The storm tugged at Erik's clothes as he got back to his feet, Summer was heavier than he had expected her to be. The woman was still leaning against the tree he had sat her down against, her breaths were laboured, her face pale like the snow around them.

Red spread from her side where blood leaked into the snow, he needed to get her back into the cave quickly or she would die. His muscles burned sleep had not been an option for either of them for the last days.

They had lead the pursuing soldiers into the wrong direction while the remaining soldiers had crossed the pass and were now heading back to Blackriver, neither of them expected them to reach the city before they froze or starved to death.

It had been a last try to save some of them from the fate their other friends had suffered, maybe an attempt to silence Summer's conscience.

Now it was just the two of them left this side of the mountains and Summer had taken an arrow to the side during their escape.

Once again Erik helped Summer to her feet and began walking up the mountain with her leaning on him. She didn't protest, the snow was falling heavily and even Erik with his inhuman eyes had trouble seeing further than a couple of meters in front of them. Which meant the soldiers chasing them would be forced back to the village they had set up in.

Their progress was slow, each step had Summer wince in pain and Erik was tired and exhausted, he knew there was a cave somewhere further ahead. Hidden deep between bushes where bears liked to stay during winter ages ago, now the close humans posed a threat and it was abandoned most of the time.

The memories of wildlife all around them had supplied him with enough information to draw the conclusion that no bear was in the cave at this moment. If there was there was little he could do about it anyway, mountain bears were smaller than their cousins from the flatlands but much more aggressive. In his current shape and without a weapon he would stand no chance against a cat with three legs and a bad eye, let alone a bear.

They reached the collection of bushes and small trees that covered the entrance and Erik began pushing through the outer layer of branches and needles.

"What are you doing? Where are we going?" Summer hits from the side as branches scraped over her face. Every word was pressed and after she had spoken her breathing went even faster than before.

"There is a cave behind those bushes a place to hide and get back to strength." Erik grunted as he pulled Summer through the woods, the woman had no more strength left in her and he would join her on the ground sooner than. he had hoped.

A noise had his ears twitch, voices from up ahead. Cursing he slowed down, people? Nobody should know about the cave, that was the reason he set it up as a meeting point for the scouts and none of them were left this side of the mountains.

As the two of them got closer he managed to understand a couple of words from the people in the cave.

"What do you mean we can't go out and hunt? Wolf does it all the time and he manages!" A thins high pitched voice yelled.

"He can see stuff better and smell animals and stuff, also he can hunt, can you hunt?,Do you know how to stalk an animal and gut it after the kill because I can't!" The voices continued their argument and after a few seconds the light shine of a fire came into view.

Bo and Spring were sitting next to it. Huddled in a variety of mismatching clothes and arguing like they always did. The children seemed fine, weary and tired but unharmed, Erik felt a weight drip from his shoulders. He had lost sight of them during the retreat and expected them to be either caught or killed.

"What is this?"He croaked as they got into hearing distance.

"What by the name of Fire are you doing?" His voice startled the two and Spring jumped to her feet, a crossbow came into view from under the clothing she used as a blanket. Her eyes widened as she recognized Erik.

"Erik! Summer! By the Elder Dragons you are still alive!" She dropped the weapon and Erik flinched as it hit the ground, the things were known to go off whenever someone looked at it the wrong way but nothing happened.

Bo and her hurried outside and helped to bring Summer close to the fire and out of the snowstorm. When that was done Erik collapsed next to her, he wanted to say something to Summer and Bo but the exhaustion had him pass out as soon as he hit the ground.

When he woke up agains he felt better, light passed through the thick clouds overhead and the storm had died down. Large snowflakes fell from the sky and the bushes in front of the cave were covered with a thick white layer of snow.

He sat up and felt dizzy for a short while as he observed the cave, Summer was next to him covered in clothes as a blanket and in her other side were Spring and Bo sleeping peacefully, he would need to get the two of them a treat once they got back to Blackriver they had most likely saved their lives back there.

Careful not to wake them he slipped out from under the makeshift sheets and stretched, his feet and shoulder were sore and hunger dominated his mind. He sighed, another Winter in the snow then hopefully the soldiers in the village were no hunters or the surrounding area would have been picked clean of animals by now.

He began undressing, no need to make a mess. When the ripped leather armor was gone and his clothes neatly folded he walked out into the snow. The cold ebbed away as fur grew on his arms and legs, his bones shifted as he began to change. It had been a long time since Erik had used the body of his first soul but within seconds of pain he was back in the form of the wolf that had attacked him all these months ago.

He shook his head and felt the fur on his back move with it, the world changed perspective as he snuck through the bush and out into the wild. Smells hung in the air, burned wood and humans from the village. The markings of a pack of wolves further to the south and something else. Goats, a small group coming down the mountain to seek shelter in the flatter regions.

The perfect target.

Quietly he snuck closer towards the unsuspecting targets of his hunt, his paws changed form as he took over more parts of a large mountain cat. Wolves were great hunters in packs but the cats of these mountains could take down anything on their own. His head stayed roughly the form of a wolf, the maw widened a bit and the teeth grew longer, the suspense intensified as he crept closer to a particularly big female goat.

The lack of horns made it an easier target and while the females grew taller and stronger than the males their instincts told the to run from danger rather than to attack the predator.

Erik had learned the hard way that the male goats were at times even suicidal when it came to protecting their herd. One such goat had tackled him off a cliff last winter and nearly killed him, this time however he knew better than to attack the head on.

A quick slash at the side of the throat would open the arteries of the animal, after that he just had to keep his distance and chase the wounded goat to it's death, preferably somewhere close to the entrance to their cave.

Moving sideways he circled around the cliff wall the goat was standing on, the animal was eating a thick green moss, it's eyes darting around trying to see through the large flakes of snow.

Crouching low and preparing for a jump Erik watched carefully to see where the animal might escape to, after making sure there was no likely way it could escape Erik launched himself through the snow.

To his luck the goat turned it's head the other way, he struck teeth first into it's throat. Before it could throw him off his claws dug deep through the skin into its sides, blood filled his mouth as his yaws tore through the flesh and ripped open half of the animal's throat. Blood struck the snow and rocks beneath it and coloured them crimson as the creature was drained of its life. Erik let go of the goat and dropped to his feet moving backwards not to get hit by the screaming goat, its horns could still be fatal if he was not careful.

It took the animal a full minute to stop moving, but after a few seconds of thrashing it was too weak to move and only the slowing rising and falling of its flank showed signs of life. Erik stayed in the form of the large cat as he dragged the corpse back to their hideout, he was careful to use a small parting between branche not to leave too much of a trace.

From a while away he could hear the twins arguing again, he would need to teach them how to be quiet. The snow may dampen their voices but with a village and outpost so close by there was too much of a risk for them to be shouting about the last time they ate berries and who got more than the other.

Both of them shut up the second they heard the rustling of leaves, at least they got that part right, even if it would be too late by the time a full squad was making their way through the bushes.

Bo threw a rock at him when he came into view, which was as honorable as it was idiotic. Erik snarled in annoyance as the fist sized rock struck his side, he barely felt it as it bounced of the cat's muscled body.

The boy's eyes grew wide as he watched the giant snow cat drag the goat into their midst next to the fire and then dropping it like a mouse.

"Why the hell did you throw that rock Bo? What the dragons merciful shit did you think would happen if you hit it with a bloody rock?" Spring asked her voice shivering with fear as she slowly moved towards the axe to her side, smart girl.

Erik turned back to human, or at least partly, he kept the fur and his feet stayed paws.

"Not smart Bo, not smart at all... A bit better Spring but do you honestly think that axe would have stopped a cat four times your weight?" Bo's eyes turned white and he collapsed while Spring just stared at him.

"You really are.... But you said... That Wolf we saw the other day..." then her eyes trailed to the large dead goat bleeding on the floor.

"Is that an enemy? Is there more of you around?" Erik snorted a laugh.

"No that, is food... I do hope you know how to gut that thing. I only ate them raw the last time I changed form." Spring nodded mumbling to herself she got the axe and began slitting the goat's belly.

"No wonder he can see better, he is cheating! Lying cheater, if he had not brought us food I might have... I don't know what I might have... maybe I would have cooked him." Erik turned his back on the girl and her fainted brother and moved back outside, the smell of burning wood hurt his nose.

"I will be watching the village make some food, and try to feed Summer. She needs the food more than any of us, I will get us a kettle or something for stew." He turned back into a wolf and ran through the snow outside.

The goat had been a lucky break, one he had needed direly.