeve. “We went through all this trouble for nothing?”

“This is the most we can take.” The Lanar broke off a claw and tossed it to Rane. “Consider it a trophy from the hunt.”

Just the claw filled his palm, but after such a fierce fight it really was an underwhelming prize. He pocketed it. “I thought you were dead when that thing hit you.”

“Just knocked the conk a bit too hard,” Loric said, rubbing the back of his head. “But you saved me.”

“Heh, I did my best,” Rane chuckled. He didn’t want to show it, but he did feel proud. Applying what he’d learned from manuals and other mages was one thing, but figuring a new way to use his powers on his own was an entirely different feeling.

Loric looked up at the ever darkening sky. “We should start heading back.”

Rane nodded and followed after the Lanar. Late afternoon and the first hours of night were prime time for hunting, but on moonless nights such as this one, there was little chance to spot prey. Besides, neither of them seemed to be in a condition to hunt again. The rest of the way back was filled with grunts of pain.

“I think we can skip your training for today, boy.” Loric opened the door to the cabin and collapsed onto his chair. He let his head fall back with a deep sigh. "I'll add that to my list of things I never want to do again."

"Was it a first for you as well?" Rane closed the door and threw some wood in the hearth before lighting it up.

"No, but it's been some time since I last fought a dori. I usually run."

"Then why didn't you–" Rane stopped talking mid sentence. It was because of him. "Oh."

Loric waved his hand dismissively. "It was valuable combat experience, even if what I teach you is meant to be used against humans."

“You still haven’t taught me how to move that fast. That would have been useful.”

The smile left Loric’s face. “That’s a bit trickier. Not something one can just learn. Perhaps... Perhaps when I trust you a bit more, I’ll tell you how I do it.”

So there was a secret to it. Rane kept pestering Loric about it, but that’s the most he had ever divulged. “I couldn’t ask for anything else.”

Loric pulled out the flask and flipped open the cork. “Why don’t you get some sleep? I want you ready to spar tomorrow.”

"Don't empty it again." Rane laid on the bed and pulled the heavy covers over himself. He picked up the only book in Loric's cabin, a heavy tome on local species of animals and plants. Light fit through the slits in the wood, warming his face. It was easy to drift, and his sleep was deep. No dreams or voices in his head. Only tiredness leaving his body.