FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 5

The freezing wind and vicious snowflakes were mercilessly bombarding Dante Freezer, like they always did and until the world ends, they will still do. This mountainous terrain was a sight to behold for any wanderer, it's massive icy hills, bluish and practically transparent, as if made from hollow scales of an ice dragon, reached practically towards the sky. If there would be anyone brave enough to scale their peaks he would be able to stick his head above the clouds.

Traveling Dante's Freezer through lowlands was an impossible task, every valley, every piece of land suitable for settling, if someone had such a wish, was separated by bigger or smaller hills. There were wider and shorter pathways sculpted through the mountains, some were higher, some were lower. Wingless creatures were doomed to scaling these natural elevations if a trip across the snow filled land was their wish.

Circling the cold island by ship was perhaps even more deadlier than exposing oneself to its chilly climate. Long spikes of cold rock, squeezed so tightly that even a fly wouldn't slip through sprouted from the border hills of Dante's Freezer like tips of spears of a well prepared phalanx formation. The sea itself was also unstable around the unlikely shores, waves upon waves tossed themselves at the hills, beginning to ripple the sea far away from actual land, making any sea approach apart from the known safe bays very dangerous.

The island had several good spots that could be approached safely by boat, it was a rather welcoming sight in the overall inhospitable aura of the place. The docking points seemed to be perfectly protected by the treacherous wind and unstable waves. In those places rock formations were jutting out of the water, forming a protective barrier that prevented any relatively deadly whim of nature.

Whether it was some well-crafted plan of forces that created this world or just pure coincidence the creatures of the Dragon Realms never tried to find out, obeying the unwritten laws of Dante's Freezer. That and fright of drowning in a blood freezing water with who knows what beasts dwelling in the depths was also a very effective way to scare off any sailor.

Dante's Freezer was meant to be traveled by land, the island gave no other choice. Either you scale the mountains, which seemed like a slap to the face for many considering the already uncomfortable temperature, or you turn back.

The land wasn't only a merciless and brash oppressor, as if knowing that even the toughest of travelers is only that, a traveler made of bone and flesh, both of which break and tire easily.

Hence offering places of respite.

The hills were filled with many openings, caves, both small and big, granting invaluable shelter in this harsh environment, be it from the weather itself or predators that tolerate even such a freezing tundra as this.

Airborne creatures had a little easier life around here, yet even them knew that wind in Dante's Freezer can be treacherous. There were some that rose above the smaller or medium hills, but the highest mountains were something completely different. History has yet to witness a creature that reached their peaks and survived to tell the tale.

The screech of one such airborne creature echoed together with the fiercely blowing wind.

Hunter set his lecture down as he looked towards the exit of the cave he currently occupied. In the distance, among the strongly blowing snowflakes a bluish winged dot soared above the ground. The beast in the distance let out another cry, usually the shrill cry of a Dreadwing was a painful noise for his sensitive ears.

Now however his ears remained standing. In between his shallow breathing, rumbling sound of wind bouncing off the cave walls and the almost thudding noise of the snow beating against the icy terrain, the sound of the Dreadwing crying was almost enchanting.

Danger had a special charm to it, not many know how to enjoy it, but here, on this cold island it was perfect, like the final touch of a delicate instrument in the already well composed song. Tone of which sends shivers through skin and bristles fur.

Hunter looked down at his hands clutching a thin tome, a guidebook around the many different landscapes of Dragon Realms only to focus on his claws.

Chipped claws.

He smiled.

Danger had a special charm to it.

He reached down his belt, into a nearby pouch and flicked the contents at the fire ahead with a quick flick of his wrist, the natural heater blurt out fresh, fierce flames, he shivered underneath his double coats. The guidebook proved to be accurate, who would have believed that you can start a fire in these cold caves.

Another shrill cry cut through the wind.

The Dark Army made the fortress at the shore their home, that part of land belonged to them and even despite the fact that he used his concealment skills to the best of his ability he was still quite certain that they caught his scent at some point. If they noticed his camping spot or not didn't matter currently, they knew where he was heading anyway.

Exactly in the same place they were.

Towards the unnatural fog of darkness.

He threw the tome into the fire, it served its purpose and if he is to beat the road ahead he needs to carry as little as possible. Taking advantage of the recently roused flames he stretched his arms ahead, warming his hand near the fire.

He turned them slowly around as he observed them, even despite that he prepared himself and wore fingerless gloves parts of his fur still died from the cold and fell of, revealing the flesh below. He hasn't fired a single arrow and yet his clothes were already shred by some delicate cuts, he really doubted that his hands got the worst of it.

Once more a cry cut through the sky, this time however followed by some other distant ones and an occasional bark.

The cheetah sighed deeply and dragged the hood on top of his head, next one of his hands burrowed itself below his coat and found the symbol within and caressed it fondly.

"Allow me to continue treading this path" Hunter whispered reverently

He got up, throwing the quiver and bow on his back and moved towards the opening ahead, pulling both gloves on his wounded and burning hands. As he reached the edge he took another filled with awe scan of the surroundings.

More and more of the dots appeared in the distance, not to mention that below him a quite considerable group of apes was making their way towards him, following the path he worn down.

And yet they were gaining on him.

This is their land, they know its secrets better than anyone.

The feline looked to the side, just at the end of the hill he currently stood on was another one of those short corridors he used before. These shaped naturally shaped pathways were a blessing, reaching them was a pain, but once you did you had a good half an hour of peaceful march, with no cold, strong wind cutting your stealing your breath.

He decided not to go that way.

Instead he looked up, mentally preparing himself for a vertical climb, this way was shorter but at the same time more dangerous and tiring. Who knows, he might need his strength for whatever is to come, but he also knew that if he won't speed up the Dark Army will catch up with him and from the two he is more willing to put his life in the hands of nature.

He jumped, stretching his arms as far as they would go before grabbing one of the popular icy spikes dotting the hilly landscape. He felt another one of his claws breaking when it clicked against the icy surface.

Gritting his teeth tightly he pulled himself up, muscling his body above the spike, feeling the sharp tip leaving a burning scratch against his chest as he slid across it. Placing one of his feet on the vertical wall he managed to eventually climb atop the spike, keeping his head low to avoid hitting more of the sprouting obstacles.

He climbed a level higher, and then one more, when he finally decided that he is high enough from his starting position he withdrew his dagger. He began chipping the nearby spike, the longest one and seemingly the most comfortable to reach from below.

It was a tiring assignment which not only weakened his muscles but ruined the dagger, by now it would have troubles cutting through paper. However it did its job, weakened the structure, so when enough people start to pull against it, and as he touched the yin-yang symbol he was almost certain that this will be the path the apes will take, it will eventually break off. Surprising the one currently holding it and everyone below.

It isn't enough to stop the Dark Army, it was already too late for that, if there was a chance at all to begin with, but it will undoubtedly slow their progress.

Not much as he would like to, but it will have to do.

He sheathed his dagger and renewed his climbing session.

Whatever awaits at the top must be worth all this pain.

*

"This is unacceptable!" Terrador roared, pacing nervously around Cynder's room

"I tell you, it's Brill" Cyril commented calmly

"In the hospital no less! Where people have the right to feel safe!"

The Guardians weren't the only ones present in the room. Spyro and Cynder were also there, the first was sitting on the bed while the second was laying behind him. Their eyes kept following the furiously strolling dragon in silent respect. Cynder unaware of her actions was picking at the purple tail in front of her that kept sliding across the sheets annoyingly from side to side as if developing a mind of its own, trying to run away from the irritating silver claws since the purple owner of its body seemed to be currently cut out from this world.

No matter what the tail did, the claws caught up with it.

"Let me repeat myself Terrador" Cyril sighed "Let's pay Brill a visit and make him confess"

"You want to invade the most sacred temple on a guess?!" the Earth Guardian stomped his paw fiercely on the ground, leaning closer towards the ice dragon "What proof do you have that he's involved?"

Cyril shrugged "Insane mole killers are enough for me"

"With such attitude you will be accused of bigotry. We have no proof, this is the most important fact"

"I've heard the asshole talking about eradicating the taint. Weeks later we have mole assassins walking the hospital halls. It can't be a coincidence"

"Then explain this. Why they went strictly after the ice dragoness when she isn't even from our timeline? How can she have anything to do with taint when the embodiment of it is right in this room?!"

He growled, pointing an almost accusing finger at Cynder.

The dragoness jerked her head back, paws gripped the tail tightly making Spyro straighten up as if a bolt of electricity struck him.

The dragon realized the weight of his words the moment he heard her audible gasp.

"Forgive me" he bowed his head apologetically "This is not what I meant, my wrath gets ahead of me and I don't know what I'm talking about. You have my complete trust Cynder, what I meant is that Brill sees you as embodiment of evil. Everyone in this room thinks the opposite"

"It's okay" she replied "You made a fair point"

Cyril tapped his claws against the small icicles protruding from his jaw in silent contemplation.

"Maybe they wanted to create a distraction"

All three dragons looked at him with interest.

The Ice guardian looked at the two young dragons.

"Your friendship is no secret, all could easily assume that you Spyro would be skulking around Cynder's room even despite the rules of this hospital. Nobody would want to cross a purple dragon, so you needed to disappear and get out of their way"

The Guardian nodded, obviously pleased with the deduction he came up with.

"We all know how special our new guest is, with her being in this hospital, also wounded, she was a good target for a distraction and a retaliation strike in one. I don't have to explain her charming personality for you to understand that she might have made more enemies than there are dragons in Warfang"

Terrador pointed at his old friend, nodding his head slowly.

"You might be onto something here Cyril. If you are right then that means Brill's influence reaches farther than we believed. Someone from this hospital must be his follower"

Spyro looked in alarm at Cynder, examining her from top to bottom, looking for any sign of danger.

"I know what you're thinking" she replied with a smirk "but there is one healer here that I trust and I know won't hurt me"

"Amela" Spyro added

"Are you certain we can trust her?" Cyril inquired

The dragoness looked at him confidently "Yes" she replied without hesitation, even insulted by the question

"It's your life. If you think you can trust her then so be it, from now on I would advise that you seek medical assistance directly from her hands. Just in case"

"What do you think Spyro? Terrador asked, tail wagging nervously "You were the one that encountered the moles. Do you think Cyril's theory is correct?"

He looked at the floor, with every bit of his soul he wanted to say yes, what he would give for things to be so simple. And yet he couldn't force himself to form the three lettered word.

"I'm...not sure"

"Why?" both Guardians blurt out startled

"Can we wait for some information about the moles first? I need to think about it"

Sadly the time reserved for sorting all of this in his head was a short one, it wasn't long before the door opened and Amela stepped through the doorstep with her typical, kind smile.

"What an audience today, I swear Sweetheart you're becoming popular by the day, you pull them all towards you, no matter the age"

Cynder snickered, hiding her blushed snout behind Spyro's back.

"What have you found out?" Cyril asked without any hint of amusement in his voice

Amela fondled her earring "The most important thing, nothing bad happened to Iris, her wounds opened during the attack but other than that she is well. The attackers however were in a terrible shape even before they initiated their murder attempt. Their tongues and vocal cords were severed, pitifully I might add, but successfully nonetheless, they couldn't utter a single word"

"It's not like they haven't tried however, from the amount of blood gathered in the throat I can assume that they had a lot to say. The surgical operation was so badly done that with every stretch of their necks the wounds pushed more and more blood out, that would eventually lead to death by suffocation. It was a surprise that they managed to fight in this state, a normal person would be rolling on the ground, gasping for air"

"They weren't drugged, at least not by natural means, they might have been under an influence of a spell of sorts, but I'm not an expert in this field and I believe it's too late now to tell for certain anyway"

She licked her lips "As for the weapons themselves. The bolts were just too small to do any harm to a dragon even such a young as Iris. Draconic scales are thick, a natural armor capable of stopping projectiles before they reach vital organs. With all of you representing dragonkind I don't have to go into detail how exactly this process works, unfortunately you felt it on your own skin more than once"

Cyril burst out laughing "There's nothing to worry about then! With worthless assassins like that we can sleep peacefully, they are more than welcome to offer a scratch like that every now and then"

Terrador shook his head in disbelief "Before I scold you for interrupting I just want to mention that your mind works in a very strange way. A very disturbing way"

Amela chuckled "As I was saying, the bolts themselves weren't dangerous, however the substance they were dipped in was. We need to examine it further to know exactly what it was, as for now I can safely say that this was some sort of poison, a very deadly variety considering the state Iris is in currently. Her organism is already fighting off a very versatile toxic intrusion, a dose of another such substance would definitely prove fatal"

Cynder rose from behind Spyro's back.

"Why go through all the trouble? She's weak, wouldn't it be simple just to skewer her with bolts. Or slice her throat than mix some vile poison?" she inquired

"Despite the general, disgusting idea of murdering someone in a hospital bed it was a reasonable approach" the Earth Guardian commented, eyeing his battle worn paw as he raised it close to his snout

"There are so many ways to make sure that your enemy stays dead, poison is just one of them"

Spyro rubbed the back of his head.

"I still think that Brill has nothing to do with it, or at least not in the way we believe"

Both Guardians looked at him curiously.

"What makes you think that I'm wrong?" Cyril snapped

The purple dragon looked up, acting like he didn't hear the aggressive tone in the Ice Guardian's voice.

"Because we met with Cynder someone who behaved so much like those moles and Brill was far away from there or he hasn't crossed the Veil yet in the first place"

Cynder crawled forward, next to her partner, eyeing him with great interest.

"We did?"

"The hermit"

A mocking laughter filled the room "You're comparing our problems to some secluded freak?" Cyril blurt out in between giggles "Get some rest Spyro"

"Cyril!" Terrador admonished his friend

"I'm serious. They really acted the same way, one of those moles wanted even to attack me when he accidently scratched me, I'm not sure they even seen me before that. They were so focused on murdering Iris that they didn't even pay attention to me when I tried to stop them. Amela is right, they behaved like they would be charmed or something"

"Mind controlling magic is a fairytale" the ice dragon added coldly "Corruption is the only such curse, with Malefor's death there is no one capable of wielding such power"

"In our timeline maybe, what about the other ones? Can you say for certain that nothing like that existed?"

"If there would be some wild magician in Warfang we would know about his presence by now"

"it doesn't have to be a person. We've seen the Veils transporting whole buildings"

Cyril snorted disdainfully "If not a living, breathing creature then what? Please, enlighten us"

Spyro shrugged "I...don't know"

Another full of contempt snort.

"Before Cyril you fall into a circle of self-praising where your words and ideas are laws, just consider for a moment that Spyro is right" Terrador replied, eyeing the ice dragon angrily "We still know nothing about the portals, what they are capable. We must consider the possibility that perhaps an artifact of some sorts crossed into our world"

The Ice Guardian rolled his eyes "Even if there would be an ounce of truth in this it still changes nothing. if there is an artifact, it's not in our possession, meaning someone incapable is wielding it and we have to get it back. The temple is our destination nonetheless, this is the only place where something like that could be hidden"

Terrador nodded "It's settled then, we're going to the temple immediately. Spyro, we need you"

The purple dragon shook his head fiercely "Oh no, sorry Terrador, but after what happened I'm not leaving Cynder here"

Cyril directed himself towards the door "You won't have to. She's coming with us"

"What?" the three other dragons blurt out simultaneously

Amela made a step back, folding her arms on her chest and blocking the door "As her healer I can't allow that. She's still not in her best shape"

The Ice Guardian narrowed his eyes on the feline, a puff of icy smoke wafted from his nose.

"She'll heal, she's a dragon, struggle and pain is in our blood. I know my kind, we are not meant to lie in beds like meek sheep. We stride forward no matter what" he learned forward, closer to the healer, snout wrinkled by a fierce snarl, sharp teeth showing in an intimidating manner

"Get out of our way cheetah"

"HEY!" Cynder growled, jumping from the bed "Don't you dare to speak to her like that!"

"I'm a Guardian girl!" he growled as he turned his burning, cold eyes at the black dragoness "You will listen to what I have to say" his eyes shifted at the feline "Both of you"

"I think you're forgetting that you're not the only Guardian here" Terrador interjected, his baritone voice rumbling with intimidating, commanding tone "Just like you're forgetting who is the head Guardian here"

"Spare me the talk about how Ignitus proclaimed you to be his successor. He's dead and he doesn't care. If you insist on keeping anyone out of harm's way as to avoid them breaking their little pretty claws then I have to step up!"

"Cyril, watch your tongue"

"Can't you see what is happening?" the Ice Guardian roared, temperature in the room dropped considerably

"Our city is being ruined, our enemies enthrall our own people, somehow convince them to do the impossible while we do what exactly?! We sit on our assess and worry about the well-being of our subordinates, like they are our family. Let me tell you this, they are not!"

"We as Guardians rule this city, we give orders, we do what is best for this city. Warfang has to thrive, dragonkind has to thrive! None of this will happen if we keep worrying about our own wounds, about our own safety. The enemy knows how to make the hard choices, knows what's at stake while we smile and laugh like good friends, believing that everything will sort out itself"

"Mutual respect. This is what Ignitus taught us"

"He isn't here anymore!" Cyril roared once more, the glass of the window on the opposite side of the room shook slightly

"He's dead, bugs made short work of whatever was left of his corpse!"

Audible gasps filled the room.

"See? This is what I'm talking about! How can we save our city when we're still cringe at the sound of someone insulting the dead!"

"How can you speak about Ignitus like that?" Spyro exclaimed "He was your friend!"

"Exactly! When I die I want to meet my friend and have the courage to look into his eyes, tell him I did my best to protect this city. Tell me Terrador, if you would die today, would you have the guts to tell him that?"

The aggression vanished from the Earth Guardian's snout, he didn't say a word but even the blind would read the words from his expression.

"We are simple minded leaders my old friend, no matter how hard we try we don't have the spark Ignitus' had. We need to use our best soldiers to win this battle, even if they won't like our decisions. We should respect them and at the same time not care, draw a line between leadership and friendship, we aren't good enough to combine these two"

He turned towards the black dragoness "This is why you are coming"

Cynder met his gaze confidently, she made her mind way before he addressed her.

"Ok"

"You speak of respect but you're still sending Cynder as bait when she's wounded and weak!" Spyro protested

The Ice Guardian directed himself towards the door once again.

"She's a dragon, I believe in her, just as I believe in the three of us. I believe in my race. if I wouldn't know what it means to be a dragon I would order you to stay here. We are the world changers, we don't wait, we fight until our whole strength is gone, we live on this fucking world to show it that we can walk despite the obstacles on our path. If you waver I'll make sure you will keep on walking, If worse comes to worst this is how I'll show my respect"

His eyes once more met with the cheetah's, this time however she didn't protest but simply moved to the side.

He pressed the handle "You need to start believing in your kin Spyro. We were created to withstand pain for a reason"

Before he left he exchanged another look with the feline healer, the brief moment was enough for Amela to understand what the reason was.

The spark was in all of them.

"I'll wait outside" Cyril's voice echoed in the room for a while after he closed the door behind himself.

*

He might have screamed at some point and probably still was. All he knew was that he opened his mouth, in fact it was still opened, when he focused he could see his fangs pointing out of his maw, yet no sound was coming out from his throat.

Just like no sound was coming from the horrible Dreadwing's snout ahead, it was snapping just inches away from his noise, splattering poisonous saliva all across his face and chest. The only thing preventing it from biting his head off was luck and his strength. The beast got stuck, it kept thrashing wildly, trying to reach him and most likely it would succeeded if not for his hands tightly gripping its horns, pushing it away.

His head hurt more and more with each passing second, the creature kept parting its maw as if roaring, but all he could hear was the increasing in strength shocks of shrill sound that only intensified the already nauseating ringing in his skull.

He dragged his legs below the creature's chin, propping his feet against its chest and then with all the strength build up in his legs muscles he pushed, pushing the beast away, even if slightly.

The Dreadwing popped from its holding place, ice shattered on top of his body from the edges of the ice hole he was thrown into. The beast charged with another screech. The time he bought with his move was enough to prepare himself for the attack, the moment he pushed the beast away he reached down towards his belt swiftly, arming his hands in daggers.

Hunter let out a roar of his own, at least that's how he remembered it was done, he couldn't hear his own voice. He turned his wrists inwards, the sharp edges of the small blades glistening like tubes ready to be inserted into Frankenstein's head.

With a delicate shard of ice cutting his cheek the Dreadwing made another attempt to make a lunch out of him, when it was in range Hunter powerfully pushed his arms together, impaling the daggers into the creature's head, right through the temples.

Whatever sound the creature was making died the moment when a blood filled spit gushed from its mouth and splashed straight into his face. The creature's rabid, blue eyes turned momentarily glassy and lifeless. Body was shook by one final spasm, silencing every vibration created by the thrashing. Two droplets of poison dripped from the creature's exposed fangs.

And then its whole weight landed directly on him.

The already weakened outward surface of the small crater collapsed underneath the heavy, dead weight. Hunter closed his eyes, protecting them from the shooting shards as the body of the creature dropped on top of him.

He groaned agonizingly, pressing his forehead to the dead creature's head, the ringing noise inside his skull reached its highest peak that he could feel cracks appearing on his brain. Seconds flew by and the sound slowly died down, more and more sounds pierced through the shrill sound, starting from the loudest like the whizzing wind to the barely audible like droplets of blood dripping on the ground from his ears.

With one final groan he pulled his daggers out with a wet smacking sound, dragging tongues of blood behind their sharp tips. He pressed his closed fists against the motionless body and pushed, tilting the corpse just enough to be able to squeeze the left side of his body above the winged back.

It wasn't difficult after that to free himself completely, the lifeless corpse dropped down, with him landing on top of it. With one deep breath Hunter sheathed his daggers and jumped, pressing his hands on opposite sides of the ice hole before lifting himself up, foot found the snowy ground not long after.

Hunter straightened up, his ears suddenly stiffened up, from the distance looking like a pair of small antlers, spitting blood on the snow as they recognized a familiar sound cutting through the fiercely blowing wind and snowflakes. It was his duty to recognize such sounds as a bow wielding scout.

He momentarily threw his body into a spin, followed by a forward jump. With a corner of his eye he managed to see an arrow flying from the small elevation ahead, cutting through the snowflake fog. The projectile collided with his fluttering cloak, cutting through the material just right next to his back, the force it created as it tore through threw him off balance, forcing him to drop ungracefully onto the snow.

With his face covered in the white fluff he looked up just to see an ape revealing itself from the mist, an arrow was sticking out from his right shoulder and it looked like his left arm was broken. It had to be the raider he shot down from the Dreadwing that attacked him, the snow covered grounds of Dante's Freezer had to dampen the fall, crippling but at the same time saving the ape.

His enemy didn't decide to take another shot, most likely realizing it would take too much time to nock another arrow in such condition. The ape instead started to run directly in his direction, his war cry barely audible due to the fiercely blowing wind.

Hunter noticed the ape reaching behind his back, just to hurl a small hand axe at him, he sprung forward, stretching his body to the limit, leaping forward like a wild cheetah, with a roll springing back on his feet with snow clinging to his outfit and wetting his fur.

The ape attacked, swinging at him with another axe, Hunter swiftly dived down and with a quick sidestep gathered a considerable pile of snow in his hands, that he hurled at the ape as he straightened back up. The whitish fluff blinded the raider, Hunter too advantage of the confusion and withdrew two arrows from his quiver before sprinting into the snowy mist.

The blizzard effectively quenched every sound.

Only when the white fluff finally swayed down and joined the snow on the ground everything became clear. The snow revealed a body of an ape lying on the back, delicate streams of blood were flowing from the corner of its eyelids, not even able to run the snow below red since momentarily more snowflakes made sure that the ground remains white.

It will eventually cover everything under its thick veil, the corpse of the ape with two arrows sticking out from his eyes, just like it will cover the cheetah kneeling just behind the corpse's head.

Hunter had his head aimed at the ground, observing the dropping snowflakes from above with labored, misty breaths, his ears slowly flattening on his skull with more and more additional white weight pressing them down.

He was clutching his stomach, looking down at his hand he noticed droplets of blood splashing onto the snow one after the other like from a dying spring. He unglued his hand from his body, only to see a streak of crimson matting his fur, both on his hand and belly.

As he prepared to take another heavy breath a burning bolt of pain shot from the wound making him groan in agony, pushing his body into an impulsive contraction that only forced more blood out of the wound like from a disgusting, huge popped pimple.

With a snarl he pressed his hand back to the wound, feeling the wet and unpleasantly soft severed tissue under his touch. The ape managed to injure him with that axe after all.

He reached behind his back with his other hand, severing the material of his cloak with his claw, making it flutter loosely on his right side. He grabbed it and pulled, using enough strength to tear it off but at the same time forcing his body to jerk fiercely. He hissed when another burning pain shot through him as the wound pulsed once more, pushing more blood out through his fingers.

He prepared himself for a provisional treatment by removing one of the medical pouches from his belt filled with all different small flasks. He applied a thick greenish paste to the wound from one of the flasks, groaning all the way through the endeavor. The wound pulsed under his touch, clearly unhappy with the attention, but luckily no more blood pushed through the freshly constructed barrier.

He then wrapped the torn cloak around his body, gluing it to his body with the use of the same paste.

Medicine has all sorts of uses, he learned that the hard way.

With one final hiss of pain Hunter got up, shaking his head, snow flew in every direction like dandruff from a giant's head. He squinted his eyes, focusing on the terrain ahead, here, so high above the ground the blizzard barely allowed to keep one's eyes open, let alone see far ahead. Yet he did manage to see a black discoloration among the flying snow.

He found his way.

Hunter reached behind his coat, finding the yin yang symbol there with his cold thumb.

"May this journey be a prelude to many more" he continued onwards

Time flew differently in this blizzard, what one would take for an agonizingly arduous, worthless pace, here, in Dante's Freezer it was like a trek around the world. This is why Hunter didn't count his steps, he measured progress by distance to his destination. Here with snow reaching practically to his knees, every small step was worth every precious wasted second.

When his right leg crunched the snow underneath his ears flickered suddenly, sensing a peculiar change of tone in the air. Hunter froze, tuning his hearing to a higher sensitivity.

"Get the cat!"

His blue eyes widened at the commanding order traveling with the wind.

And almost popped out from their sockets at the sound of barking.

Hunter started to run, at least that's what he kept telling himself, the snow didn't allow for much. His eyes remained stuck at the shifting, dark discoloration ahead, his perception regarding time flow and value of steps changed drastically. He started to move his legs quicker than ever before and somehow it didn't seem like he was getting any closer to his destination.

He didn't know for how long he ran, yet in this moment that's not what bothered him.

He didn't hear anything besides the blowing wind and the sound of crunching snow under his weight.

Hunter looked behind his shoulder, not slowing his escape in the slightest. One of his hands found its way to his belt where it touched a dagger's handle. His narrowed feline eyes scanned the terrain behind.

Besides the thick mist and even more strongly falling snowflakes nothing was there.

No silhouettes creeping through the mist.

And yet, he couldn't shake off the feeling that he is being watched by hungry eyes.

Suddenly there was a crack.

Hunter froze with a nervous gulp, eyes vigilantly observing the terrain behind.

There was another cracking noise.

Only then he realized that it wasn't coming from anywhere around him, but exactly from underneath his feet.

He looked down, surprised to see that the snow was slightly less thicker here, he could see the form of his boot below, surrounded by a special bluish hue.

Ice.

Only then he noticed the cracks spreading from below his foot like a spider web. He quickly shifted his weight to his other leg, sound of cracking ice filled the air.

He realized that there was no getting out of this trap he put himself into.

Something heavy landed on the snow somewhere ahead of him, he felt tremors traveling across the ground.

The ice felt them too.

It collapsed under his weight.

Hunter gritted his teeth as tightly as he could as to muffle the groans coming out from his throat, as he fell down he bumped into one or two very thick icy edges that send his body into a spin.

A spin that ended with him powerfully landing on his back on another icy surface.

A strong bolt of extreme pain shot through his spine, he put the handle of a dagger in between his teeth to silence his agonizing scream. Three fingers on his left hand became numb for a moment.

He opened his tears filled eyes, the snow was pleasantly sticking to the fur on his face, slightly making all of this less painful.

It was extremely bright here, he noticed a bluish light reflecting from the blade of his dagger. Hunter looked around quickly, walls of thick ice surrounded him, some were straight, some curled and round like ramps. Many different ledges dotted the icy landscape, some higher, some lower. He found himself in some sort of a crater, strangely resembling a mine of sorts.

The rough edges however betrayed that this crater wasn't made by deliberate work of some miners, it was like this hole was created by something big falling from the sky at great speed.

As he looked down his eyes widened, there was still quite a fall ahead of him before he reaches the bottom, but that was not what caught his interest. There was something at the bottom of the crater, something was standing out from the snow covered floor below, as if nature dragged its special sheet across a body.

And it was a huge body. Completely covered by snow.

Just next to the enormous bulge was most likely the source of the dark clouds hanging in the air. A tongue of dark smoke was raising to the sky, he didn't see what was creating this effect, a fire lets out a similar smoke.

But starting a fire in the open was impossible.

Not to mention that traditional smoke doesn't stay in the air in such a fierce wind.

It has somehow mixed itself with the air, creating the illusion that if was farther than it really was.

However only from here he noticed that the bulge of snow, just like the dark tongue weren't moving at all, as if frozen.

It was the blizzard that created the illusion of dark clouds.

Hunter rolled around delicately to get a better look.

Only then he heard the familiar sound of ice cracking and noticed more dark spider webs appearing from underneath his body.

He quickly returned to his original position, aiming his eyes upwards. Snow flew down from the edge above, like milky water of a waterfall. His mind immediately processed all the facts that led him to this vulnerable positon.

Hunter shifted his body ever so slightly, tilting it so he could reach for the bow on his back. The ice screeched agonizingly and more cracks appeared on its surface. He grabbed the wooden frame and with a single swift motion he withdrew the bow.

The ice screamed again.

With a delicate breath of relief he put the bow on his chest and reached for an arrow, eyes never leaving the edge above.

He withdrew the projectile.

The ice cracked again. This time Hunter felt that the ledge he was lying on went slightly lower.

Squinting his eyes, as to shield them from the dropping snowflakes, he grabbed the bow and straightened his arms, nocking the arrow before drawing the bowstring. With his weapon perfectly prepared he aimed it at the ledge from which he fell.

Besides the falling snow there was nothing there.

Hunter's pose didn't change, his arms started to burn, but he didn't give to discomfort.

He trusted his instinct.

Silence.

More snow started to flow from the artificial, white waterfall.

Hunter kept his arms extended, the bow didn't waver even an inch, even despite the burning feeling shooting through his joints. Snow practically covered his whole furry face, blue eyes were the only thing that pierced through the white snowy curtain.

And then with an ominous growl a Death Hound jumped from the ledge above, its enormous maw opened fully, ready to swallow him whole.

He let the arrow loose, it impaled itself into the beast's neck. The hound whined, the force of the impact threw its body into an uncontrollable jerk. Instead of landing on top of him the creature toppled on its side, colliding with the ice just next to him.

The icy ground shattered under the combined weight.

He fell down, his back hit something on the way down, throwing his body into a spin like some sort of a ragdoll. Through pain clouded eyes he noticed the hound bouncing off one of the ice spikes also, the impact sent its body flying in the opposite direction of his.

He screamed when he landed on another icy ledge, the Death Hound however fell even lower down the crater while he instead of following the creature began to move in a completely different direction.

Forward.

He landed on one of the slippery, icy ramps. With pain pulsing through his body as if suffering developed a heartbeat, he could barely register what was truly happening. Instinctively he removed another dagger and thrust it into the ice, it went down till the hilt.

He felt pressure on the blade, it got stuck and with a powerful jerk stopped his uncontrollable slide. However when his whole weight was put onto the handle the blade of the small dagger, already weakened by the thrust, broke with a clinging sound.

He slid farther down, scratching his side against some thick icy spike protruding from the slippery surface. At some point he hit his head into something, after that everything was a blur.

He felt his body being lifted into the air, Hunter in his dazed state stretched his arms to both sides and started to flap sluggishly. His stupefied mind put a smile on his face, he was flying, the ramp curled at the end and he was shot from it into the air.

And now he was flying.

That's how dragons must feel when they sore the skies.

He was a dragon.

That is until gravity dragged him down to the bottom of the crater, where with a muffled thud and snow shooting upwards like lava from a volcano he glued himself, face first, to the snow blanket covering the ground.

By the time his lungs started to scream for air, unwillingly dragging his shutting down mind from its blissful and final road to rest his body was completely buried under layers of snow. Hunter threw his head up with a gasp, snow shot in every direction like from a shaken Christmas tree, also into his mouth.

He started to cough fiercely, every bone, organ, and muscle screamed in agony. His head hurt like hell. He pressed his hands against the ground below and hissed, something sharp got stuck into his palm, probably a shard of ice. He ignored the pain to the best of his ability and lifted himself to his knees, feeling extremely heavy as he did that.

Snow flew down the sides of his form, from a distance he looked like some sort of a snow golem waking to life from its natural element. First thing he did was to look into the sky, ice and wet snow matted every strand of his fur, and take a deep, painful breath.

When Hunter opened his eyes the blurry sky above was perfectly misty and cold.

The dark clouds vanished.

His snow stuffed ears flickered with life.

He dropped his chin down, aiming his sight ahead. In the shaky, blurry vision his eyes offered him he noticed many approaching silhouettes. Apes, the Dark Army caught up with him. They climbed down the crater somehow and from what he vaguely remembered it most likely wasn't a simple feat to accomplish. He must have lost consciousness.

Strangely in his current state, he felt no emotion from the inevitably drawing confrontation, his body was so battered that all it wanted currently was to simply shut itself down.

Hunter automatically looked to the side, starting to tap at his knee with one of his bloodied, numb, shivering hands, looking for his final dagger.

It was then when he noticed movement in the snow just next to him with a corner of his eye.

Something was sliding underneath the snow, his tired bluish eyes followed the moving bulge until his head could turn no more. Without anything else to do he looked ahead again.

The silhouettes stopped moving.

He had troubles connecting facts, but when he heard huge piles of snow dropping onto the ground behind him he was pretty certain he found the reason for the Dark Army's sudden stop.

Hunter threw his head up, making it practically rest on his back shoulders as if his head was about to sever itself from his neck.

The misty cold sky above was gone once more.

This time however no artificial dark clouds replaced the natural aura of Dante's Freezer.

But a black scaled chin.

A tremendous roar echoed across the cold island.