Chapter 16: Separated by the Storm
801 Words
The mountain was silent.
Too silent.
Snow drifted gently through the icy air, covering the scars left by the avalanche. The once narrow mountain pass had vanished beneath an endless blanket of white.
Azul slowly pulled himself free from the snow.
His shoulder ached, and his sword lay half-buried a few feet away.
He quickly retrieved it and looked around.
“Bashan!”
His voice echoed across the mountains.
No answer.
“Liora!”
Still nothing.
A cold feeling settled in his chest.
For the first time since the Royal Vanguard was formed…
He was completely alone.
⸻
Miles away, beneath a shattered cliff, Bashan punched through a layer of packed snow and climbed onto solid ground.
He coughed before looking around.
“Azul?”
Silence.
A grin slowly appeared on his face.
“So… we’re separated.”
He rested his sword on his shoulder.
“Guess I’ll just have to solve this before he does.”
Even in the middle of danger…
Their rivalry remained alive.
⸻
Liora awoke beside a frozen stream.
Her spear was gone.
She immediately searched the area until she spotted it lodged between two rocks downstream.
After retrieving it, she noticed something unusual.
Footprints.
Not human.
Not beast.
They had six claws and were spaced with military precision.
She knelt beside them.
“They’re marching…”
She whispered.
“But toward where?”
⸻
Brakus found himself trapped inside a narrow ice cavern.
A massive slab of rock blocked the entrance.
He pushed.
Nothing.
He planted both feet firmly on the frozen ground.
Muscles tensed.
With a mighty roar, he shoved against the stone.
At first…
Nothing happened.
Then…
A c***k.
Another.
Finally, the boulder rolled aside.
Fresh air rushed into the cavern.
Brakus smiled.
“Thank you, training.”
⸻
Nyx landed in the branches of a towering pine tree during the avalanche.
Now, she moved silently from branch to branch, surveying the mountains below.
Her sharp eyes caught movement.
Three crimson-cloaked soldiers.
Scouts from the Crimson Order.
They weren’t searching randomly.
They carried maps.
“They’re hunting us.”
Nyx disappeared into the trees.
“They’ll never know I’m hunting them too.”
⸻
Taren opened his eyes upside down.
He blinked.
“…Why am I hanging from a tree?”
His cloak had become tangled in thick branches.
After several awkward attempts, he finally freed himself.
Unfortunately…
He landed face-first in the snow.
“…That could’ve gone better.”
As he stood, he noticed smoke rising from somewhere beyond the forest.
“A camp?”
He hurried toward it.
⸻
Elsewhere…
Master Kael, Cassian, Seraphina, and the surviving royal guards had also survived the avalanche.
“We’ve lost contact with the Vanguard,” one guard reported.
Kael looked toward the mountains.
“No.”
“We’ve only lost sight of them.”
Cassian sheathed his sword.
“They know what to do.”
Seraphina nodded.
“The question is…”
“Does the enemy?”
⸻
Deep within the Frostfang Mountains…
Aster stood before an enormous stone gate hidden beneath layers of ancient ice.
The masked commander approached and knelt.
“My lord.”
“The avalanche succeeded.”
“The Royal Vanguard has been scattered.”
Aster remained silent.
He rested one hand upon the frozen gate.
“This gate has remained sealed for nearly a thousand years.”
The commander looked at the strange runes covering its surface.
“What lies beyond it?”
Aster’s crimson eyes reflected in the ice.
“The last guardian.”
“The only one who never chose a side.”
⸻
Back in the mountains…
Azul continued searching through the snow-covered forest.
Hours passed.
The cold grew harsher.
Then…
He heard singing.
A soft, beautiful melody floated through the trees.
It wasn’t human.
It was unlike anything he had ever heard.
Following the sound, he stepped into a hidden valley untouched by the avalanche.
In its center stood a crystal-clear lake.
Beside the lake knelt a young woman dressed in flowing white robes embroidered with silver threads.
Her long silver hair shimmered beneath the morning light.
She gently placed her hand upon the frozen water.
At her touch…
The ice began to bloom with glowing blue flowers.
Azul instinctively reached for his sword.
The woman slowly turned.
Their eyes met.
For a brief moment…
Time itself seemed to stand still.
She looked at him with quiet surprise.
“So…”
“The first heir has finally arrived.”
Before Azul could ask who she was…
The blue flowers across the lake suddenly withered.
The woman’s gentle expression disappeared.
She looked toward the northern mountains.
Her voice became solemn.
“…He’s awake.”
Far away, beneath the ancient gate of ice…
A deafening roar shook the entire Frostfang range.
The mountain had revealed another secret.
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