"I can't believe that thing broke again," I grumbled and walked back to the sled where the head of the Ice Devil rested.
Astrid and I had already left the dungeon. We were able to find what we needed to take the creature's skull. Leaving the mines ended up taking a bit longer than we were expecting. A couple of tunnels we could have taken were too small for our loot. But eventually, we ca out of that place.
During most of the trip, I was expecting to find another of those spiders, but that didn't happen. I wasn't sure if I had killed the last one or if they were just living deeper inside the mines. After all, there was a good chunk of that place we had left unexplored. Maybe one day I could go back and see if the dungeon was hiding any more secrets. But that wasn't going to happen now. Even coming here wasn't sothing I wanted to do. We delved inside the mines unprepared and had to save a bunch of dumb kids from themselves.
At least now I could see the sun again. I honestly never realized how much I would miss the warmth it brought. But after leaving the tunnels, we didn't have that long to enjoy our freedom. At the bottom of the pit were a few bears who noticed our presence and started running inside the mines, probably to co after us. Since Astrid was adamant about not leaving the Ice Devil's head behind, we pushed the massive thing up the hill until we ca out on the other side.
But that created another problem. We were using so old, rusted wheels and part of a mine cart to carry that head with us. It worked great while we were on solid ground, but it couldn't handle snow.
As a result, we had to create another vehicle for it—this ti a sled. Using so old wood from a half-destroyed structure nearby, we built it and started pushing it across the snow. The thing is, neither Astrid nor I were particularly good carpenters. Even our best effort created sothing that was barely passable, but at least it was functional.
We started heading back to the village, but every half an hour or so, we had to stop and make so repairs. That made the trip take more than twice as long as it should have. The problem wasn't just making the repairs but also stopping to find so trees, cutting down wood, figuring out how to wrap everything together, and only then starting to move again. Down the path, we ca up with the idea of cutting an entire tree and carrying it along with the head. That way, it was easier to make repairs.
By the ti we were reaching Astrid's village, it was already dark out. At least it was easy to see we were on the right path, since the people there had lit so candles near the doors so others could navigate the village at night.
Another problem ca when we reached a part of the road that was void of any snow, not because it didn't snow there, but because soone was responsible for shoveling it out of the way.
This ant that, in order to continue, we had to push the sled along with the giant head. It didn't take long for soone to scream bloody murder, which caused all the people in the village to rush out and the guards to step forward.
Astrid was about to move away when I touched her shoulder. "Relax. It's probably us."
"Why?"
"Because we're behind the giant head. From their perspective, they're only seeing a giant creature approach," I explained.
Astrid paused. "Oh."
"Let's go tell them everything's okay." I stepped out from behind the Ice Devil's head and walked forward to et the village guards. Astrid followed , which made things much easier since they would recognize her.
"Astrid? Scott said that you were dead," one of the guards gasped.
"I'm not," Astrid replied bluntly. Her response almost made laugh because of how direct it was. She wasn't wrong in saying it like that, but at the sa ti, it was funny.
"Did you lie to , boy?" The guard snapped his head to the side, looking at his son, who was working with him as a punishnt.
Even though I didn't want to get involved, it wasn't fair for the kid to suffer. "Don't worry. He didn't. When he left the cave, he had every reason to think that we were not coming back."
"And how did you co back?" Scott asked.
"So luck, so skill, and a very good hunt, as you can see." I stepped to the side and gestured to the giant head of the Ice Devil.
"By the heavens. Is that…" One of the older n in the village started speaking but couldn't finish the sentence, almost as if saying those words would make the situation even worse.
"The Ice Devil," Astrid replied.
"It was real?" the guard asked.
"Yes," Astrid answered. I saw the muscles in her mouth twitch. She almost smiled while saying it.
The older man walked forward, carrying a torch to get a better look at the creature. I could see in his eyes that he was struggling with this. But as he looked into the monster's eyes, saw the ice still standing on top of its forehead forming a crown, and noticed how its blood was unnaturally cold, he began to accept it.
"I can't even begin to imagine how hard you must have fought to kill this," the man said, turning to Astrid. The orange glow from his torch shone across his face. "And you did all that, even though you knew no one believed in you. I am so sorry for letting you go through this by yourself."
Astrid shrugged and glanced at . "Soone believed."
The old man shifted his gaze, landing on . "You are the girl who talked about the Eaters, aren't you?"
"Woman. And yes, I am her. The na is Cassandra."
The old man nodded. "As the leader of the village, I thank you for believing in Astrid and helping her through her ordeal. I understand we have not been as kind as we should to you, and I will rectify that going forward."
"Well, if you're offering, there's one thing you can do right now."
The man's expression shifted ever so slightly. It was clear that his offer wasn't the kind of thing he expected soone to accept. Still, he wasn't about to lose face in front of his village. "Of course. What do you need?"
"Can you get so people to help us push this thing? My arms and legs are sore after all this," I said, pointing to the Ice Devil's head.
"Of course, of course," the village elder called for the guards, and soon they helped take the Ice Devil's head to the center of the village. A crowd gathered around it, everybody gasping in horror and awe when they saw the creature.
Everyone already knew that Astrid and I had risked our lives to save the teenagers, but now people wanted to know the next part of the story—how Astrid and I fought and survived inside the mines for so long.
I gave a brief explanation, saying how we were attacked by bears, ended up falling near the lair, and took a few days to co up with a proper plan to fight the beast. We had to watch it as it moved to see if we could find any weaknesses or monts when it would be vulnerable. In the end, we decided to attack while it was sleeping, which allowed us to injure it enough, so the rest of the fight wasn't as dangerous as soone might expect.
Thankfully, Astrid and I had already discussed what we would tell people. Since I didn't want to share information about the System with anyone, she accepted my suggestion of framing the fight as more of an ambush. Not that I wasn't proud of how we fought, but that story was sothing I wanted to share only with those who could truly understand.
It was clear that people wanted to keep talking to us for a while, but we ntioned how tired we were and were allowed to go to Astrid's house for the night—but not before so people brought food with them, which was much appreciated.
Before going to sleep, we took a steam bath, which only removed part of the gri and soot that covered our bodies, followed by an actual bath. This ti, we used a bucket of warm water that Astrid prepared. We used soap to properly clean ourselves before heading back inside to eat and sleep.
Having an actual bed for the first ti in almost a week felt amazing. Even the trees or the ground I usually slept on were softer than the frozen rock of the mines. We didn't talk much during the whole nightly routine, but that didn't matter. We had talked enough over the course of the last few days.
It was a sha that our ti together was coming to an end. After all, I wouldn't be staying here long. As a matter of fact, my intention was to leave in a day or two. I still wanted to see the ocean before the month ended so I could go back and find Pops.
I slept like a log. Before I even realized it, the sun was up, and by the looks of it, it was getting close to noon. Astrid had left, but she did leave so food on the table for . After eating, I stepped out and walked into the village, hoping to find the Frosted Lumberjack. Instead, I just found the other villagers.
Even then, their reaction to was strange. They didn't answer my greetings, and the ones that did seed bothered by my presence. The guards were wary when I was around, and with the exception of Scott, Johnny, and Emily, everyone seed to be avoiding .
I asked the teenagers about it, and they just said people were distrusting of outsiders. That was sothing I could understand, but even then, I had helped Astrid defeat the Ice Devil. More importantly, I had saved those teenagers. After sothing like that, I kind of hoped people would at least be polite when talking to .
Astrid, on the other hand, seed to be having the ti of her life. Everybody wanted to talk to her. Everybody cheered when she walked by. Even the guards were asking her advice about hunting and how to protect the village. Emily told they were even going to take the head of the Ice Devil and keep it in the main square at Astrid's request.
It was nice of her to let them keep the head, but at the sa ti, it made sense that she wouldn't want to keep it near her house. That was the monster that killed her father. Having a constant reminder of what made him suffer nearby wouldn't be very fun.
I ended up not seeing Astrid the entire day, even after I went back to her house and made dinner. Just like she had done, I left so food out for her, but she was still nowhere to be seen.
Once again, I slept much longer than I was expecting, and this ti, it didn't feel like it was for a good reason. Still, I had decided to leave the village and continue my journey to the coast. Before that, I tried to find Astrid again, but had no success. By all indications, she had left the village.
It felt a bit rude to leave without saying goodbye, but I found a small piece of wood and wrote a ssage thanking her for everything and saying where I would be going. After that, I walked over to my bag and started double-checking that I had everything and wasn't leaving anything behind. Unfortunately, my rations were gone. The ones that were left had spoiled. This ant the first order of business was to go out hunting. I could probably take a day or two to get enough of a stockpile to avoid worrying about food for a while, but it wasn't the end of the world.
As I was finishing up, I heard a noise from the door. Astrid had finally returned. Walking out of the room, I saw that she had already found my letter.
"You're leaving?" Astrid asked.
"I am. This is not really my place, you know. And people are not as excited about my presence as they are about yours. So I'm just going to go to the coast. I've never seen the ocean before, and I'm kind of excited about it."
Astrid nodded. "Ocean sounds nice."
"Yeah. In a few weeks, I should go back to see my grandpa. Maybe I'll stop by again."
Astrid stared at for a mont, then turned around to her bedroom. "Need my bag."
Her reaction made a bit sad, but it was ti to go. "I'm heading out. Good luck here. And I hope you don't have to fight another giant polar bear again," I said as I stepped toward the door.
"Wait!" Astrid called from her room. She quickly ca back out carrying a backpack that seed to be full of supplies and a pair of sleeping bags.
"What's going on?"
"I'll co," Astrid replied.
"You're going to co with ? Why? This is your ho. This is your village."
Astrid shook her head. She stepped toward the unfinished carving, the one of a horse in the adow. "He was my ho. Now, I'm lost. Traveling can help find the way. Especially traveling with a friend."
I scratched the back of my head. She was never one to talk much and hearing her speak like that hit hard, "When you put it like that, it's hard for to say no, you can't co."
Astrid smiled. "I know."
With a scoff I rolled my eyes. "I won't say no to so company. And I did say it before, but I like you. Are you sure you want to co?"
Astrid nodded, but before anything else, she stepped toward the table, gesturing to a package. "For you, and ."
"What's that?" I asked. I hadn't even noticed the package there. When she opened it, she revealed a set of two cloaks made out of the white fur from the Ice Devil, not just the loose skin we had used back in the mines, but proper cloaks that even included hoods.
"Those are great. Who made them?"
"I did. Took a full day," Astrid replied.
I put on one of the cloaks, which covered my entire body. This would be great for traveling through the snow, though the mont we entered a warr area, we would be in trouble. Even then, that didn't matter. It was comfortable, it was warm, it was perfect.
With my new companion officially in tow, we walked out of the house and into the forest, leaving Astrid's ho behind as we continued our journey toward the coast.
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