The spirit bear shrank down even further. Keep it? What did that tiny, tiny human mean by keep it? Keep it in that monstrous lizard’s stomach? The bear swallowed and made itself look as unappealing to eat as possible. If it could, it would’ve dug up the ground and smeared mud all over itself; unfortunately, the ground was frozen. “I’m, I’m not tasty.”

Vur squinted at the bear and swiped a paw at its shoulder. He passed right through it without leaving a mark. It was like passing through a cloud without the wet sensation. His brow furrowed, and he leaned his head forward to sniff the bear. It remained perfectly still as his nostrils flared beside it. The bear didn’t smell like anything. It was almost as if it was a ghost. The last ghost he had eaten was quite a while ago, and he didn’t remember it tasting like anything. It seemed like the bear wasn’t lying to him. “Have you a seen a girl with horns around here?”

The bear gulped, maintaining eye contact with Vur. “Horns? A girl? A girl with horns?” Its eyes widened, and it bobbed its head up and down. “Yes, yes, I have. I know exactly who you’re talking about!”

Vur raised his eyebrows. It was a good thing the bear didn’t smell tasty, or he would’ve eaten it before he found out it knew where Tafel was. “Take me to her,” Vur said before glancing at the ice surrounding the bear’s lower body. With a few swats, the chunks of ice smashed apart into tiny crystals, freeing the bear.

The bear rose up, floating once its legs were no longer restrained. It resisted the urge to flee and dropped down to all fours. “She’s right this way,” the spirit bear said and gestured with its paw. It tromped forward but left the trees it made contact with intact. Vur didn’t. His scaled feet knocked them over, leaving a small trail of destruction as he followed behind the bear. Its heart hurt when it saw its beloved territory being trampled, but it didn’t dare say anything in case it angered Vur. “She’s not too far from here. If we continue at this speed, we’ll make it there in a week.”

Vur furrowed his brow. “A week’s too long,” he said and shook his head. “How about we fly there instead?”

The spirit bear stared at Vur. “I, I only know how to float. I can’t fly.” It hung its head and sighed. If it were a spirit eagle, flying wouldn’t be a problem. That way, it wouldn’t have to spend a whole week guiding this monstrous lizard.

“I’ll carry you,” Vur said and took in a deep breath.

The bear’s eyes widened upon seeing icy mist leak out of Vur’s mouth, drifting to the ground. “Wait!” it shouted and jumped to the side. It barely dodged an icy breath that froze everything in its previous vicinity. “If you completely freeze me like that, I think I’ll disappear from existence!”

Vur tilted his head. “I froze you before, didn’t I?”

“You froze my legs last time, and I couldn’t feel them anymore. If you freeze my head, what’ll happen if I can’t feel my head? I’ll die!”

“Oh.” Vur nodded. “Then I’ll freeze everything except your head.”

The bear paused. Would that work? Before it could think about it even more, an icy wave washed over it, numbing everything below its neck. It dropped to the ground, and Vur picked it up. “You said it was that way, right?”

The bear tried to nod, but its head was frozen. “Yes,” it said instead. “She’s that way. She lives in a village in the plains. You’ll see it as soon as you exit the forest.”

The forest rushed past as Vur flew forward, holding the mostly frozen bear in his claws. In the distance, he saw a few glowing orange dots, signs of civilization. It was probably the village where Tafel was. Along with the orange dots, there was also a smoky silver dot hovering above them. Stella squinted and pointed. “Is that another spirit bear?”

“Looks like it,” Vur said. He glanced down at the bear in his claws. “Is it another spirit bear?”

The bear didn’t respond. Its eyes were glued shut, and its lips were trembling as if it were about to cry.

Vur cleared his throat. “Is that another spirit bear?” he asked again. “I’m talking to you, bear.”

“I don’t know!” the bear said, its eyes still pressed shut. “I don’t know!”

“Huh?” Stella asked and tilted her head. “You don’t know? Well, why don’t you open your eyes and check?”

“I can’t!” The bear’s head shook back and forth. “I’m scared of heights! If I open my eyes, I’ll faint!”

Stella stared at the bear. “Can you even get hurt if you fall from a high height? Aren’t you made of gas?”

“Do you have to be hurt by something to be scared of it?” the bear asked back.

Stella scratched her head. She never really thought about it before, but maybe the bear had a point. After all, she was scared of waterfalls, and those couldn’t really hurt her unless her wings got wet, and she got sucked under, and the flow from the waterfall trapped her in a continuous circuitous current that prevented her from escaping, and she desperately tried to breath in but inhaled a mouthful of water and drowned instead. A shiver ran down Stella’s spine, and she shook herself off, changing her mind about bullying the bear for being afraid.

“We’re here,” Vur said. He didn’t bother circling around and plummeted straight towards the ground, causing the bear to shriek for its mother. A baffled spirit deer awoke from her slumber and froze upon seeing Vur.

“Oh, we’re on the ground now?” the spirit bear asked and opened its eyes. He beamed once he saw the deer. “Here she is! The girl with horns you were looking for! May I go now?”

Vur blinked. He was looking for Tafel, and he thought he was about to find her. How come this bear brought him to more food instead?