There are good things about being a man too, of course, and I expect I'll be one again . . . someday . . . but right now I'd rather be a beast, something Astrid would never be able to share with me. She was fully human, filled with warmth and generosity, and unsuited to the cold that I'd come to love almost as much as I loved her. It would have been pure selfishness on my part to drag her with me, but at least I'd managed to let her know while I was still human just how much I wanted to do just that.

Being able to not be selfish was one of the many good things about being human, after all. The pity of it was though that being human also made me weary, too weary, when I saw people failing to act human, becoming worse than beasts when they did so.

Far, far worse.

As the slaughter below continued, I fully embraced my beast and wandered away in the direction of my mountain. If I was lucky, I'd find some wild winter berries.

I could do with a snack.

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