In the depths of the arctic, I was trying to walk as quickly as possible. The only thought that came to my mind was how time was running out. Wait, I’m getting ahead of myself. I’ll start from the beginning. First of all, my name is Kitarah.

This moment in time almost killed me. I was just getting water for the warriors of my village. Oh, I should also tell you this, because it’s very important: I’m also the princess of my village. I was getting the water when I suddenly heard a sound coming from the bushes by the river. I paused with fear in my eyes.

“What do you think is going on, Bearity?” I asked of my unicorn. I heard the sound again, and I saw something I couldn’t believe. The bucket of water slipped from my hands. Water splashed in every direction. I jumped on Bearity, and I raced to tell the warriors what I saw.


I rode faster than a flying eagle. Soon, I saw the warriors on the hill. They were probably making sure no danger was coming to the village. I rode up trying to find Dumo. He is my friend, and also the leader of the warriors.

“Dumo, I saw and heard something near the bushes by the river,” I told him.

“Are you sure it wasn’t just some kid fooling around?” he asked me skeptically.

“Dumo, I saw tusks,” I said to him in a worried way.

His expression of worry matched mine, and he stuttered to speak. “Take us to where you saw this,” he ordered me.

I took them to the bushes, not knowing any of our fates. My heart was beating harder than a drum.

Once we got there, the warriors took their positions around the bushes. Just then, out of the bushes, stepped a fall beast. The fall beasts are giant, pig-like creatures.
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They have tusks as long as ten villagers, growing out of the sides of their mouths. Also, they have bloody, poisonous tentacles growing out their backs.

As it started to charge us, we all ran in different directions. I ran to Bearity, and started to ride her away from the beast. Soon, I saw Singbear, my little sister, running away from the beast. She must have followed us from the village. I turned Bearity around so I could save my little sister.

I reached my hand down as far as I could, and grabbed her. As I was pulling her up, the beast shot out one of its deadly tentacles, and wrapped it around my arm. I screamed to the top of my lungs, feeling as though I could not breathe. Dumo shot out an arrow and it landed right in the heart of the beast. The evil beast tipped to one side, then the other. Then, it fell, and its blood seeped into the river. I fell off Bearity, and everything started to go black.

I could hear Dumo saying, “Kitarah, hold on, hold on!”

Later, I woke up in the medicine hut. I lifted my arm to see if I was hurt. My arm was wrapped with white silk. After the shock of seeing my bandaged arm, I saw Dumo in the doorway.

“Dumo, what is going…”

Dumo interrupted me to say, “You’re wanted in the Meeting Hall at nine o’clock.” I heard concern and worry in his voice.

“What time is it now?” I asked him.

“It’s seven-thirty,” he told me.
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“How long was I out?” I asked.

“It’s been about six hours since the beast attacked you.”

At nine, I went to the Meeting Hall. When I entered, the only ones there were the warriors and my Grandmother. It was apparent they were waiting for me.

“Come in, Kitarah,” my Grandmother told me.

I went to her, and sat down.

“Warriors, you are supposed to protect our people, ensure that they are not hurt or in danger. But, today you let this girl, the princess of your village, be attacked by a fall beast. Kitarah, remove your bandages,” my Grandmother told me.

I grabbed the strip of silk and started to unravel it. As soon as the silk was off, I stared at my arm as much as everyone else did. Around my arm was a red, deadly mark. It looked like a dragon gripping my arm.

“Kitarah, you will have to go to the Arctic, because you are cursed by the beast,” my Grandmother told me.

“What do you mean by ‘cursed’,” I asked.

My Grandmother explained, “You have only five days to get to the Arctic and beg the Arctic beast to rid you of this curse.”

“Why only five days?” I asked her.

“Because in five days, if you have not rid yourself of this mark, the curse will kill you,” my Grandmother told me.

Through the journey to the Arctic, the mark brought me much pain. Frankly, sometimes the pain was worse than death. With only a few minutes to spare, I made it to the Arctic. I searched for the beast, hoping that time wouldn’t run out. Finally, I saw something coming toward me. It was the Arctic beast. The sight of the beast almost made me forget why I was there, but a surge of pain brought my mind back to my purpose. I lifted my arm to show the beast I needed its help. It simply looked at the mark, snorted at me, and walked away. My feelings of anger from all the pain made me run to the beast. I pulled down one of his tusks, and looked at him in a dark way.

“Look, I have been through much pain and suffering. Either you fix my arm willingly, or I’ll make you fix it.”

The beast looked worried, and nodded its head. It shot out a tentacle and wrapped it around my mark. It sucked the poison out of the mark, but the mark was still there, a reminder of the danger I had just survived. I felt no pain, just a feeling that I was safe once more. As the beast walked away, I turned toward home and a new beginning.