Ellie Pickle ran down the snowy slope, away from the glacial Windeep Valley. A guttural howl rang out higher up in the mountains. She hurried on, ignoring her cold, tired feet, running down the centre of the valley where the snow thinned. The howl echoed out again and she glanced back, squinting up into the snowy mist far behind her. A thin alpine forest began further off on either side of the valley, and Ellie darted towards the trees on her left, looking for cover. She found a spot with a view of where she'd come and waited, hidden. Fifteen minutes passed. Then she saw it. A tall, white furred creature sitting astride what looked like a giant white wolf, its large fangs jutting down the sides of its jaws. She notched an arrow to her bow and aimed. It reached the spot where she'd turned to go towards the trees, and the wolf-like creature sniffed the ground, then looked in her direction and gave a low growl. She fired. Once, twice, three times, four. The mount was dead before its rider had time to react. With an enraged shriek, the white creature leapt from its deceased mount and sprang in her direction. Ellie let fly another couple of arrows, missed, and scrambled back, attempting to hide behind another clump of trees. But it was no use. Within moments the beast was upon her.
