| I was with my friend Harness Light and a guideI don't remember the
guide's nameThey called me Lives in the Stars thereI already had a bit of a reputation
?We were making a pilgrimage across the fourth great ice field to see one of the more
celebrated crystal citiesIt was supposed to be a safe route?that's why there were only three of
us
?Claw beasts like to dig pits and bury themselves in the snow
?One moment, there was nothing but the flat, endless snowThen, the next moment, it seemed
like the entire field of white was exploding into the sky
?An average adult Bear has about the mass of a buffaloA full-grown claw beast is closer to the
mass of a blue whaleThis one was bigger than most
?I couldn't see the guideThe claw beast had sprung up between us, facing where Harness
Light and I stoodBears are faster than claw beasts, but this one had the advantage of the
ambushIts huge stone-like pincers swooped down and sheared Harness Light in half before I'd
really processed what was rolex swiss watch happening
A car drove slowly down the side of the parking lotWe sat silent until it had passedI should have started running, but? my friend was dying there on the iceBecause
of that hesitation, I would have died, too, if the claw beast hadn't been distractedI found out
later that our guide?I wish I could remember his name!?had attacked the claw beast's tail,
hoping to give us a chance to runThe claw beast's attack had stirred up enough snow that it
was like a blizzardThe lack of visibility would help us escapeHe didn't know it was already
too late for Harness Light to run
?The claw beast turned on the guide, and his second left leg kicked us, sending me flying
Harness Light's upper body landed beside meHis blood melted the snow
I paused to shudder
?My next action made no sense, because I had no body for Harness LightWe were midway
between cities, much too far to run to eitherIt was probably cruel, too, to take him out with no
painkillersBut I couldn't stand to let him die tiffany and co. jewelry inside the broken half of his Bear host
?I used the back of my hand?the ice-cutting sideIt was too wide a blade? It caused a lot of
damageI could only hope that Harness Light was far gone enough that he wouldn't feel the
extra pain
?Using my soft inside fingers, I coaxed Harness Light from the Bear's brainI barely paused to ascertain thisI shoved him into the egg pocket in the
center of my body, between the two hottest heartsThis would keep him from dying of cold, but
he would only last a few short minutes without a bodyAnd where would I find a host body in
this empty waste?
?I thought of trying to share my host, but I doubted I could stay conscious through the
procedure to insert him into my own headAnd then, having no healing medicine, I would die
quicklyWith all those hearts, Bears bled very fast
?The claw beast roared, and I felt the ground shake as its huge paws thudded downI didn't
know where our guide was, or if he livedI didn't know how long it would take the claw d |
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