Once again, I tied myself with the cord and let out a sigh. I didn’t know what happened back there. I was probably imagining things. I an, yeah, that could be a possibility. There was no way she flustered back then. She was helping as I had been helping her clan.
Anyway, the cave opening was near. Just a small distance then we’d be in a safe spot. We didn’t see anything so far—neither did we sense the demon’s presence too.
The dusk sky that was still alive and was now gradually turning black—probably to indicate the coming disaster.
"Hurry Zanthrix! The blizzard should be hitting us any minute." Shika called out as she reached the cave opening while I was still away from it.
"Don’t worry. I’ll be reaching any mont too."
Then I sensed sothing.
Perhaps it was the calmness that took the form of a disaster.
I was close to the cave, but the wind that appeared out of nowhere hit fiercely. It exerted an imnse force on , pushing from the mountain wall.
Thanks to the knot, I didn’t fall, but I was hanging in the middle air—hardly keeping myself attached to the mountain.
The strong wind that clashed with without a warning, was one thing. Now the snowfall was mixed with it. It wasn’t as gentle as IRL. It felt like the particle of frost had been mixed with it.
In simple terms, the blizzard had arrived.
In any case, it was a dire situation. It blocked my vision. I lost my sense of determining the cave as well.
[Health drained]
[Health: 1830/1860]
This is bad. I can’t undo the knot now. I’ll be blown away. What should I do?
I pondered.
Suddenly I felt another force. It wasn’t a push, but rather a pull. Yeah, it was Shika who pulled the rope from within the cave and I flew towards her.
Her strength was imnse. I couldn’t control my montum and hit her inside the cave.
Consequently, our bodies rolled inside the cave.
A mont I was on top. The next mont, she was. Then with the last roll, we stopped.
She had turned to her usual Iceborn appearance. I saw that as she was atop at the mont—and her face was closer.
A few strands of her bluish hair fell across my face, and I caught the soft, sweet scent it carried. It was soothing—subtle yet captivating. Sothing about it pulled in, wrapping around my senses and it made pause for a mont. I couldn’t help but be taken by it.
Then her sapphire-like eyes kept staring at my divine-looking golden ones. Hers were dithering with a slight shyness to them while mine were still as if frozen at hers.
Yeah, her breaths were low again, but not as frequent as before. They were uneven. Her cheeks blushed.
Then again, I could hear them.
Ba-dum! Ba-dum! Ba-dum! Ba-dum! Ba-dum! Ba-dum! Ba-dum! Ba-dum!
The sound of our hearts pounding at an alarming rate.
The rapid, yet rhythmic sound of our hearts pounding.
Ba-dum! Ba-dum! Ba-dum! Ba-dum! Ba-dum! Ba-dum! Ba-dum! Ba-dum!
They continued pounding when it felt like the ti around us had stopped all of a sudden. Even the dreadful blizzard out there felt soundless—and the hearts raced seamlessly.
"Umm...."
I heard another low voice. It was as if soone whispered to . Oh, it was Shika. Her lips trembled as she tried speaking.
"Zan...thrix... could you move, please." She was shy. If everything didn’t feel soundless to , I probably might haven’t heard that.
"But Shika... you are on my body," I mumbled, looking at those sapphire-like eyes that were fixed on my golden ones.
It was ti she realized.
I wasn’t on her. She was on my body.
She hurried and tried moving off of my body only to lose her balance and trample over the other side.
"Ouch!!" she exclaid as she tried to stand. She was beyond embarrassed.
Her face was red—wait, it was entirely white as if a layer of soft snow had covered it. Although her impression was quite difficult for anyone to notice, I had the feeling of seeing through that. Hence, I could say that.
I was the sa.
I, too, felt sowhat embarrassed. My cheeks reddened as well. A strange feeling was crawling over my mind.
At this rate, I may fall for her. I thought as I gently patted my head, and shook my electric-blue hair that hardly reached my shoulder.
****
We sat near the cave opening. The chilling breeze was becoming colder gradually. Even with the Ice Seraphyll’s blessing protecting , I could still feel the cold wind brushing through my hair, which kept falling over my forehead every ti.
Shika sat at a distance from . Perhaps, she was still flustered about what happened to us just a minute ago.
The wind reached her too, waving her long sleek hair gracefully. Those divine sleek stands then kept touching her shoulder gently—and occasionally she maintained the strands behind her ear, making her appearance like a Seraphyll as well. She was beautiful.
"Any idea when this will stop?"
The silence was becoming oddly irritating so I thought to break it.
"Not very soon I guess." She mumbled, her voice lower than before.
"You know? Getting trapped in this kind of environnt with a friend isn’t half bad." I chuckled, trying to add more words to continue the conversation. "When I was little, I once traveled to see the mountains too. We had fun. My mom and my dad loved to throw snowballs at on purpose. It was irritating, but fun at the sa ti."
Okay, I lied. However, not the entire story was a lie. I had anhedonia—a sickness that had prevented from taking pleasure when I was a kid.
I had given up on feeling happy, but my parents didn’t. They took to every possible corner of Japan to give all kinds of excitent. Back then we only visited for skiing. However, I didn’t have fun. I didn’t know the relevance of fun or excitent.
My parents kept cheering on and never stopped. Even though I gave them only disappointnt, turning their efforts into a futile attempt. But in the end, they smiled.
"I see. So you loved snowballs to be thrown at you."
"That’s not I—"
My words were incomplete as I felt a cold sensation on my face. She had made a soft snowball with her powers and thrown it at . The sentience felt surprisingly exciting.
"Hay..." I was about to yell, but...
"Kyaa-hah-hah-hah. Look at your face, Zanthrix. You’re just like children annoyed by their parents, hah-hah-hah."
She smiled. She kept smiling, a beautiful, cheering smile.
"Well, that’s what I felt back then. It’s annoying, but at the sa ti it’s quite fun." I smiled gently.
Her smiling face gradually turned normal. Then there was another silence for a mont until she finally decided to break it.
"So, tell about your parents. I’d like to know." She stared at enthusiastically.
"They were a loving couple and loved their child more than anything. No matter the sickness, they were always with —even ignoring their busy schedule. The loved so much and I loved them as much."
"I see." She nodded, "It must’ve been very difficult, leaving them to start an adventure right?"
"I’m not sure about it though."
"Why’s so?"
"When I left it was like I sneaked out without telling. I regret it now."
"It’s sad. They might be worried about you."
"Knowing them, they’re probably waiting for to return. That kind of parents they were. If I had the opportunity, I’d surely take on that and et them again. I miss them a lot."
Shika heard what I told her. She was confused for a mont and thought deeply before saying...
"Wait, but I thought the Fallen Heir—"
However, her words were cut short soon after. An evil and diabolic laughter had interjected.
"Keh-keh-keh-kehhhhhhh!!!!!!!!"
The laugh echoed through the cave and was headed towards us.
Reviews
All reviews (0)