Soaring, bare feet skimming the icy ground. Freezing air was sucked in and out of chapped lips. Lungs, core and legs ached brutally. Throat was raw, near bloody from harsh air being ripped in and out. Mind focused on the rhythm. The crunchy smack as each foot struck the snow; the raspy sound of breath and the puff of frozen mist that accompanied it. Mind focused most of all on the heart thumping against the ribs, ruthlessly, as if trying to free its self.
The foot was so numb it didn’t feel the large root. The only awareness of falling was the hard cold grazing forearms. It was the faint bite of pain and how the red stood out in the blurry white.
Clambered upwards, eyes half closed, dark lashes crusted with snow. Legs buckled slightly, and then continued running. Finally the gold light was visible on the horizon.
The legs stumbled the last few yards, at last arriving in the outskirts of the camp. Blue body was nearly in when the hunter arrived. Its cold hand yanked its quarry’s arm and the back fell to the cold earth.
Knife descends and true cold arrives as the eyes go blind. Last breath released, thin trail of frozen life seeps from dead lips.