The sky dimmed again.
Kael stood at the mouth of the ravine and let the cold bite into him.
He didn't wait for courage, he stepped into the valley.
The moment his foot crossed the boundary, he felt the air shift around him. He had been noticed.
Good.
He kept walking.
One step. Two.
Then the ground shook.
Tremors spread across the whole area. Kael didn't need to trace the source of the vibrations, he already knew.
He exhaled once, slowly.
"Alright."
Then it came over the ridge like a collapsing wall.
Too nimble for a beast of its size.
'Is this place immune to the laws of physics?'
No hesitation.
Kael turned and ran.
Not at full speed—not yet.
He counted.
One.
Two.
Three—
Feral Sprint.
His body snapped forward.
Everything compressed. His muscles screamed as energy burned out of him in a violent burst. The world blurred sideways as he shot across the snow, boots barely touching ground.
Behind him—
Impact, loud enough to rattle his eardrums.
The boss landed where he was.
Too close.
Kael didn't look back. Didn't need to. He could feel it—heat, pressure... and death, right behind his spine.
He angled toward the ravine.
It was the only place where size wasn't an advantage.
His lungs were already burning. He'd barely started.
Too early.
Too fast.
He was going to gas out.
Good.
That meant the monster thought he would too.
It gained on him. Of course it did.
Snow exploded under its weight as it charged, closing distance in raw, unstoppable momentum.
Kael pushed harder.
The ravine opened ahead, revealing the narrow sloped ice in front.
Perfect.
He hit the descent and slipped immediately.
No control.
Good.
He let himself fall forward, turning it into speed instead of fighting it. His shoulder clipped the wall, pain flaring sharp and clean, but he kept moving—
Behind him—
The boss entered the ravine.
And the sound of its movement changed.
It couldn't move the same here.
Kael smiled through clenched teeth.
"Yeah… follow me. Let's see where that gets you."
He kicked off the wall—
Feral Sprint.
The short burst was just enough.
He shot forward into the bend.
Now.
He planted—
The ice vanished under his foot.
His body dropped as he twisted hard, slammed into the wall, and rolled past the choke point and the world behind him detonated.
A wet, cracking impact tore through the silence.
A roar ripped through the ravine, loud enough to shake ice loose from the walls.
Kael didn't stop.
He forced himself up, stumbled forward, then turned—
And saw it.
The boss was down.
Its front half had collapsed into the trap. Massive limbs tangled, weight driven forward where the ice had betrayed it. Bone spikes jutted upward, buried deep into its underside.
Black blood steamed against the cold.
Its head snapped toward him and they locked eyes for a moment.
Fury.
Kael's chest tightened.
"…Right."
He hadn't won anything.
He'd just made it angry.
The next second, the beast tore itself free without hesitation. Its muscles flexed and its bones rearranged themselves.
The spikes snapped under its weight or ripped loose from flesh—Kael couldn't tell which, and it didn't matter.
'That should've slowed it more'
It came out of the ravine like a storm breaking loose, blood still pouring from its leg, breath steaming in thick bursts with its eyes locked onto Kael with a focus that burned.
'Good,' he thought. Anger clouds judgement and dulled the senses.
Kael didn't move at first.
He stood on the ridge, chest rising and falling, forcing himself to stay still for just a second longer than felt safe.
'Let it think you're waiting.'
'Let it think you're tired.'
The creature gathered itself and leapt.
The distance between them vanished.
Kael moved at the last possible moment.
[Feral Sprint]
The world snapped tight around him. Sound dulled, the ground seemed to tilt forward, and his body surged sideways just as the beast crashed into the space where he'd been standing.
The impact shattered stone.
Fragments sprayed into the air like shrapnel.
Kael landed hard, rolled, came up low and ran.
He cut along the ridge instead of retreating downhill, forcing the creature to turn instead of continuing forward.
Behind him, it snarled with frustration now, not just rage.
Good. He needed that.
The ridge narrowed ahead, dipping into uneven ground scattered with broken rock. Kael had passed through here earlier. He remembered the footing.
The creature didn't.
Kael vaulted a jagged slab and landed lightly.
The beast followed.
The soft ice beneath caved in as its wounded leg got temporarily lodged into the ice.
Just for a fraction of a second, but it was enough.
Its stride broke.
Kael turned instantly.
No hesitation.
He lunged back in transforming as he stretched out his hands.
Claws first.