Ezer turns his neck watching the beast get closer and closer. The heavy beast may have appeared to be slow, but it was actually demonstrating its explosive speed over short distances like these. Lia was incredibly fast and agile, but he knew his added weight put both of them at risk.

“Lia, if this keeps up…no one will make it.” Ezer can feel her labored breathing as she ran.

“Lia…” Just as he expected, she ignored him, pretending not to hear him, but that didn't change the situation they were in.

Although they reached the fissure before the bear reached them, that did not mean that they were safe, going down the crack between the rocks was not easy or fast at all, added to the darkness and the possible attack from the distance of the bear, it was something that made things even more difficult. In his mind Ezer already discards that plan completely, he tries to think how to escape or fight against the beast. Although he had already killed one, that was thanks to a set of opportunities and luck that gave him victory, leaving him at death's door.

“Lia! We can't keep running blindly trusting that it's going to work out! I should -!” Ezer stops his sentence midway noticing a blur pass in his field of vision. No, it wasn't a blur, it was Nielmar who supported his weight on the sword stuck in the ground holding it with both hands.

“Go! The fissure is a few steps ahead.” Lia stops at the sight of him, hesitating to follow his words.

“You will not survive being alone!”

"I will not survive in anyway! Lyaria knows.”” She ducks her head slightly in response to Ezer's unspoken inquiry. When Lyaria had helped Nielmar, she could feel the internal bleeding through the blood he coughed up and the massive violet stain on his abdomen. She didn't need a second glance to know the seriousness of those injuries.

This causes a conflict in Lia, she knew that he had no salvation and that this was the only way for her and Ezer to be saved, but it was in her nature not to abandon anyone, she just couldn't do it.

"Let's go…" Lia hears a whisper near her.

“Let's go!” The same words as the whisper, but this time loud enough to distract her from the thoughts. Hearing what Ezer said makes her angry and she expresses it with a growl that reveals her fangs.

“Look at his eyes… can you see the determination in them? It's the first time I saw something like that.” Seeing Nielmar with such resolution despite having death in front of him is something that Ezer would never forget in his life.

“We must honor his decision by surviving and remembering what he did for us.” Lia knew she was wasting precious seconds with her doubts, and it was Ezer's last words that freed her from it. Without looking back or paying attention to the sounds of fighting, she runs away with a speed fueled by self-loathing.

“They finally make a decision…” Nielmar sighs, relieved that his last stupid action had a meaning. Why do I do it? It was a question that was repeated over and over again as the beast approached.

He was dying, the wounds on his stomach added to the difficulty in breathing made it clear, but sacrificing what was left of his life in a painful death went completely against his selfish desire to escape. Not even himself understands where that will came from, he was only sure that his whole being screamed to do it.

When the white bear is a few meters away and prepares to jump on Nielmar, he dodges with a quick movement forgetting all his pain and exhaustion due to the adrenaline in his body. His sword dances at the same time as it cuts the skin of the beast with a clear skill on the part of the one who used it, the bear does not mind having one more small wound on his body and counterattacks by moving his body with an impossible speed after landing on the soil.

However, his claws go back to touching only the air while another cut appears on his body. His eyes begin to see Nielmar with fury and impatience when the prey that at first seemed unable to stand on its own slips between his attacks.

The fight lengthens in this way, fulfilling Nielmar 's objective, which somehow manages to find a rhythm and follow it to dodge the beast's attacks and counterattack in response. But his body can't keep up, forcing him to spit blood several times, and this, coupled with the loss of an eye, proves fatal before the fight reaches five minutes.

Dodging knowing that defense is not an option means that a mistake leads to death, and when the enemy does not die immediately after a counter it forces the cycle to repeat itself. Sooner or later the cycle is broken, being the case of Nielmar sooner rather than later.

He can see the claws, but his body doesn't respond quickly enough to keep them from ripping his arm. One mistake leads to the next and again the claws penetrate his skin, this time on his chest.

He understands that he was beaten and thrown to the ground only when he sees the stars above the bare branches of the trees. Never in his life does he feel fatigue as he does now, pain does not exist, being the cold the only thing he perceives.

“I miss so many things… my home, my family.” Nielmar forces his body to stand up while recalling the images of his family being devoured by beasts. “I miss my life… I miss you all…” At that moment he understands why he wanted to escape from the town, all his memories were there along with his fears and remorse. To escape and then to continue to escape, crossing the woods in winter to an uncertain destination, that was not very different from suicide.

“To die saving others... that's why I didn't hesitate for a second... finally... finally I'm going to stop missing them...” He can't even get up when the jaws of the beast compress his chest, piercing and breaking everything in its path. No one could see it, but the second before his death, a smile spreads across his face after years of absence.