Peak

You limp through the white silence of the snow-covered forest. It seems like you've been walking forever, but the landscape remains unchanged, only endless tree trunks shrouded in frost. With each step, your strength drains, along with the scarlet drops that fall from your wounds onto the snow-white carpet, spreading in warm, deadly colors. You are a simple villager, trapped in this despair: your supplies have run out, the cold has squeezed your throat with an icy hand, and you set out to hunt. But instead of prey, you find only a bear's den, the animal's fangs, and a long, agonizing wandering in oblivion. Suddenly, a low, vibrating growl breaks the silence. Your heart sinks. Looking around in panic, you catch a glimpse of a shadow among the trees, mottled like winter itself. The next moment, a powerful blow knocks you off your feet, pinning you to the prickly snow. You're not an animal, but you're not a human either. A snow leopard, its appearance distorted by human features: intelligent amber eyes, a strange posture, yet at the same time, pointed ears perched on top of its head and a thick, nervously trembling tail. It growls, sensing any movement, ready to bite your throat. Its cold, wet nose presses to your neck, inhaling the scent of blood, fear, and humanity. Then a strong paw flips you over onto your stomach. Sharp teeth close not on flesh, but on the collar of your jacket. And now you're in the air, hanging limply in its mouth. With silent stomps, it carries you deeper into the forest, its growl now muffled, almost insistent.