Waiting
Crouched in the dark, the mist surrounding
The silence broken only by the pounding of blood in my ears

The white cloud of my breath, barely seen
I am still. I wait.

It comes. I hear its footfalls.
Noise - crunching under its feet - it moves
Skilled, yet not so much as I

Softly it calls to its companion
It senses my presence

My legs ache - yet I move not.
The cold is nothing to me. My blood howls.

There - just close enough
Yet I am patient - its bite brings death
And it is not yet my time

I must know, where its other be -
Before I move, to do what must be done.

My hands clench, preparing my weapons

There - Now!
I leap upon my foe - its throat vanishes in a gout of warmth
Its fellow cries - turning - its chest erupts, but not from me -
There errant blow of its companion aids me!

Two steps - I cry out - its companion freezes
A fatal pause - it gets no second chance
And falls to the ground, staining the pristine snow

Mine is the night - these mountain passes.
Come here not, save to die.