The wind screamed in his ears so loud that he could no longer think, understand or want even now where his inhuman paws were resting. If they were clinging to something, if they were sliding in the long climb, or if the snow was simply deceiving them.

Maybe he was already dead, maybe he would be soon.

Kenai pulled straight to the top, ignoring the tears of despair that were gathering up down his cheeks with visceral determination.

The roar of the wind raised dust of snow that the human self would have swept away ... but the bear himself remained with his paws firmly planted in the snowy ground "SITKA!" his voice was hoarse, panting from the climb but not cold "sitka, are you here?"

poor fool ... his voice was lost in the violent wind, echoing and then getting lost in nothingness.

The echo sent him back his own despair for a moment before disappearing. Kenai looked around in the fury of the storm ... an eagle feather ... a screeching ... a flapping of wings ... none of this happened, Sitka seemed to have disappeared from the mind and senses.

His head was heavy, his shortness of breath with the thin mountain air and the desperation that advanced on every inch of skin covered by that stupid fur.

"Sitka ... Please, Sitka. I don't know what else to do ..." the tears were imminent.

He had disappointed everyone ... Koda was an orphan because of him, Iorek certainly didn't want to know anything about him after Koda told him, Denahi was after him, Sitka was dead.

All this because of him.

Oh, he wanted to sink. To sink into the snow or live up there far from everyone, in complete solitude from the rest of the world ... oh Koda. Koda, Iorek ... I'm so sorry ...

and then a shadow.

A shadow stood out against all that white so intense it gave you a headache: a fluted figure, a seemingly immense wingspan that opened against the storm as if it wanted to counter it. Was it true? was he seeing well?

Sitka?

No.

The person who jumped out dispelled any kind of doubt about who he was; Kenai's older brother leapt into the snow, his eyes angry and his face twisted into an expression full of hatred and revenge.

Kenai's heart skipped a beat "Denahi."The hunter gasped, then with a great breath he opened his mouth and let out a sound similar to a human roar, brandishing that cursed spear and running towards Kenai: panic gripped him.

The bear stumbled backwards so quickly that he really threatened to fall off his paws "SITKA, HURRY! CHANGE ME BACK!" his gaze never diverted from Denahi, who was advancing at an incredible speed and within seconds was about to plant the spear in his chest with unprecedented violence. It was a miracle that Kenai was able to stretch out a paw to block the pointed tip of it and try to counter it with the force that was abandoning him.

Instead, the strength that Denahi was showing was intrinsic to malice, pain, violence in all senses and above all a great desire for revenge: he was convinced that this was the bear that had killed both of his brothers. The bear who had destroyed his family, who had made him see the principles of a life die in front of him, swept away by a glacier and torn to pieces by a heartless beast.

With a flash of lightning, Kenai shook him off, and the hunter tumbled to the cold ground face down, his cloak swinging wildly in the wind. Kenai took advantage of this to run away with desperate roars that were for him to shout "Sitka! Where are you ?!"

But there was not even a shadow of the eagle even down from the cliff above which Kenai was raised in pure despair and fear. And they were dangerously close to it the moment Denahi jumped on the bear, standing on his back and attempting to neatly place the weapon in Kenai's back.

His heart was going mad in his chest with frightened beats as he felt his hind legs slip more and more… until the bear and the hunter fell into the void.

In the apparent void, because soon after they both rolled towards a ledge of the mountain which however stopped the free fall. Denahi landed hard on his knees, Kenai rolled for a meter or so. They both didn't move for a while, the fall had been hard enough to test their endurance and when Denahi stood up Kenai stood there, lying on his side panting and in pain.

Look at yourself. Iorek would be ashamed of you. But he did not have time to hear the voice of the older bear in his head, for with a movement overflowing with pure hatred Denahi turned him so that his chest faced him. .So he could kill him better.

"Denahi ..." he looked for his brother's eyes, blinded by a feeling that frightened him. The other raised his weapon impassive "Denahi, please ..."

The brother was lowering the dagger, and for a moment Kenai knew it. He knew he was going to die and especially at the hands of his brother ... oh Denahi.

"KENAI!"

Suddenly Denahi was thrown away from above him, thanks to a small brown arrow that shot at him and caused him to lose his balance and fall into the snow with a grunt. Soon after, Kenai felt a shadow over him and a white paw entered his view. The stunned brown bear looked up in surprise to meet Iorek's serious and furious muzzle, who looked at Denahi with hatred ... and beyond that a panting and still shaken Koda looked at Kenai with eyes wide with fear and adrenaline. Koda had saved him ... he had ruined his life, and Koda had saved him.

If that wasn't a display of love and fidelity, Kenai really didn't know what it was ...

This gesture of love only fueled Denahi's anger, who sifted through the snow with the gaze of a serial killer until he saw the weapon.

The same weapon that Kenai had used to take the life of Koda's mother, the same one that Denahi had carried around for so long thinking of avenging his brothers with it.in hindsight, Kenai had believed for so long that Denahi didn't care about him ... but the mere fact that this anger stemmed from the loss of his little brother was indicative of love.

A destructive and unconscious love but still love.

So much love was what led him to sprint towards the weapon with a growl that could be interpreted as desperation through some tripping in the thick snow. The three bears turned and Koda was the first to shoot and grab the weapon between his teeth with the intent of taking it away from Denahi's reach, Kenai was gripped by panic but it was Iorek who had the answer to the situation more ready.

"NO!" he shouted, dashing with blind fury in pursuit of a Denahi intent on chasing (killing, perhaps) the cub.Anger took over Iorek: it wasn't a bored anger, it was a powerful anger.

Destructive, blazing, indomitable. A kind of anger that doesn't make you think ... the kind of fury that rises when those you love are in danger of their lives. It was exactly the kind of anger Koda's mother had felt mixed with the desperation of wanting to protect him at all costs.

Iorek wanted to protect them both, and he was realizing it now as he watched the hunter try to reach the weapon.

It was a flurry of mixed feelings and it all happened so fast that no one fully reflected. Kenai screamed desperately behind him, Koda dropped the weapon and Denahi caught up with it just as Iorek reared and roared at his lungs with all the ferocity he was capable of and was lunged forward ready to sink his teeth in that neck with an uninterrupted speed.

"IOREK,NO!"

And at that moment, Denahi extended the weapon.

A roar of pain echoed down to the valley.