I Ice Sculpt My Enemies

Yumii and I came out of the tunnel and stood on a mountain path, already high above where we were hours before, looking down at the sea below. A group of angels were burning their fallen, their tents laid out all around the entrance tunnel to the Twilight Forest. Just how many of them are there?!

I clenched my fists out of rage upon seeing some of the faeries I'd just met paraded around on spikes. Ujal and the others are not there… I sighed in relief.

“They must’ve gotten away. Surely they have more tunnels like this one.”

Yumii didn’t pay me any mind.

"Damn grandma… Should've come with me."

I watched the faery walk away, mumbling to herself. I knew all too well how she felt. I looked up to the white-tipped mountains that pierced the clouds in front of us. Please be there.

I sent one last look back towards the coast below before getting a move on towards the heights. I'm glad I can get back to searching for you. Hang on for me, Sam. I'm coming.

The weather quickly turned sour as we climbed. There were no dedicated paths, so we'd end up walking aimlessly around the mountainside to find a way up.

“Yumii, can we take a short break?” I complained for the fifth time in a row.

For the fifth time in a row, the faery ignored me. I fiddled with my hands, itching to ask her about her book. Now is probably not the right time. Yumii kicked a rock, sending it diving down the cliff, the sounds of the stone smashing against the mountain echoing. Last time I did that, shit hit the fan pretty quickly!

…Nothing happened.

Ahh, I rolled my eyes, I see how it is. I’m the only cursed one here. We fell back into the monotony of hiking, my companion not speaking to me at all. I could only focus on the boredom of the climb, the wind slowly becoming colder and harsher, the ground harder and denser as we reached higher. Thankfully Kori isn't weeks away from where we came, but it’s still a long way out.

My legs hurt, my back is killing me and we're getting so high up every breath I take has less oxygen than there is inside my lungs. I looked at Yumii, silently making her way through the loose rocks and the thin layers of snow. What could I even say to make her break her silence? I kicked a rock, the little pebble banging off a boulder in the middle of nowhere. Oops. The rock moved, cracking and creaking, grey barbed-wire legs crawling out from the opening top, reaching out to consume whatever it found around it. AGAIN?!

"We gotta go!"

I grabbed Yumii's hand and ran for it as multiple boulders around us came alive, their cirri wildly swinging around. I'd barely dragged her a few meters away when she pulled out of my hold, crossing her arms.

"Stop! It's fine! They're just mountain barnacles, they can't even move!"

I looked at the rocks, who were very much standing still.

"Oh… Sorry."

"Whatever, it's fine."

She sighed and bumped into me as she walked away. I grabbed her shoulder.

"Is there something you wanna tell me?"

She frowned, her eyes darkening.

"Should there be?"

I gritted my teeth.

"Don't beat around the bush, Yumii. I know you've got something on your mind. Just spit it out already!"

She pushed me off, waving her hands around.

"Oh you know, huh? You know?! What do you know about me, exactly?!"

I clenched my fists. What the hell is she talking about?

"We barely know each other, and I can't remember how we met in the first place! I don't even know how old I am, what I've done throughout my life!"

"Just what is your problem right now?! You know what your arcane costs you, yet you're the one choosing how and when to use it, what are you complaining about?!"

I got up in her face, anger rising quicker than lava out of an erupting volcano. She groaned, pulling on her hair, stepping in circles.

"What the hell am I doing here, Zoe?! My people are out there, dying! I shouldn't be here! I should be with them!"

"Why," I chuckled dryly, blood pumping hard in my veins, "so you can fail to protect them?!"

My head had turned ninety degrees before I realised, a burn spreading through my face. I touched my red-hot cheek, staring eyes wide at the teary-eyed woman baring her teeth at me. She pointed a finger at me, arcane crackling around it.

"Don't you dare-"

Yumii cut herself short, head snapping towards the dog-looking creatures that wagged their dual tails right near us. Their skin was made of a cracked, ragged black texture. I held my breath. There's… quite a few of them.

"What are those?"

"Chywolf's cousins, Cinder Fangs. They spit acid."

Lovely… Why not Acid Fangs?

"How fast do they move?"

"Very quickly,"

"Okay… What do we do?... Yumii?"

I turned around, the faery already far away. I looked back at the dogs. They were all staring at me, still as frames. Ah c'mon!!! I sprinted after her, the wolves growling on my tail. A giant rock fist punched out of the wall right behind me, blocking off the wolves. Thanks, Yumii… Did it have to be so close though? A wolf burst out of the rubble, the stone melting around an acid-covered hole. The ground in between us turned into small sharp spikes. I summoned my mace, smacking it down on the nearest monsters, impaling multiple of them at once. Their blood sizzled on the cold mountain.

"Which one of you mutts is up for-" I dodged a wolf's acid spit and smashed it against the ground, blowing it apart.

"RUDE!" I turned my weapon into a shield, blocking a cinder fang's bite, its razor-sharp teeth shattering against the steel.

"Don't you dare leave a dent!" I brought down the shield on its neck, blowing its head like a balloon.

Yumii blasted the remaining ones with a lightning bolt, my eardrums vibrating like a tambourine, the electricity chaining in between the wolves. I rubbed my forehead out of habit, expecting sweat. It was dryer than it was a few minutes ago. Huh?...Maybe Yumii's lightning boiled it away, it was pretty close to me afterall. I got back to Yumii, shuffling through the snow-covered terrain. When did the weather get like this?!

"Did we just teleport?"

"We did," the faery pointed at the high-rise mountain.

Woah. A thick foggy blizzard circled around the mountain, hiding the very top from our sight as it stood in the eye of the storm. Whatever brought us here, I doubt it's out of pity.

We walked on the thick ice patches that made the snow able to bear our weight. The closer we got to the storm, the more anxious I felt at the thought of crossing it. I'd heard about the kind of creatures that roamed these lands. We carried on nonetheless.

It's so cold. My breath was forming ice shards, my eyes' water freezing and sticking my eyelids together despite blinking hard. My skin began to pale, looking dangerously like the snow we were travelling on. I rubbed my arms together. The leather had done its best to keep me warm, but it was not enough to sustain the mountain's winter.

"Y-Yumii, c-c-can we m-make a f-fire o-or someth-thing?"

My teeth chattered, all the hair on my body standing straight up because of the assault of shivers I endured.

Yumii aggressively dragged her hand off an ice wall as she walked, pulling on the transparent layer, electricity cackling in the air. A slice of ice and snow slid like a sheet of paper, turning into a thick fur coat with a hood as Yumii smoothly threw it over her shoulders. She wrapped one around me, warming it up quickly by rubbing my back, her arcane steaming the air around us.

"W-were you always th-this cool?... T-thank y-you."

The comment made Yumii faintly smile as she stepped in front of me to take the lead again.

"I'm-I’m sorry for what I s-said." My apology made Yumii slow down enough to be only slightly ahead of me. "It was rude and childish… And you're right, you should be at your people's side. I promised I would help you find them, I shouldn't be making you fight this battle for me."

I looked down, shoving the snow with my foot.

"Don't be." Yumii cleared her throat. "You were right. I do make this choice every time I use my arcane, and I made the choice to be here. This is exactly what we had set out to do in the first place."

She turned to me, hugging me from the side.

"I'm sorry too. And it is our battle. Whatever this thing is or where it comes from, it spilled faery blood."

Her eyes glowed, snow melting at her feet as energy condensed around her.

"I'll kill it for that."

I brought her in for a hug. Damn right we’ll kill it.

We pushed through the blizzard. Wait, don’t step that far away from me! I lost sight of Yumii almost immediately as the fog was so thick I couldn't see my own torso.

"Yumii!"

I spun round and stopped as a figure drew itself through the fog. Relief flooded my mind. 

"There you are!" I walked closer, raising my legs high to walk through the hip-level snow.

Wait a second. The figure rose, soon towering over me by five times my height, four massive horns on its head, its hands wider than my body. Nop, nope, nope, nope, nope! I bolted away as fast I could, falling multiple times in the powder snow. I don't know what that is, and I'm not sticking around to find out!

The mountain was like exactly like Bjorn said, the more I climbed, the more physics broke. Snow would rise in the air and keep climbing whenever I would shuffle it with my feet; rock facades collapsed and hung parallel to the ground. I passed by an old encampment, torn tents flung by the wind barely holding onto the rocks they were attached to. The campfire had touches of dark, recent burns underneath the thin layer of snow that was beginning to hide it. Nearby, a huge four-legged white-furred beast with two glass-ice tusks was stuck in a frozen river that flowed vertically. You didn't hold back on this one, Bjorn, huh? Its tusks were still covered in red. No wonder it almost killed you.

I eventually arrived at a tight passage between two tall rock walls. No way I can go around and find my way back in this weather, and I sure can't climb without equipment. I sighed as I walked closer to the tunnel, my stomach twisting.

This is a really bad idea…

Want your hand held?

I entered the tunnel, rubbing against both sides as it became cramped. Some snow fell from my movement, a hand appearing within the ice.

“What the!”

My head pulled back, smacking it against the other wall. OW! I rubbed my skull, groaning. That hurt! Are those… frozen bodies…?

A filet of water ran down my arm as I put my hand against the wall. Why is that melting?!

I rushed to the other side, breathing heavily in the enclosed space. Please let me through, please let me through! My shoulders cleared the passage when a decomposing face pushed through the ice, pinning me against the wall, teeth chattering as it tried to bite my face. I pushed the monster out of my way just in time for another set of hands to crack through the opposite wall, long black nails digging into my armour. They dragged me back into the melting ice, stinking hungry mouths wailing. Let. Go!

I summoned my sword, slashing through the arms of the creatures and jumped to safety, rolling on the snow. My hands stung from the cold, my skin redder than a tomato. That was close! I breathed out slowly, calming my heartbeat. A hand snapped out of the snow at my feet, holding onto my leg while the zombie's head rose from the freezing white material.

"Ah!" I screamed, stabbing it instinctively.

The zombie rasped, and dropped down on the ground. Dead.

I facepalmed. Godsdamnit, you idiot!!

GHRRUUUAGHHH!

The world exploded in screams, the mad undead clawing away the ice that held them back, banging their heads to push through the natural barriers. I sprinted away, running blindly through the fog. The ground began to shift under my feet and rise in an archway. The gravity inverted, my feet sticking to the upside-down river.

The first running zombies caught up to me, wearing old, rusty armour in designs I had only ever seen ancient civilisations use.

"These guys have been waiting here a long time... Let's put them to rest!"

Finally!

I smirked, shoving my sword through the first enemy's skull. At least, with these monsters, I don't have to hold back.

I slashed and sliced through the mindless zombies, their black blood and limbs splattering all over the ground. My mind became hazy, barely focusing on the task of killing the monsters as I drifted off and let my body do the work.

Doesn't it feel good?

It feels amazing!

Hahahahah, I heard a multi-layered voice cackle, snapping me back to reality. I cut through an attacking zombie's arms before splitting his partly crushed skull in half. I looked around.

"Where are you, Hollow?! Reveal yourself!"

More monsters came running my way. I kept my distance using my spear, breaking their legs before finishing them off with clean strikes to the head.

"Look at you, mastering the spear now. Gods you struggled so much back then."

My head snapped towards the blue-haired woman that stood still in the blizzard, dressed like it was summer.

"Elyah?... No! You won't fool me again!"

I stabbed the figure, dissipating it as if I had blown onto dust. What the hell was that? It didn’t feel the same as when the Hollow was playing with my dreams. Was it real?

My sword swung behind me, pulling on my arm, sensing a threat. The zombie fell to the ground, turning the snow black as night. Did it just move on its?!… Awesome!

I gazed at the sword, thanking it when I stopped to look at my reflection. Deep bags had formed under my eyes, which were an intense red shape, my orange pupils turning black. I look dishevelled… Monsters roared from afar, pulling me back into reality.

Feed us, and become stronger… Only then can you save your husband.

Alright. I held the tip of my sword with my left hand, standing comfortably wide, breathing out slowly.

Let's kill all these bastards together, until I find Yumii or reach the top!