For a moment, everything was quiet. Then a tooth dropped from the beast’s mouth. It landed for a moment on Toiréasa’s cheek, then slid off and into the icy ground. She saw where it came from and the larger tooth underneath that had pushed it out.

Just a pup? She considered, kneeing the bottom of it’s jaw. With another snarl, those teeth went to close down on Toiréasa. Perhaps it was by luck that she had thrust her sword forward, but the teeth bit down on the blade and not her arm. The beast retreated at that, though taking Toiréasa’s weapon with. Toiréasa struggled to her feet.

Slowly, she backed away until the beast was out of sight. As much as she wanted to fight, she would be defeated. As much as she wanted to run, the beast would be faster.

When Toiréasa got home, she had to get a new blade.