Chapter 304 The Impending Doom
Raven swiped her blade to the side, getting rid of the blood of the monster she had just slain.
She stared aloof for a couple of seconds. The floor was crudely decorated by bodies of White Walkers, slain in a boorish manner, unsightly to the sane.
Her face and armor were stained with violet blood. A cold, icy glare emanated from her crimson eyes, viciously scanning the environnt.
The one White Walker that Northern had spared knelt down with a terrified expression on his face. He was breathing hard, all his features contorted so badly and pale.
She stood nonchalantly and just stared, trying to find sothing.
The mountain was a literal wall. However, she could tell that there was sothing beyond it. After all, why would guards be stationed at this particular place, and why would so many of them give their lives just to stop her from reaching this point?
Although all their efforts were in—unfair—vain. She had not even sustained a wound in battle.
After a while of staring, Raven turned to the kneeling White Walker and asked:
"Where's the way forward?"
The White Walker trembled at the sound of her voice. Of course, he didn't understand what she was saying, but he stood nonetheless, shakily running towards the icy rock.
He paused in front of it, shivering trendously. Raven could tell there was sothing there that he feared.
She pierced him with a glare, watching him tremble yet again. This one was completely overwheld by the fear of her.
She just had to remind him that she was the only one he could see right now and focus on.
His imdiate death was imminent should he refuse to cooperate with her.
And he seed to understand that with the vicious glare she shot at him.
However, there was another thod she could use...
She just didn't want to; she'd prefer for it to be a last resort.
"Way forward," she pressed, hardening her voice and gaze.
The White Walker shivered like he had a slight seizure. He was limping on one leg and slowly moved to the side, caressing the rock surface.
His hand stopped at one point and pushed inside, causing a slight tremble in the landscape.
The White Walker again seed to hesitate, but Raven's glare only got more terrific, causing him to carry on.
He began to press different rock patchnts that were hidden on the surface of the rock—that served as the base of the mountain.
When he finally stopped after pressing like ten of them, then he stepped back and trembled.
The entire landscape shuddered heavily, and then the snow that covered the surface of the rock began to fall off, like sothing was being moved away.
After a while, a dark cavern entrance was revealed before Raven's eyes.
Hoping that he had managed to satisfy her, the White Walker slowly turned to her, his face desperately begging for rcy.
However, Raven swung her hand sideways, separating his head in a clean slice.
The body slowly crashed to the ground. She cast it a disdainful look before she turned her eyes to the entrance of the cave.
The mouth of the tunnel was an ominous gash in the sheer face of the ice mountain.
A frigid wind whistled through the narrow entrance, carrying with it an eerie whisper.
As Raven stepped into the tunnel, the world outside slowly seed to vanish, swallowed by the oppressive darkness that clung to the cavern walls.
The air grew noticeably colder within the tunnel, the temperature dropping with each cautious step forward, but she could still manage thanks to the amazing cold-resistant cloak the White Walkers had given to her.
The walls, carved from the mountain itself, were smooth yet glistening with a thin layer of frost that sparkled like a field of stars under the dim light of every flickering torch, ten ters away from each other.
Every now and then, a faint blue glow emanated from deep cracks in the walls, the result of so unknown luminescent mineral buried within the ice.
These occasional glimrs provided just enough light to reveal the tunnel's rough, uneven floor, littered with loose stones and patches of slick ice that threatened to send the unwary traveler sprawling. So Raven could see quite well, even though it was dark.
As Raven descended deeper into the tunnel, the air grew thick with a musty, damp sll.
The temperature continued to drop, and the faint sound of running water beca more pronounced, mingling with the low, distant rumble that seed to emanate from the very heart of the mountain.
Raven, at this point, was beginning to feel the cold bite deep into her bones. She was beginning to shiver slightly.
It felt like she was approaching the heart and source of the cold itself.
And it brought an ominous feeling with it.
Raven clenched her fist and frowned but did not stop walking either way.
After what felt like an eternity, the tunnel opened into a vast, cavernous chamber.
The ceiling soared high above, lost in shadows, while the floor was a maze of uneven ice and ancient stonework.
At the far end of the chamber, the entrance to the underground palace lood like the mouth of a forgotten beast, its gates ajar and welcoming in a foreboding way.
Raven took a deep breath, surveyed her surroundings with a cautious gaze, and when she confird that there was nothing more, she continued forward.
The palace itself stood in a state of disrepair, its once-mighty walls crumbling and draped in thick black curtains.
The grand entrance, frad by towering pillars of ice, was chipped and weathered, the intricate carvings barely discernible beneath the encroaching ice that crept over everything like a slow, inevitable tide.
Inside, the palace was a testant to its forr glory, now reduced to haunting echoes and silent mories.
The grand hall, once filled with the light of a thousand candles, was now a cavernous void, its walls lined with shadowy alcoves that seed to whisper of forgotten tales.
The marble floor, once polished to a mirror-like sheen, was cracked and pitted, overlaid with a treacherous sheet of ice that mirrored the ghostly outlines of the decaying chandeliers above.
Faded tapestries hung in tatters from the walls, their rich colors dulled to re shadows of their forr vibrancy.
Stone statues, once proud and imposing, stood in silent vigil, their features eroded and softened by centuries of frost and neglect.
In the center of the hall, a grand staircase spiraled upwards, its balustrade wrapped in a delicate lace of ice.
Each step was a treacherous journey, slick with frost and littered with the debris of fallen masonry.
The steps led to a series of corridors and chambers, their doorways gaping like dark mouths, inviting exploration but promising only the cold embrace of horror.
Raven stood amidst it all, shivering from the intense cold that emanated from this place. Undoubtedly, this was it.
This had to be sowhere that was very important to the rift.
It had to be the heart of the rift.
It had to be... the rift core.
Her brows furrowed with stark determination as that realization dawned on her.
In that mont, however, heavy footsteps began to resound in one of the chambers, slowly getting closer to her and getting heavier.
She could tell without needing to confirm that sothing strong and big was coming for her.
And yet, her face betrayed no emotions, not even the slightest show of fear.
Reviews
All reviews (0)