A smile gleamed across Wele's eyes as she stalked the family of three below her. She was well hidden in the crevice of the glacier, one of many in these snow covered mountains. She wrapped her nine tails just near her hind legs and folded her black wings behind her more comfortably as she sank lower to the ground. The fur of her coat almost matched perfectly to the cool ground around her. Humans didn't have a good sense of sight, or smell, she thought as she took a whiff of the wind that blew her way, appreciating the drifts of snow that covered her more. She caught the scent of her prey, and began to salivate. It had been too long since she had human meat. It had even been a few days without any food. Yet she stayed hidden, and sat as still as she could. She always watched her prey for days, sometimes weeks, before she went in for the kill.

Rightfully so; the smallest of the group, probably no more than three in human years, stumbled as he walked. Too much fur bundled him, and once or twice he would fall into the banks of the snow. The woman would then pick him up, and off he went again, waddling through the white field. Out of the corner of Wele's eye a smaller version of her came slowly walking up to the little boy. She jumped with excitement, and banged her head as bits of ice came down. The small snow leopard stopped a couple hundred feet from the boy, and sat on it's hind legs. It waited as the boy walked towards it. The man and woman watched with tears and smiles on their faces.

This boy is becoming a SoulBound with the leopard, Wele thought to herself. Stories over the years came to mind. Animals across the world were paired with humans, and sometimes Elves. The two were linked eternally through a special bond, and both lived their lives as such. Wele watched as the young leopard nuzzled the boy's hands. She unfolded her wings, ready to take flight just as the sun beamed into her eyes an almost forgotten memory.

The brightness of the sun blazed down in Espersia's vision.

"Unfair! Unfair!" The smallest of the two snow leopards cried out as she wriggled under her older sister's weight. Her tail swished back and forth on the soft snow covered ground.

"How so?" Kahiko asked, as she pounced down playfully and nipped at her paws.

"The sun," she replied, switching to attack their middle brother. The snow crunched beneath them as they wrestled for hours in the early morning sun, and the snow went flying like white fireworks. They licked the snowflakes when it had begun to snow, and Ero stated that each one had a different taste which brought on another fit of giggles from his sisters.

"Children," a larger snow leopard chuffed. They immediately stopped playing and sat up. Getro, as she was called; had long thick fur, a stocky build and short legs.

"Today is the day I show you where to hunt." Three small tails jerked back and forth in the snow.

"Oh, Boy," Ero said, his tail almost hitting Kahiko in her behind.

The three children followed their mother, in birth order, up the mountain path. They took their time, enjoying the heat of the sun on their fur. It warmed their hearts to know summer was just around the corner. It took a few hours for them to reach half-way, but it was enough to overlook the land below them. An enormous lake, one the sun had not yet melted, glistened in the north west. A herd of blue sheep grazed to the north east. Espersia's stomach growled at the sight of her favorite food. It had been a few days since Mom brought sheep for a meal.

"Mother," Ero began, with a hungry look.

"Why can't we have them every meal? There is more than enough." Getro smiled at her children as she lay down, curling her tail under her.

"Because," she motioned for them to sit next to her.

"We are not the only hunters in the land. It is the rule of life; you may be a hunter, but you are also someone else's prey. It may not seem like it, but we are not the only one's here."

"There's a much bigger world out there too!" Kahiko chimed in.

"Correct, my little explorer."

"Come on, Mom. Let's begin," Ero mewed as he started down the mountain path.

"Oh no, dear. Not today." She picked him up by the scruff of his neck before he could make another step.

"But, I'm hungry now!" He threw himself onto the ground.

"What are we doing then?" Espersia asked.

"For the rest of the day you are to observe them. Study their habits. Watch their every move. Bright and early tomorrow, we hunt."

Espersia was the only one who stayed up past sundown watching the sheep. She usually stayed up long after her siblings went to sleep, watching her surroundings.

"Come on, my Special One. It's getting late." Her mother came up beside her and nuzzled her cheek. Espersia yawned and looked at her brother and sister nestled together for warmth.

"Come," she beckoned a second time.

"Your brother and sister could use more warmth." She nudged Espersia toward the pile of fur.

Early the next day as promised, they set out down the mountain. They watched their mother as she prowled after an adult sheep, splitting it from its pack. What happened next they did not expect. A spear came flying through the air and hit Getro in the shoulder blade.

"Mother!" Kahiko and Ero wailed as they ran to her. Espersia stood still, in shock. Multiple arrows flew and hit Ero, he had only made it several hundred feet to his mother.

"Hunters!" Kahiko screamed.

"Ero," Getro hissed at the hunters as they came running towards the family of leopards. With the spear still in her body, she charged at the shortest of the men, and went for his throat. Her teeth clamped down the moment she felt flesh. The sweet taste of blood overfilled in her mouth.

"Children, run!" She said between dodges.

"Please, stop! We only take a sheep every few days," Kahiko said, trying to dodge with her mother.

"There's no use talking to them. They don't speak our language," Getro yelled.

She was right, all the hunters could hear was hissing and wailing.

"Kahiko, you need to run!" She yelled again. It was no use. Kahiko stood by her mother fighting until the end. Ero was the first to die, and Espersia had run the moment her mother told her too. She watched from her hiding spot as the only ones she ever knew were taken away from her, watched as the only ones she ever loved were killed. She promised herself from that day forward she would hold no sympathy for those who walked on two legs. Anger burned inside of her, lit like a flame. A flame that burned bright enough one evening to bring a visit from a man dressed in black. He granted her wings as black as the night, and eight more tails for the number of nights that had past since that awful morning. All in exchange for her soul, for her immortal life.

Anger rose up in her again at the memory of all she had, and all she had lost. This time she took flight, no glare from the sun would stop her. Nothing would.

Red soaked the white ground just like that morning. Four bodies once again lay dead in the snow.