Miles away, the women also realized something was amiss. Some of the dogs had gone missing. Others were acting strangely, cowering in fear and shivering, barking at something in the woods. Beyond that, there was an uneasy feeling. The Cree often reported that wendigos caused a sort of spiritual malaise, affecting people as they drew closer, causing feelings of loneliness, of cold, and of general apathy. You don't want to cook, or hunt, or get up. Think seasonal affective disorder, but worse.
Anyway, the women notice this and it scares the hell out of them. They pack up camp very quickly, grab the remaining dogs, pile into the canoe, and strike out. The wendigo reaches their camp not long after. As some of you may recall from the last thread, these monsters can often seem confused and disoriented, even a little crazy, but they're not dumb. The wendigo recognized a hastily abandoned camp, saw where a canoe had been beached, and put 2 and 2 together. It struck out along the river in pursuit.
So the man was going upriver on foot, the women were going downriver by boat, and the wendigo was hot on their heels. The group all came to a head in the narrows, where the river cut deep and cliffs rose on all sides. The man arrived, and in the distance he saw the canoe, and on the shore he saw the monster. It was gaining. Wendigos are tall, gangly creatures with long strides. They can move very quickly. With no weapon that can kill the monster, the man sits down and enters into a trance. He forces himself to dream, and in his dream he calls out to the Rock, his pawakan. He pleads for aid.
As the canoe enters the narrows and the wendigo follows, Rock hears and consents. The cliffs snap shut across the river like a massive pair of jaws. The canoe carries on safely... while the wendigo is caught between the Rocks,