It was a story I’d never told them before, for obvious reasons. It was one of my best. Lots of action. Jamie would have loved it. I sighed and began in a low voice.

“On the Mists Planet. I was with my friend Harness Light and a guide. I don’t remember the guide’s name. They called me Lives in the Stars there. I already had a bit of a reputation.”

Jared chuckled.

“We were making a pilgrimage across the fourth great ice field to see one of the more celebrated crystal cities. It was supposed to be a safe route-that’s why there were only three of us.

“Claw beasts like to dig pits and bury themselves in the snow. Camouflage, you know. A trap.

“One moment, there was nothing but the flat, endless snow. Then, the next moment, it seemed like the entire field of white was exploding into the sky.

“An average adult Bear has about the mass of a buffalo. A full-grown claw beast is closer to the mass of a blue whale. This one was bigger than most.

“I couldn’t see the guide. The claw beast had sprung up between us, facing where Harness Light and I stood. Bears are faster than claw beasts, but this one had the advantage of the ambush. Its huge stone-like pincers swooped down and sheared Harness Light in half before I’d really processed what was happening.”

A car drove slowly down the side of the parking lot. We sat silent until it had passed.

“I hesitated. I should have started running, but… my friend was dying there on the ice. Because of that hesitation, I would have died, too, if the claw beast hadn’t been distracted. I found out later that our guide-I wish I could remember his name!-had attacked the claw beast’s tail, hoping to give us a chance to run. The claw beast’s attack had stirred up enough snow that it was like a blizzard. The lack of visibility would help us escape. He didn’t know it was already too late for Harness Light to run.

“The claw beast turned on the guide, and his second left leg kicked us, sending me flying. Harness Light’s upper body landed beside me. His blood melted the snow.”

I paused to shudder.

“My next action made no sense, because I had no body for Harness Light. We were midway between cities, much too far to run to either. It was probably cruel, too, to take him out with no painkillers. But I couldn’t stand to let him die inside the broken half of his Bear host.

“I used the back of my hand-the ice-cutting side. It was too wide a blade… It caused a lot of damage. I could only hope that Harness Light was far gone enough that he wouldn’t feel the extra pain.

“Using my soft inside fingers, I coaxed Harness Light from the Bear’s brain.

“He was still alive. I barely paused to ascertain this. I shoved him into the egg pocket in the center of my body, between the two hottest hearts. This would keep him from dying of cold, but he would only last a few short minutes without a body. And where would I find a host body in this empty waste?

“I thought of trying to share my host, but I doubted I could stay conscious through the procedure to insert him into my own head. And then, having no healing medicine, I would die quickly. With all those hearts, Bears bled very fast.

“The claw beast roared, and I felt the ground shake as its huge paws thudded down. I didn’t know where our guide was, or if he lived. I didn’t know how long it would take the claw beast to find us half-buried in the snow. I was right beside the severed Bear. The bright blood would draw the monster’s eyes.

“And then I got this crazy idea.”