Ice Forest, By Miles Booth

Every winter, up in the mountains in the ice forest, tourists flock from all around the world. There was a tour in place that would take you up and down the mountains for four days with a guide. High on the mountain in the ice forest stood Toorak, the newest tour guide, who had joined a year ago. He was taking the Aufenhagen family up and down the mountain with the premium package.

Toorak and the family arrived at the first stop for a rest. Father Aufenhagen was setting up the tent at sundown when he saw two glowing red eyes. Then they disappeared. He heard a loud snarl. Then it disappeared, and he heard heavy breathing. Then that disappeared too.

Later that night, once everything was set up, the Aufenhagen family sat down to eat freshly caught fish from the frozen lake. The scent of this divine dish navigated its way through the frosty bushes and towards the ice bear’s den. Envy filled any man or creature who smelt the spectacular scent. The sound and sight of the crackling fire mesmerised the supposedly ‘tamed’ ice bear. For the first time in 13 long years, the ice bear felt a pain so harsh. All the tranquilliser darts, all the medication. Being tamed felt like medieval torture. She waited until the voices drifted into a calm silence, then started stalking through the forest.

In fear, Toorak shot his one and only flare and peered into the ice to… establish dominance. Suddenly, out of the icy night air came Wolf and his pack. Snarling at the bear, they gave Toorak and the resting family a sense of safety. So, Toorak and the pack sat around the fire. The heat from the flames melted the ice below, boiling it into vapour that screeched through the cold night air. At a glacial pace, they all lay down to rest — all but Wolf, who stayed awake and alert.

Eventually, the bear crawled through the bushes to find Papa Aufenhagen’s tent lit by the fire that stood behind it. The bear tore through the tent like a box cutter through a box. The bear snatched up Papa Aufenhagen and bit him in two. Then, in the dead of night, the ice bear reached for Wolf’s pups, snarling in the snow.

Wolf dived in front of his young and bit the ice bear’s ear off. She roared and howled. The children and Toorak woke up and rushed to help the pups. The force of the roar blew out the fire. In the depths of the darkness, Wolf’s pups charged at the ice bear, biting on pure instinct and ripping her arm off with their combined force. The arm fell off with one slow slide. Screeching in pain, the ice bear retreated to her den to decay.

Wolf howled at the full moon, his cry echoing like a megaphone. The Aufenhagen family mourned the death of Papa Aufenhagen, while Wolf and his family earned medals of honour. Unbeknownst to them, the ice bear cubs had been watching the whole time. Being from the same generation as Wolf’s cubs, they were hungry for revenge…