I trudged through the icy forest. I, Magnus the Unflinching, the best archer, warrior, and hunter of all the Emperor's knights, was to travel through the land in the depths of winter to defeat a beast: a gigantic grizzly bear. It was the first one to appear in this territory in years. By order of the Emperor, I was to bring it down, for it was raiding houses and entire villages in search of food. Additionally, my uncle and my little cousin Dante lived in the area. I hoped that the bear had left them in peace so far. They were, apart from my mother, the only family I had left. So I hurried to find this bear. I had already set some traps and bait without success so far. In my desperation, I had laid out the last and best of my provisions that morning; now it was late afternoon, and dusk was already falling. All day long, I had been sitting in the large tree, holding my bow in hand. At every noise, my hand twitched back to the arrows, but the bear remained undetected.Suddenly, the bushes rustled, and then the bear stepped out, heading straight for my bait. I gasped for air, and the bear's head shot in my direction. From then on, I hardly dared to breathe. This bear was enormous. It stood on its hind legs and sniffed the air. It was at least a three-meter tall animal. Too late, my memory reminded me that I could have hit it more easily in that position. Before I could nock an arrow, the bear returned to all fours. It sniffed at my bait and began to eat it. I kept waiting for the right moment to hit it, but it kept turning its back to me. My arrows could not possibly penetrate its thick, brown-black fur. If only it would turn its belly or at least its face with those mercilessly glimmering black eyes towards me. I decided to take the risk and whistled through my fingers. The bear looked back at me. I shot and hit its snout. The bear roared in pain and tried to wipe the blood from its face. Internally, I cheered. Just as I nocked the second arrow, the creature fixed its eyes right on mine. It ran, I ran, and a wild chase began. I dashed through the snow, the bear hot on my heels.