"Well," Frolick said. "Now that was an epic rescue. Not as good a mine, mind you, but it was something."

"You're welcome," Frostilicus said. He lifted the spear from the bear's heart. Blood immediately rushed from the kill-wound, pooling on the ground.

"By the Five that really hurt, though," Frolick said, looking over his own wound. The claw marks were as red as the dawn. "Stings like a giant centipede. Fivin' dire animals. You should have heard him too, Frost. He was very angry."

Frost prodded the animal with his spear. He released the water and re-formed it as a hunting knife.

"He was saying a whole lot of curse words, the likes of which I can't repeat." Frolick made a zipping motion over his mouth. "It would insult the Almighty, it would."

Frostilicus used the newly formed frost knife to slice open the carcass and then began dressing the animal.

"Oh, I can't look," Frolick said.

"You've been hunting before," Frost said, sighing. "And this food will last us a long time." He understood that his brother's affinity for animals made him a bit squeamish. But this was important for their survival.

"I know, I know," Frolick said. "I just hate to see it done, that's all. Even on dire ones."

"I'm glad we made it out alive," Frost said, continuing with his work. "Thanks for keeping it distracted while I went for water."

"There was something downright unnatural about that thing," Frolick said, shuddering. "As much as I love animals, the dire animals I'd prefer to stay far away from. Still no idea what makes them that way, Frost, it's not normal, I tell you."

"Mom said the same thing," Frost said. "She always said to steer clear of them. I've never encountered anything quite like this before. They were strong."

"Me neither," Frolick said. "And I hope we never do again." He winced as he pressed a hand against the slash mark in his shoulder.

"You should let me cauterize that," Frostilicus said.

Frolick gulped and shook his head.

"You could bleed out," Frost said. "Or get infected. Let me help."

"Fine, fine," Frolick said. "Get it over with." He shut his eyes.

Frost filled his cupped hand with water from a bucket nearby. He poured a few drops over Frolick's bleeding shoulder. Then he held his hand over the water. It froze in place, forming a hardened, white blanket over the wound, constricting nearby veins and staunching the blood loss.

Freezing water was an easy trick. It didn't require pulling it into a particular form. Instead, he simply hardened it into whatever form it was already in.

"Eh, that's not too bad," Frolick said. "Stings a little, but it's numbed the pain."

"That should hold for now," Frostilicus said. "It'll melt in a couple hours or so, but by then, your natural healing process will be underway."

Frost repeated the trick with Molly. She stomped in protest and nearly knocked Frost over with her tusks and snout during the procedure. Frolick managed to settle her down enough for Frost to apply the freeze gauze over her wound. After that, she refused to acknowledge Frost's presence and kept her head turned up, looking away from him.

"I think she took it personally," Frost said, rubbing his bruised shoulder from where Molly had knicked him.

"She'll be fine," Frolick said, patting her back to ease her wounded pride. "She's just not used to being treated for wounds. Mammoths are very sensitive creatures, they are. And Molly's no exception."

Frost wasn't sure what to make of that. Frolick said some very strange things at times. But then again, his brother did have a deep understanding of animals. Oh well, Frolick was probably right.

"In any case, the meat's all done," Frostilicus said, changing the subject. "I just need to freeze it over." He coated the meat in a thin layer of water. Then he used the same trick to freeze a layer of ice over it, encapsulating the meet in frost. That would keep it from spoiling any time soon. He couldn't freeze the meat directly into ice but had to apply his magic to water that was mostly uncontaminated by other substances. There was a science to it, but that wasn't something he understood.

"Only one problem with the plan," Frolick said, admiring his brother's work.

Frost looked up. The sun was rising in the distance, the morning creeping in over the cold, snow-laden terrain.

"How are we going to bring it with us?" Frolick said. "That's a lot of food. We don't have the right equipment to tie it to Molly's back. I've got a bit of rope, but it isn't nearly enough."

Frost stroked his chin. That was a good question. He had been so focused on dressing the meat that he'd hadn't bothered to think of how he would transport it.

"How about a sled?" Frolick said. "You could make one with your frost powers."

"It doesn't work like that," Frost said. "I can only form things that I'm intimately familiar with. Even with weapons, I have to have made them many times before I can replicate them in frost form."

"I really still don't understand why that is," Frolick said. "You froze water over our wounds and over the bear meat. That wasn't a form."

"That's different," Frost said. "I didn't form it into any particular shape. I just froze it in place. To pull it into a form takes a lot more intuitive understanding of that form."

"I would think you could make something easy like a bobsled. It's not nearly as complicated as armor."

"I don't know why my powers work the way they do," Frost said. "But I can make metal armor practically in my sleep from working so many hours with Dad in the smithery. But I've never built a sled before."

"So how about we make one then?" Frolick said. "We'll figure it out the long way. How hard could it be?" He looked around. There were plenty of trees.

"Not a bad idea," Frost said. He pulled on the water in the nearby bucket, forming into two small hand-axes. "Let's get to work."