Snow fluttered softly to the icy ground of the tundra. Pine forests spread as far as the eye could see. The sky laid painted with the colors of growing twilight. Howls of wolves echoed off rugged mountains. Orange and black cats prowled the forests in search of separated elk or a wolf.  The animals who lived on these lands grew their fur thick to protect from the bitter bite of winter.
This wilderness was truly untouched by the poisoning hand of humans. It was vast and wild. Survival meant being strong and smart. Strength wasn’t merely a measure of muscle. It was simply your will to go on. Without strength you would never make it through the cold, or survive a confrontation with one of the many predators who sought only to kill the weak. Being smart was knowing the difference between when to run, and when to fight for your life. It was learning where to find food and water during the coldest months of the year.
    This harsh land is where I once lived, and where my short story begun.  My name is Duša. My coat is tan and dull in color and, if I grew older, sharp and proud antlers would have grown atop my head. My kind lived in herds for protection and stability. We were proud and fierce, yet fearful and graceful.
I was young if I was not protected by my mother and the herd I would be easy pickings for a fearsome tiger or a ravenous pack of wolves. I remember the day it all started very clearly, for it is one of my few memories. I recall running alongside my mother across the flat Siberian tundra away from our small herd. We were being chased, separated from the rest of our herd by wolves making us easier targets. Before this I never questioned my mother’s instincts or guidance. But I wish I did this one time.
The wolves drove us deep into the woods and easily surrounded us. There were no bushes or brush to hide behind from under the great pine forest. All we could do was wait. The wolves stood around us on all sides. One large wolf barked as if he were commanding the others. My mother was prepared to defend, but there were too many. The wolves launched themselves at us with teeth bared and claws outstretched. Just as they struck, I ran. It was clear they were going after my mother’s meat, for they made no effort to chase after me.
I left my mother’s bellows of fear and pain behind me. My fear of being ripped apart like her made me run faster. I kept scrambling through the forest unsure of where to go next until I fell down a sharp slope into an icy river. Water filled my lungs as I struggled to stay above the surging waves. This was it, my short existence would have been put to an end in such a pathetic way. “I don’t want to die like this. I want to live.” I thought before I slipped into darkness.
Suddenly, I awoke in a forest similar to the one I left. I lay on my side with my legs sprawled across the snowy ground. Red pines stood tall as if trying to reach to the heavens. An unearthly glow emanated from the sky. It was dark, but the undergrowth gave off a bright, hazy light. My fur was clean, dry, and gave off an unusual glowing sheen.  I slowly rose my head and got a good look of my surroundings. I lay in the middle of a clearing. Around me smooth, crisp snow covered the forest floor. There was no incline or decline in landscape, for the area was completely flat. No tracks led to where I laid. I rose to my feet on unsteady legs. No wind blew through the trees, and the earth was eerily silent.
“Hello, young Dusa.” A confident voice boomed echoing off the trees. I spun around looking for the source of the voice. Directly behind me stood a magnificent white stag. His pure black antlers extended and twisted out broadly from behind his ears. He reached his head down to mine delicately. “I am Optanak.”
“Dusa?” I repeated meekly. “Is that what I am called?” Optanak’s face remained emotionless and his piercing blue eyes stared deep into mine.
“It is what you will be known as in this place.” Optanak whispered. He lifted his head standing tall over me.
“That is what I do not understand, Optanak. Where am I?” I asked. “I-I think I was drowning in a river not too long ago. Yet my fur is dry, and I woke up in this unfamiliar forest.”
“This place is a borderline between the worlds of the living and the dead.” Optanak replied.   “Now tell me small one.” His intense eyes seemed to bore holes through my skull. “Do you wish to live?”
“Am I not alive right now Optanak?” I asked in confusion. Suddenly I felt hesitant in whether or not to trust this stranger. Optanak stood silently, wisdom seemed to emanate from his eyes. Snow began to fall quietly clinging to my fur and sticking to his wide antlers.
“That is for you to decide, tiny Dusa.” He turned away slowly from me, and gingerly stepped away from where he was standing. I moved forward to follow him. I didn’t want to be alone in a seemingly never-ending forest.
“I hadn’t lived very long, Optanak,” I bleated. “Why would I not want to live?” After I said this, he stopped dead in his tracks. Snow continued to fall gently throughout the unmoving forest. A gentle wind slid between the trees. Dark shadows slipped across the ground at an uncanny rate.
Without looking back, Optanak continued walking forward towards what looked like the edge of the forest. “If that is what you wish, then continue to follow me, Dusa, and do not look back.” His deep voice resonated off trees. I followed him farther away from the clearing. The forest behind me grew darker and darker with each step. Eerie whispers sounded softly in my ear pleading for me to stay.
The air around me grew colder and the wind blew hefty gusts nearly knocking me off my feet. “Optanak!” I called out desperately over the roaring wind, “How much further is it?”
Optanak continued at the same pace far ahead of me. He did not seem affected by the wind. “Just look at me, Dusa. Never, no matter what you hear, look back or this journey will become much harder.” Optanak’s deep voice boomed over the wind clearly. “The path to life is a difficult one. Especially for a small Dusa such as yourself.” The snow started falling heavier. I began to lose Optanak’s shadowy shape as he became swallowed in the snow storm. I ran against the wind so I would not lose sight of him. For if I lost him, it would mean being stuck wandering these strange forests for eternity. I’m not certain how, but I knew this for sure.
The forest was now bathed in the color of blood. The whispers in my ear now turn to screams, “CAN YOU TRUST OPTANAK? IS HE LEADING YOU TO YOUR REVIVAL OR TO YOUR DEATH?” they would cry. Quick footsteps followed directly behind me. Their hot breaths rolled up against my tail.
“They are taunting you, Dusa! Do not look back or you will share in their eternal torment.” I could now see Optanak standing firmly through the snow. His coat seemed to shine in a blinding light that illuminated through the blood red forest. His body was squared and his eyes shone with icy fire. He lowered his head threateningly against the spirits behind me. “Ubijen!” Optanak thundered, “You will not claim this Dusa! This one is mine to save!”
As if on cue, the wind and snow stopped right where it was. Snowflakes hang motionless in the air. The forest was quiet once more and stayed covered in a curtain of blood. Time seemed to stop for this moment. A new and unfamiliar voice sounded quietly behind me. Its voice was shrill, yet quiet and wheezy, “I have never forced anyone to join me Optanak. They each have chosen to stay on their own accord.” 
Optanak quietly stepped to face Ubijen. His jet-black antlers presented forward willing for combat. “That is because they do not know. They find you first and assume you have their best interest in mind. Ubijen, no creature willingly goes to its own death.”
“It’s death? Or it’s freedom?” I heard what I assume to be his footsteps pick around my small body. Ubijen made his way up to Optanak. His body was made up of torn skin on top of frail bones. His face was gaunt and his wrinkled mouth seemed to be trying to eat itself. Stark broken antlers clung loosely to the top of his head. The worst of his features were his eyes. They budged from his skull and were completely colored red, his pupils were but pinpricks of black in a sea of blood. It was hard to keep looking at him, but impossible to pry my gaze away. My body shook in unknowing fear. My hooves were glued to the ground where I stood.
“What truly is living, Optanak? Is it worth it? Or is living being afraid that you will be torn apart by another creature who seeks to consume your body? Is it struggling to find the simple things like shelter, food, or water every day? Dragging yourself along unsure of what will become of you if you fail?” His voice was piercing, but assuring. Ubijen stood facing Optanak a few yards ahead of him. “How is that being alive? No matter what you do in your short life, you will die. What is the point of existing in a painful world if death is the only True Freedom? There is no pain after death, only liberty!”
“Life is not simply struggling to survive!” Optanak bellowed through the crisp, still air. “It is a time to create bonds, test your limits, and thrive. This Dusa has not experienced any of what life has to offer! Taking away his opportunity, his chance at life is simply a crime! How could you willingly take this from the unknowing? From the young?”
 Ubijen lowed his head threateningly, “In the end it is the Dusa’s choice whether to go back to his pain, his pointless and hard life.”
“He is but a calf, he has not experienced anything.” Optanak questioned, “how can you die if you have not truly lived?” With this Optanak interlocked his antlers into Ubijen’s. They both pushed against each other. At first it seemed as if Optanak would easily defeat Ubijen. He was muscular and his antlers looked sturdy compared to Ubijen’s crumbling ones. But after only a few moments, Ubijen overpowered Optanak throwing him to the ground causing the snow around him to explode upwards.
“Stop! Optanak, do you not understand? This is and always has been the Dusa’s decision.” Ubijen turned his head and looked straight into my cowering eyes, “What do you decide? Will you Live or Die?” On the ground Optanak looked helpless standing below Ubijen, and waited for me to make my decision with pleading eyes.
“I will live.” I muttered quietly.
Ubijen’s eyes went from confident to pitying. “If that is what you have decided, then I can do nothing to change your mind. Good luck, Dusa!” Ubijen walked solemnly away. Once he had left Optanak rose and continued to guide me back to my world.
“Thank you young Dusa…Thank you.”