lvin and Aurex wrapped up what they were doing and began to trudge the path down the valley. At so point on their way, Aurex would even want to initiate a kind of downtrodden ga; unfortunately, lvin was not in the mood. There were more important things to take in in this dangerous place.
How could Aurex even think of a ga in such a place? And the worst part of the whole thing was that he tried to defend himself each ti he was blad for his unseriousness.
"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy," Aurex would key in each ti.
To hell with that.
lvin could have agreed with him if only they were brought up in the sa way. But how could he? His whole life as he knew it had been tied down with hustling and striving in an environnt that suited no lazy man... all in the na of survival.
Even if he wanted to believe it, there was no proof to that saying yet. He was no dull boy. Like, could he have been able to survive until this point if he wasn’t smart enough? If he was dull?
’He’s such a nerd,’ lvin thought.
Nevertheless, they got to the point on the snow hill, which was slippery, and both of them glided down playfully. When Aurex tried to criticize lvin about it, he simply responded, "Sliding through the slippery ground allowed for faster movent."
And that response seed to be his true thought, unlike Aurex, who had done it for fun. But why should it all matter?
Soon, the boys had fully climbed down the valley and were now standing on level ground. Only now did they see what they weren’t able to see while uphill.
Littered around were wolf corpses, and blood painted that large part of the snow, unknowingly creating a check of crimson contrasted against white. This sight only told them one thing.
Keth was locked in a fierce battle even before their arrival.
Quickly, lvin rushed to where she lay beside the massive wolf. Now, he wasn’t even sure if he should call the creature he was seeing a wolf.
The first feature of the monster that implanted doubt in his mind was its wings. It had wings that could serve as a comfortable rest place for two of the wolves he had fought, with ridge-like bones running across it until they extended outward into pointed talons.
Then, lvin walked around the wolf... around the creature. It carried a small head, not so small but not fit for a monster as huge as it was. Apart from these foreign features, every other characteristic it bore was akin to that of horned wolves, except it towered longer than the others.
It was really a wolf. No, a lycan? A winged lycan?
If only he had the appraisal ability, he could have known what this species of wolf was called. But he had his guesses.
Keth had disappeared earlier on, while they distracted the wolves that had her surrounded at the ti. She left, only to return with this creature that was at least five tis the size of those massive horned wolves. This action only told him that the winged wolf was sowhat special among the others.
If he was allowed to read Keth’s past thoughts while she was locked in battle, he would have understood that the creature had been her target from the start. And as soone who often read fantasy books, it ant one thing to him.
The lycan, or wolf whatsoever, was the alpha of the pack. It was the boss of all the wolves they had killed earlier. Its evolution phase up to that hierarchy must have been the cause of its unique features.
So, what rank has it descended into? lvin didn’t know.
All he knew right now was that the more he delayed ti on things that shouldn’t matter, the more difficult Keth’s current situation would beco.
Good enough, there were no injuries... visible injuries at least. Which ant that she had collapsed out of exhaustion. That should really be the case.
"Aurex?" he called.
"Give a minute," Aurex answered, and rushed not long after, holding a fur cloak in his hand.
While lvin had been swimming in thoughts, Aurex was busy cutting out fur clothing for Keth to provide warmth since they didn’t know how much longer they would spend in this snow land.
"Help ," lvin said, crouching down with his back toward Keth.
Aurex understood that he wanted a helping hand to lift Keth onto his back. Hence, he dropped whatever was occupying the space in his hands and helped lift the unconscious body of the girl onto lvin’s back. Then, picked up the fur cloak and wrapped it around her body.
With unconscious Keth being backed by lvin and Aurex ready for a way forward, they set to continue north. But lvin turned back as they began to move and halted.
"Why did you stop?" Aurex asked, following lvin’s gaze until they dropped on the winged lycan. "Don’t tell you want to bring it along? I would give credit, even distinction, to that weirdo of a girl for being able to drag that giant the whole ti."
"I think she needs sothing with it. She wouldn’t have dragged it to this point if there wasn’t a tangible reason after killing it," lvin argued.
"Say whatever. It’s a load more than I can bear."
lvin stared at Aurex for a while, saying nothing. Then, he tilted his head upward a bit as if in thought and said, "How should I put it? She did what you will never be able to do; is that why?"
Aurex puffed. "Haven’t you heard of her back in the academy? She’s a weirdo. I’m not."
What he said to justify himself didn’t matter to lvin anymore. The silver-haired boy just adjusted Keth on his back, then with a belittling chuckle turned his back and began to head north. They wanted to avoid the forest to the east at all costs.
"Leave the corpse then, if it won’t hurt your pride," he said aloud and didn’t turn back again.
***
The snow stretched endlessly around them.
White upon white, broken only by jagged ice and the occasional dark rock buried beneath frost. The wind had softened a little, but the cold still lingered like a quiet threat.
After many imasurable minutes of walking north, both boys were finally exhausted. Hence, they stopped.
Without saying much, they both understood it was ti to rest.
The fur cloaks they had taken from the wolves wrapped tightly around their bodies, keeping the worst of the cold away. It wasn’t warmth, but it was enough to keep them moving... and alive.
Aurex didn’t waste a second. The mont they agreed to rest, he let go of the winged lycan’s corpse and dropped onto the snow, sitting down heavily as he let out a long breath.
"I’m done..." he muttered.
lvin, on the other hand, was still standing.
Keth remained draped unconsciously over his back, her arms hanging loosely over his shoulders, her breathing faint but steady. lvin adjusted her slightly, making sure she wouldn’t slip.
For a mont, he just stood there in silence, staring at nothing in particular. The world around them hadn’t changed since they arrived. There was no sun, no sky, and not even the slightest sense of ti.
Just endless snow and that sa dull, frozen light they had t.
lvin narrowed his eyes slightly, coming to a conclusive guess from all that had happened so far.
’If this were the real world, it would probably be late in the evening by now.’
The thought ca and went just as quickly. He exhaled slowly and was about to lower Keth to the ground so he, too, could rest but then paused.
Sothing caught his eye.
Far in the distance, barely visible through the drifting snow, was a rising shape.
lvin squinted.
At first, it looked like nothing more than a darker patch against the white landscape. But the longer he stared, the clearer it beca.
It was a break in the snow.
A jagged opening was carved into what looked like a low rise of frozen rock. The edges were uneven, shadowed like the mouth of sothing ancient half-buried beneath layers of ice. From this distance, it wasn’t fully clear, but the darkness inside it felt deep.
It looked like a cave.
lvin’s eyes sharpened imdiately as he turned sharply toward Aurex.
"Get up," he said. "I think I found sowhere we can stay. Let’s move imdiately."
Aurex groaned from the ground, not even opening his eyes or making the slightest move that showed he was going to get up. Instead, he laid his complaint.
"Are you serious? Can’t we rest first, just a little? Are you never tired?"
lvin shook his head.
"Now that I’ve seen hope..." he said quietly, adjusting Keth on his back again. "...I can’t afford to stay hopeless."
And without waiting, he began walking toward the distant structure.
Aurex opened one eye, staring at his retreating figure.
’What does he an to call by saying that?"
For a mont, he frowned and sat there, thinking. Then, seeing that the more ti he wasted, the farther lvin went, he sighed.
"This guy..."
Slowly, he pushed himself up, dusted the snow off his clothes, and followed behind lvin into the cold, white distance while dragging the winged lycan by the wings behind him.
Reviews
All reviews (0)