Rise of the Valiant by Morgan Rice

as it lingered there, let out an awful cry of agony,
then collapsed limply on top of him.
    Dead.
    Alec was
stumped. Had it been shot in the back by an arrow? By whom?
    As he sat up to
figure it out, Alec suddenly felt something awful and cold and slimy slithering
up his leg—colder even than the snow. His heart skipped a beat as he looked
down and realized it was the snake. It must have slithered down the tree and
struck the Wilvox, killing it with its lethal venom. Ironically, it had saved
Alec.
    The snake-like
creature slithered slowly, alternately crawling on its legs, like a millipede,
around the dead Wilvox, coiling itself around its body, and Alec felt a terror
even greater than he had when the Wilvox was on top of him. He scurried out
from under it, eager to get away while the snake was distracted.
    Alec scrambled
to his hands and knees and rushed forward and charged the Wilvox still pinning
down Marco. He kicked it as hard as he could, its ribs cracking as it went
rolling off his friend, right before it could bite him. The beast whined and
rolled in the snow, clearly caught off guard.
    Alec yanked
Marco to his feet, and Marco turned and charged the beast, kicking it as it
tried to get up, again and again in the ribs. The beast rolled several feet,
down a bank of snow, until it was out of sight.
    “Let’s go!” Alec
urged.
    Marco needed no
prodding. They both took off, racing through the wood, the snake still coiled
around the Wilvox, hissing and snapping at them as they went, barely missing
them. Alec sprinted, his heart pounding in his chest, wanting to get as far
away from here as possible.
    They ran for
their lives, bumping into trees, and as Alec glanced back over his shoulder,
wanting to make sure they were in the clear, he saw something that made his
heart drop: the final Wilvox. It just would not stop. It scrambled back up the
snow bank, and now hunted them down as they ran. Much faster than they, it
bounded through the snow, bearing down on them, its jaws widening, more
determined than ever.
    Alec looked
forward and spotted something up ahead: two boulders, taller than he, a few
feet apart, a narrow crevice between them. He suddenly had an idea.
    “Follow me!”
Alec cried.
    Alec ran for the
boulders as the Wilvox closed in behind them. He could hear it panting behind
him in the snow, and he knew he had only one chance to get this right. He
prayed his plan worked.
    Alec leapt over
the boulders, landing on the other side in the snow, as Marco did the same,
right behind him. He stumbled in the snow, then turned and watched the Wilvox
follow. It leapt up, too, and as he had hoped, the beast, unable to climb, and
slipped on the rock and got lodged in the narrow crevice between the boulders.
    It wiggled,
trying to break free, but it could not. Finally, it was trapped.
    Alec turned and
examined the beast, breathing hard, flooded with relief. In pain, scratched up,
the small bite on his leg hurting, and the big bite on his arm killing, Alec finally
realized the nightmare was over. They were alive. Somehow, they had survived.
    Marco looked at
Alec, eyes filled with admiration.
    “You did it,”
Marco said. “The kill is yours.”
    Alec stood
there, hardly a foot away from the helpless beast, which was snarling, wanting
to tear them apart. He knew he should feel nothing but hatred for it. But
despite himself, he pitied it. It was a living thing, after all, and trapped,
helpless.
    Alec hesitated.
    Marco reached
down, picked up a jagged rock, and handed it to him. Alec held the rock, sharp
and heavy, and knew that one decisive blow could kill this creature. He held
the rock, feeling the cold weight of it on his palm, and his hand trembled. He
could not bring himself to do it.
    Finally, he
dropped it in the snow.
    “What is it?”
Marco asked.
    “I can’t,” Alec
said. “I can’t kill something helpless. However much it may deserve it. Let us
go. It can’t harm us now.”
    Marco stared
back, shocked.
    “But