Two years later

Emily adjusted her reading glasses as she studied the paperwork spread across the desk of her study. "We should probably lay off the Rodeo shopping trips."

Jessica grinned. Her eyes were hidden behind a pair of outrageously expensive Versace sunglasses.

Emily shook her head, a smile forming on her own lips. "Those look really damn good on you, though," she said as she returned her gaze to the astronomical credit card bill in front of her.

They pored over the bills together for some time, making sure none of the multitude of charges seemed odd or unfamiliar. Of course none of them did. Every ridiculous charge was of their own doing.

"So," Jess said at one point. She took off her sunglasses and folded them in front of her on the desk.

Emily glanced up at her over her studded red reading glasses. "Hm?"

Jess hesitated. "Oh, nothing. Um, I was just thinking…it's June tenth."

Emily of course knew what she was getting at, but she played dumb. "Yeah. It is."

Jess seemed about to say something, but she hesitated. Then, with a shrug, she said, "I don't know."

Unable to keep up the ruse in the face of Jess' obvious disappointment, Emily abandoned her façade. She reached over and laid a hand on Jess'. "We're really proud of you, Jess."

Jess smiled. "Thanks. It's been a long year."

"You're already doing so much better. You look better, you feel better. You didn't think you could do it, but you did." Emily gave Jess' hand a light squeeze. "And now you get to spend your money on other things. Things that aren't slowly killing you."

They leaned together and met for a brief peck on the lips. Jess' smile lingered even through the kiss.

Someone knocked on the study door. Emily drew back from Jess. "Come in."

The door opened, and Matt walked in. His casual shirt and sweatpants were covered in bits of flour.

"It's ready," he said.

Jess glanced between the two of them. "What's ready?"

"Took ya long enough, Big Guy." Emily gave his arm a playful squeeze as she walked up to him. "I was running out of stall tactics."

Jess appeared at Emily's side. "What are you talking about? I want to know."

Matt took Jess by the hand. "Follow me."

He led Jess to the kitchen. Emily followed excitedly, eager to see her reaction.

As soon as Matt opened the door to the kitchen, Jess gasped. Emily slipped past her to get a quick look at Matt's handiwork – he really was a damn good cook. He and Emily had plotted to bake Jess a nice cake as a surprise for her one year anniversary of getting clean, but they'd later devised an even better plan of Emily distracting Jess while Matt handled the cake in secrecy. Emily was glad now that she'd left him to it. Covered in flawless vanilla frosting and decorated with the words 'Congrats Jess, we you' written across the top in chocolate icing, with a single pink candle in the middle, it was perfect.

Jess brought her hands to her mouth and held them there for a few long moments. Then she looked to Matt, then to Emily. Em noticed her eyes were sparkling.

"You guys are so sweet…" was all she could manage to say before bursting into tears. Matt and Emily both swooped in to comfort her. She let herself be sandwiched between them, smiling through her tears as she nuzzled against her two lovers.

"And that's not all." Emily said. Both Jess and Matt looked to her curiously. "Ashley and Chris are taking us all out to dinner tonight to celebrate. They're insisting it's on them, so…"

Jess sniffled. "So I'll make sure to order as much as I possibly can."

"That's my girl."

Matt rolled his eyes, but he was smiling as well. Emily wondered sometimes how in the hell he was able to put up with not just one member of Jess and Emily's dastardly duo, but both of them. She guessed that dealing with his ex-wife for years must have given him a new perspective. Likewise, she and Jess' passionate – sometimes a little too passionate – relationship may not have lasted without a personality like his to balance things out.

As a teen Em had found Matt a little boring. Now she was grateful for his gentle, quiet, and generally kind-hearted disposition.

They cut the cake, giving Jess the slice with the heart on it. Jess chowed down on it. "Mm, this is so good!" she said through her mouthful.

Emily nibbled at a smaller slice. She didn't exactly need the extra calories, but Jess did. She'd put on a good amount of weight since getting clean but she was still a damn toothpick. Emily was on a not-so-secret mission to get her back to a healthy weight.

"Glad you like it," Matt said with a smile. He was watching Jess with a fondness in his eyes that had once sparked an intense jealousy in Emily. She never thought a three-way relationship could work for her. She'd been convinced Matt and Jess would simply fall hard for each other and then cast her out. She still struggled with a little jealousy, especially when she saw that look in Matt's eyes, but he and Jess had endeavored to make it obvious to Emily that she was wanted. That she was an equal part of the relationship. It was hard to feel envious when she was constantly being bathed in affection from both of them.

And of course, the sex was amazing.

After they'd finished tearing into the cake Emily, Jess, and Matt spent a while just hanging out in together in the living room. They reminisced a bit, discussing the recent past, the distant past, and everything between. At one point Emily glanced up at the mantle, which held an array of framed photographs new and old. Being Emily, she had arranged them chronologically – on the far left were pictures from her childhood, in the middle from her teenage years, and on the right – the most crowded section – were more recent photos. Jess had been big into taking pictures as a teenager, but had become a little more hesitant after her body had been ravaged by both injury and addiction. Emily had changed that. Within a few months of living together they'd reverted right back to their old ways, taking pictures everywhere.

Em's personal favorite of the bunch was a photo of herself, Jess, and Matt all trying to fit in one lounge chair in their backyard. Matt was in nothing but swim trunks and sunglasses, Jess and Em in designer shades and bikinis in complimentary colors. Matt had actually been lying in the chair by himself when Emily and Jess had come along and decided to pile on top of him. In the picture their eyes were obscured by their glasses, but their smiles conveyed all the emotion the image needed to become Emily's favorite. She'd kept the original digital copy saved to a folder on her phone. She sometimes pulled it out at work and spent a few minutes staring at it, smiling to herself.

In the center of the mantle sat the prom picture Emily had rediscovered in the basement the night she and Jess had contacted Beth Washington. Emily spent a lot of time looking at that one, too. In fact, on the rare occasions she was home alone she would sometimes sit on the couch, her legs curled up under her, and talk to Beth. She knew the girl most likely wasn't around, but she found the practice oddly therapeutic.

Of course, when her partners were home she spent more time focusing on them than on old pictures. At present Matt was in his usual spot in the middle of the couch, and she and Jess were leaned on either side of him. Their hands met on his lap, their fingers laced delicately together. He had an arm around each of them.

"I love you guys," Jess said out of nowhere. She tucked herself tighter into the crook of Matt's arm, and gave Emily's hand a squeeze.

"Love you too," Emily and Matt replied almost simultaneously. Then they both laughed a little.

Jess giggled. "Seriously, though, I don't know if I'd be doing as well as I am without you. I probably wouldn't. So, um, thank you. Both of you."

"All right all right, that's enough sappiness." Emily made a face at her. Jess feigned offense. "We know you love us with all your shriveled little demon heart."

Jess gasped. Then she turned to Matt, her eyes going big and round. "Matt! Emily's insulting me."

"I didn't hear anything."

"She said I have a demon heart!"

Matt shrugged. "Isn't that true?"

"Yeah, it's not an insult if it's just a fact, Jess," Emily chimed in.

Jess pouted. "I take back what I said. You two are jerks and I hate you both."

Emily cut short her pouting by leaning across Matt and pressing her lips to Jess'. Jess pawed at her reluctantly, but soon gave in and kissed Emily right back. Matt leaned back and let them pull together over him. They eventually climbed practically on top of him. Emily felt his hand slip around her waist while she kissed Jess. She made a small, contented noise as he ran his hand up and down her back.

It was certainly not an ordinary happy ending, but Emily was more than satisfied with her current life path. Not only did she have the two sweetest jerks around in love with her, but she also had friends – hell, she was being invited out to dinner that very night. Nobody used to invite her to dinners except for the people who made them essentially into glorified business meetings. And she and Ashley had been spending more time together recently than ever before, since they'd rediscovered their mutual appreciation for "geeky" things like museums and libraries. Sam…well, she hadn't heard much from Sam lately, but they visited each other from time to time. And around every major holiday she received a very formal, cautiously impersonal card from Mike's office.

Usually Emily reassured herself by saying that things could be worse. These days, however, she actually felt like they were good as opposed to "not as bad as they could be". Yes, things were good. Everything was okay. Everyone was okay.

The nightmares of the past were finally behind them.


Blackwood Mountain was warm in the summer. Most of the snow had already melted, and the last of the day's sun was beaming through some purple clouds to light the path to the top.

To an ignorant tourist, the mountain might seem almost welcoming.

It is watching you.

Sam continued at a steady pace. So it's an early riser, huh.

The wendigo inside of her was frightened. It hadn't said so, but it hadn't needed to. Sam could feel the dread radiating from it. It feared the Makkapitew, and did not want to return to the mountain. Of course, she was afraid as well – how could she not be? But this was something that had to be done. It should have been done years ago. She couldn't live with herself any longer knowing what still roamed free there.

She'd had to fight Sarah on it every step of the way. They'd eventually reached a compromise – since there was no way in hell Sam was getting through any airport security with a flamethrower anyway, she and Sarah had made a bit of a road trip out of the ordeal. Sarah was currently waiting in the car at the base of the mountain – very reluctantly. She'd wanted to come up with Sam.

I'm sorry Sare, Sam had told her, but I don't want to put you in danger. This is something I have to do by myself.

She was a little surprised when Sarah finally agreed to let her go up the mountain alone.

So what is the plan you've decided on? The wendigo must not have been able to sort through Sam's conflicted thoughts on the matter to its satisfaction.

Gonna try to lure it into whatever's left of the Sanatorium and catch it in one of the cages, I guess. She felt an internal shudder from the wendigo as its thoughts turned briefly toward the cages of the Sanatorium. It had spent decades imprisoned in one of those six-by-eight foot cells, permanent heavy chains weighing it down. She could vividly recall its memories of leaping at the bars in an attempt at escape, only to be yanked back by its restraints. It was a horrible feeling.

The last thing she wanted to do was trap Josh with that thing inside him forever. And Hannah and Beth were determined to stay with him until he was free from his wendigo form, which meant that in addition to keeping Josh imprisoned in his own body she'd also be preventing the twins from moving on to any other sort of afterlife. But it was worth it to rid the world of the Makkapitew's evil, at least for a while…right?

Yes.

Sam gripped the flamethrower's igniter tight as she paused to stare into the already-dark forest just off the trail. The old man wendigo hunter had never been able to capture the Makkapitew. Nor had his grandfather before him. In fact, it had killed both of them.

If she was going to go, Sam had already long since decided, she was going to go out trying to help make the world a little safer. It wasn't a bad way to die.

The wendigo had reassured her that it would not allow her to die, but those reassurances stopped once they were actually back on the mountain. As Sam knew of the Makkapitew's serial murders of humans, so did her wendigo know of its massacre of their own kind. It had happened right before its eyes. As much as it tried to obscure its thoughts from Sam, the overall theme was clear to her – it believed, more likely than not, that they were going to be torn apart by the Makkapitew. Sam would be the lucky one, it believed, as her spirit would be able to move on to another realm. The wendigo would be forced back into a subordinate role on the spiritual wasteland of a mountain, no longer having anything in common with its brethren and having drawn the ire of the mountain's Alpha. It would not be a pleasant experience.

Your friends are here.

Huh?

The…siblings, of the Makkapitew's vessel.

"Hannah and Beth are here?" Sam accidentally spoke aloud. She quickly brought a hand to her mouth to silence herself. Just to be safe, she stood stock still for some time afterward.

Yes. They wish to help.

To help me trap Josh?

The wendigo was quiet for a few moments. Then it said, They understand what must be done.

Are you talking to them?

No. They are talking to me. I can only listen.

The thought crossed Sam's mind that the wendigo could be lying to make Sam's decision seem a little less horrible. She picked at its thoughts a little bit, to the creature's chagrin. It seemed to be conveying the twins' opinions in earnest.

"Sam?"

Sam froze at the calling of her name. Every hair on her body stood on end.

She knew that voice.

It was Josh's voice.

She gripped the flamethrower with white knuckles and palms that leaked a cold sweat. You didn't tell me it could talk. The old man's journal had said that they could mimic human speech, but…

We typically prefer not to. It must want to toy with you first.

Great.

"Sam…Saaaaammm…" Josh's voice echoed from everywhere and nowhere between the trees.

It's probably reading your friend's memories.

Sam gritted her teeth. "Fucking monster…" she muttered. Josh doesn't deserve this.

The wendigo didn't respond.

Something stirred in the underbrush. Sam clutched the flamethrower, and carefully lifted the bandana she'd tied around her neck over her mouth and nose.

A skeletal hand emerged first. It was followed by the rest of the whole monstrous creature, who crawled on all fours out from the bushes. Sam's breath caught in her throat as it glanced about in search of her. Its limbs were not as long and wiry as Hannah's had been, but its exoskeleton was far more zombie-like, littered with scars and almost translucent in how pale it was. Its eyes, Josh's eyes, though milky and unfocused, were still vaguely recognizable in their depth and expressiveness. He still had deep purple bags beneath his eyes, the way he'd come to look after Hannah and Beth had gone missing.

Jo–the Makkapitew seemed to lock on to Sam even while she stood perfectly still. It opened its mouth in a wide, horrific grin, exposing all its jagged, crooked teeth. "Oh…it's…you." It was clearly struggling to form the human words with its malformed mouth. "Runt…of…the…litter."

Sam remained still, hoping against hope that it was just trying to scare her into giving away her location. What's it talking about? she asked the wendigo.

The creature replied in a small voice, It's referring to me.

The Makkapitew leapt at Sam. Sam jumped back, in the process stumbling and falling against a tree trunk. The Makkapitew stopped just in front of her. It barked out what Sam interpreted as a laugh. Then, in one quick move, it flung a hand out and knocked the flamethrower hose out of Sam's hands.

Thankfully the tanks on her back were strapped around her waist, so the swipe didn't knock them loose. Regardless, with her shaking hands Sam struggled to grab hold of the dangling hose again. In that split second of opportunity, the Makkapitew lunged for her again.

Sam didn't have to react this time – the instincts of the wendigo within her kicked in. Before she even realized what she was doing she was scrambling up the nearest tree. She jumped to a high branch and landed on all fours in a spider-like pose. She had seen the wendigos move like this all those years ago.

I wasn't moving, and it still saw me. Sam stared down at the Makkapitew as it circled the tree trunk, still grinning. I thought that wasn't possible.

It can sense my presence, the wendigo replied. I'm afraid you will not be able to hide from it while I am here.

Perfect. Thanks.

I'm…sorry. The wendigo sounded a little hurt by Sam's sarcastic response.

No, it's all right. Sam clung to the branch, attempting to get her balance enough to aim the flamethrower at the Makkapitew. I'm kind of glad you're with me.

The wendigo seemed pleased by that.

The Makkapitew prowled at the base of the tree, but did not come up. "Saaaam…" it called in a perfect replica of Josh's voice. "Sammy…"

Despite her best efforts to ignore them, the Makkapitew's mind games were messing with her. She couldn't stop seeing Josh in the monster down there. She couldn't aim her weapon at him without thinking about it. Stop it, she reprimanded herself. You killed this thing when it had Hannah. You can do this with Josh…trap him in there with it…forever.

The Makkapitew shook the tree trunk. Sam hung on tight to her branch, just barely managing to keep her grip on it. The Makkapitew screeched. Then it stalked off, eventually disappearing from Sam's sight.

Sam knew immediately that this was another game, but she had to comment anyway. It's coming back, isn't it.

Before the wendigo could answer her a crashing noise drew their attention. The Makkapitew dove at them from a nearby tree. It grabbed hold of Sam before she could flee, and jumped down to the ground below, slamming her into the dirt as it landed.

Sam! The wendigo's voice in her head was foggy. For that matter, everything was kind of foggy after being slammed to the ground from a treetop.

The Makkapitew leaned over her, reaching its spindly fingers for her flamethrower. Sam rolled onto her back and managed to get a hold on her weapon in time to depress the igniter trigger. A burst of flame sent the Makkapitew reeling backward. It huddled some distance away from her, glaring at her with Josh's eyes.

Its retreat gave Sam enough time to get back on her feet. She aimed another blast at it. But before she could depress the trigger again, the Makkapitew started moaning. It cradled its burned fingers and whimpered in Josh's voice.

Sam hesitated. As much as she knew the Makkapitew was probably just screwing with her, the thought wouldn't leave her – what if Josh could feel everything she inflicted upon the Makkapitew? During the few occasions in her life where her wendigo had taken control of their body, Sam still felt things and was (at least vaguely) aware of what was happening to and around her. What if the cries of pain she was hearing weren't from the Makkapitew, but from Josh himself? And she was planning on imprisoning them forever…

What are you waiting for? her wendigo said. We have a chance! Now we just have to let it chase us to the Sanatorium…

Sam remained fixed in place. The Makkapitew whined again, reminding Sam of one of the only times she'd seen Josh cry. They'd spent an afternoon together after the twins' disappearance, talking and drinking, trying to keep things light. Of course, the topic eventually came up…

The cries and whimpers of the creature before her sounded exactly the same.

Sam! Are you listening to me?

It was my fault this happened. The thoughts pervaded her consciousness. She could not ignore them. I couldn't stop Hannah from running away. She was down in the mines for weeks, I just didn't look hard enough for her. And then I couldn't stop Josh from going through with his revenge prank. I thought I had gotten through to him, but I was wrong. I couldn't even save him in the mines that night. And just like Hannah I – I didn't look hard enough for him. I just assumed he was dead. This is all my fault. It's all because of me.

The wendigo fell silent. She could only assume it had no idea how to process all this information, nor how to console Sam about it.

"I'm sorry, Josh," she called out. "I'm sorry, Hannah! Beth! Everything bad that happened to you three, I could have prevented it all…I could have tried harder…"

The Makkapitew was watching her. It stopped nursing its wounds and rose to its feet, tilting its head at her words.

Sam, you cannot reason with it! It will kill us!

Sam lowered her head. The flamethrower hose dropped from her hands. The Makkapitew took a few cautious steps closer.

"I can't do it," Sam mumbled. "I can't lock Josh away forever like this. And I can't kill him and set that thing free. I can't do it…I can't…"

The Makkapitew exposed its teeth in an ugly grin. It loomed over Sam. Sam kept her head down.

"Maybe just…kill me..."

She could feel her wendigo attempting to take forceful control of her body. On the mountain it was stronger, and she felt her grip on their shared vessel weakening. However before it could gain control the Makkapitew grabbed at them. It seized Sam by the throat and lifted her straight up into the air. Sam looked it dead in the eye, just waiting.

Suddenly she was dropped again.

The Makkapitew screeched as something diverted its attention. Its eyes darted back and forth at two unseen points of interest. It charged at one of them, swiping at seemingly nothing.

Sam didn't have much time to concern herself with whatever the Makkapitew was newly interested in. The jarring landing shook loose her last bit of hold over her body. In place of her spirit, the wendigo took over as pilot of their vessel.

The sisters of the Makkapitew's vessel – Hannah and Beth, by Sam's memories – were doing everything in their power to distract their possessed brother from killing Sam. Beth had actually placed herself between Sam and the Makkapitew, and was generating as much movement and noise as she possibly could. Hannah was behind it, confusing it with the clicks and growls she had learned from the Makkapitew itself.

Although the situation was fierce, the wendigo, strangely, could feel only love from the two human spirits. Love for each other, leading to near-perfect cooperation between the two of them. Love for their brother, whom the Makkapitew presently wore as a skin. Love for Sam, and a determination to protect her. And the wendigo swore it could almost feel a bit of reciprocal love coming from the Makkapitew – no, not from the Makkapitew. From the human it dominated. From "Josh".

Perhaps Sam was right. Perhaps the humans trapped within the bodies taken by the wendigo kind were still aware and capable of feeling.

In that case…was it truly right to trap him with the Makkapitew in those horrible cages, potentially for decades or longer? What of the sisters who loved this human? Were they never to be reunited with him in the human afterlife? And on top of that, was a decision of such magnitude fit to be made by a wendigo? Not even any wendigo, but the smallest and weakest, the least of its kind?

They had been given Blackwood Mountain to protect from humans. The decision settled upon by this particular wendigo flew in the face of that – in fact completely subverted it – but it could not help but feel it was making the right choice as it raised Sam's arms, curled her fingers around the igniter, and unleashed a barrage of fiery hell on the mountain's once-revered Alpha.

The Makkapitew screamed, at first in its stolen human voice, but it soon dissolved into a monstrous screech. Hannah and Beth watched incredulously as the creature collapsed to all fours. It made a desperate attempt to flee, but the wendigo kept Sam's weapon trained on it. It took an agonizingly long time to burn off the Makkapitew's near-impenetrable exoskeleton. Once it was burned away, however, the creature went down quickly. Almost sadly so…it was incredible to watch a creature hailed as the strongest of your kind go down in a matter of minutes. Incredible and a little frightening.

The Makkapitew's vessel collapsed into the dirt.

The wendigo handed control of their body back to Sam after the Makkapitew had fallen.

I thought you wanted to capture it. Sam's inner voice, as usual, was guarded.

I did.

Unsure how to convey the complex emotions it was experiencing, the wendigo simply shared them all with Sam. A few moments later Sam nodded to herself.

"Okay. I understand."

Sam could not see any of the happenings beyond the Makkapitew's ruined vessel. The Makkapitew's soul, as burned and charred as its body, burst outward, still shrieking until it disappeared into the night. Then, after a period of anxious stillness from all watching, a human crawled out from the smoldering wreckage. A boy.

He may as well not have bothered clambering to his feet, because his sisters immediately tackled him to the ground. The wendigo was surprised by this curious event until it realized they were hugging one another. The boy had his arms around both of them, and they were all crying, yet smiling at the same time.

If the wendigo had held any reservations about its poor decision, the scene before it helped to alleviate them. They were all so…happy.

The two sisters turned and waved briefly at Sam. Their eyes were shining and they were smiling wide.

Your friends are thanking you, it told Sam.

Sam hesitated. "Um, you're welcome, guys. Glad I could help."

The siblings held each other for another few moments. Then the three of them vanished.

Despite its confidence that it had made a good choice from a human moral standpoint, the thought of the Makkapitew free again naturally made the wendigo uneasy. It tried to hide this feeling from Sam, but Sam was too astute to miss it.

I know that…wasn't probably the best choice, she said. But honestly, fuck it. That family went through enough hell. They didn't deserve to be subjected to any more of it.

The wendigo failed to respond. The only thought Sam could read from it was, It is done now.

Yeah. It is.

She stared down at what had once been Josh's body, now mangled and burned beyond all recognition. They'd had a connection once, or so she had thought. She could still remember the night they came out to each other. Both of them had apparently expected the other to freak out about it. It had started with a mutual "I have to tell you something…" and ended with "Wait, you too?" And suddenly she was a lesbian with a Gay Guy Friend, a pairing she thought only existed in gay young adult novels.

After that Josh had made it his mission to try to get her and Beth together, since both girls were about as romantic as roadkill. But Sam, falling victim to the age-old lesbian curse of crushing on straight girls, had only ever had eyes for Hannah.

Now Josh was gone. Hannah and Beth were gone. Well, they'd been gone for years, but tonight it was really, truly over. Forever.

"Goodbye Josh," she said quietly. "Goodbye Hannah. Beth."

We must leave now. The wendigo's words in her head were gentle but firm. The Makkapitew will be hunting for a new body.

Yeah. You're right. She swallowed, tearing her eyes away from the torched husk in front of her. And Sarah's waiting.

Sam couldn't be sure who was more eager to leave the mountain, herself or her wendigo. It was obvious the wendigo's insistence that it no longer belonged amongst its brethren were genuine – it was itching to get away. As Sam wandered down the now-dark mountain path she could feel it pulling her forward, accelerating her footsteps until she was practically jogging down the winding trail. The jog morphed into an all-out run when Sam finally spotted Sarah's car near the base of the mountain. The exhaustion from what felt like hours of hiking was shed in the presence of her loving, supportive wife.

It was over. Everything was (at least somewhat) okay now.

The nightmares of the past were finally behind her.


The Makkapitew's soul flew angrily and restlessly about the mountain, its rage burning even hotter than usual. It watched the runt wendigo and its foolish vessel descend the mountain, proud of their "victory". Who ever heard of a wendigo and a human coexisting in a shared body? The runt had no shame. The Makkapitew considered forcing its way into their body and squelching them both. It would not be difficult.

It followed them for a bit, mulling it over. No, it would not be difficult at all. The human was about to let it kill her a mere few minutes ago, and the runt, well, it went without saying that the weak little thing would be no match for the Makkapitew's strength of will.

The Makkapitew swooped down toward them. Before it could reach the waiting vessel, though, something materialized in front of it. A huge, hulking monster of a creature, with four arms and four solid yellow, pupil-less eyes, its scaly skin so purely black that it almost hurt the eyes to behold it, stomped a gigantic clawed foot down into the dirt path before the wendigo. It opened its disturbingly-large, round mouth to reveal several rows of fangs lining the inside.

That human is under my protection. Its voice was distorted, and fluctuated in pitch.

The Makkapitew spat at it, then attempted to continue past the creature to its new body. Despite the Makkapitew's ethereal formlessness, the creature somehow grabbed hold of the wendigo. It squeezed it in a clawed fist, forcing a weak snarl out of it.

You would be wise to know your place, wendigo, the creature boomed. You were given this mountain, and as it was given, so can it be taken away. The creature maintained its grip on the Makkapitew until the Makkapitew very nearly wished it could die. Touch that human and you will be banished to a realm of eternal nothingness. No mountain to rule over, no humans to prey upon. Nothing. And I will ensure that you spend the rest of your pathetic existence there.

Even the Makkapitew knew when to retreat in the face of a Guardian. Still snarling under its breath, the wendigo drew away from the monster. It cast one last glance back to see the Guardian melt down into a smaller form. Its inky black flesh washed away to reveal a female human lookalike with long, dark hair and tan skin.

It reached into a pocket of the clothing it had shape-shifted into, pulled out a pair of thick black glasses, and put them on. Then it smiled a small, innocent smile in the Makkapitew's direction. "Remember, I'll be watching."

With that the Guardian vanished. The Makkapitew watched from a safe distance as the creature met the human at the base of the mountain. The human hugged it, then kissed it. At one point the Guardian glanced back up the mountain trail and fixed its eyes pointedly on the Makkapitew spirit. The Makkapitew spat at it again.

The Guardian led the human into a vehicle, and they departed from the mountain. Hopefully forever.