"You’ve got to be kidding ." Ryan muttered, caught between a rock and a hard place.
Going down the slope would an being enslaved. A terrible outco.
Going up the slope would an surrendering to a violent death. An outco just as terrible.
"Can I even fight again?" He looked at his own arm. A few poorly done bandages barely covered two deep, bloody holes. And that wasn’t even counting the countless smaller wounds Ryan had been enduring all this ti.
He sighed. "Let’s hope the battle is already over." He then gave a couple of pats on the shoulder of the hunched-over slave who was vomiting. He lifted his eyes toward Ryan. "I’m counting on you... use the sword well." He swallowed hard and nodded.
Drawing his blade, the slave followed as Ryan advanced with slow, heavy steps toward the cave. He knew he wouldn’t survive another confrontation. Even so, he didn’t expect anything less than severe punishnt from the slavers. Ryan had already indirectly killed at least a dozen of them. He could imagine their fury when they found him.
"How disgusting..." Ryan covered his nose at the sight of blood stains all over the cave entrance, along with dozens of cuts carved into the hard stone. He crouched down and examined them. "Blade marks... and claw marks." He studied the claw marks closely.
Within monts, he realized that the creature’s paw was at least as large as his own body. His eyes turned toward the dark depths of the cave, tense.
Two black, gleaming eyes stared back at him.
Ryan faced them in silence, while the slave raised his sword in front of him, ready for battle. His body trembled, yet he still advanced with his blade.
Ryan, however, simply snorted. He straightened up, reached out, and pushed his companion’s sword down. Leaving him disoriented. Then he continued deeper into the cave, his eyes scanning every corner with seriousness. But at the sa ti, without fear.
Soon, his foot stumbled over sothing. He lowered his gaze.
A corpse.
Covered in brutal wounds, it stared at him with a desperate expression. Ryan quickly noticed two ears similar to his own, but white. His clothing, made of pelts, could only be described as barbaric.
"I suppose this is what they call a Glacial Wolf." The slave behind him nodded, scared. "I admit, I expected more from them."
Ryan’s eyes soon spotted a dozen more scattered throughout the cave, each in worse condition than the last. All dead. anwhile, the beast, the hunter and killer, remained still, rely watching him. Or at least that’s what it seed at first glance.
Ryan didn’t need to think hard to guess what it was.
A Glacinata Bear, a living calamity.
And that... could only be described as impressive.
Each paw was the size of a man, and it had six of them, along with a colossal body. On top of that, ice crystals spread through its fur, forming sothing like a natural armor.
Ryan didn’t need anyone to tell him this was a calamity. It was obvious to anyone who saw it.
"I guess we should be grateful it’s asleep," Ryan said expressionless as the slave swallowed hard.
"You think so?" a new voice said, excited, before bursting into laughter. "If I were you, I’d be thanking every god in the sky for my luck, I’d even offer them my firstborn!"
The slave imdiately stepped forward, pointing his blade as soon as they located the source of the voice.
Leaning against the wall, riddled with severe injuries, was a survivor of the attack.
A young-looking woman, not much older than twenty, with two braids in her white hair.
"Should I kill her?" the slave asked.
Ryan rely observed her in silence. The woman, however, didn’t seem to grasp the mood and quickly spoke:
"You’re a wreck too, aren’t you?" She looked at Ryan’s arm, then glanced over his many wounds, her eyes settling on his bruised nose and then on his defiant eyes. "You’ll be dead soon as well." She chuckled softly before continuing.
"But at least you can be proud of yourself. You, a son of sumr, managed to co this far into this frozen hell." She kept laughing. "I’m sure your ancestors have never seen anything like this. A man with real guts has certainly never been born among them."
Ryan frowned, but the woman kept talking.
"And to think that among those cowards, sothing like a warrior would erge..." She smiled mockingly. "Are you sure you’re not a bastard of winter? At least your won might have good taste."
She laughed again and opened her mouth to continue, but Ryan sighed.
"Are you never going to die?" he said, looking at her severe injuries. The others had died from far less, compared to them, she almost seed vigorous.
"Oh! I’ve always been known for my tenacity," she replied bluntly. "Believe , you’ll die much before I do."
He sighed and grabbed what remained of his supplies.
Soon, he lit a fire and, grabbing an unfortunate wolf, began preparing his al.
"What a delicious sll," the woman murmured, while the slave kept his sword pointed at her, afraid. "It slls so good I almost stood up..." She then glanced at the bear at the back. "If even I, half-dead, almost got up, what about our sleepy friend? Aren’t you afraid it’ll wake up and snatch that from your hand?"
Ryan kept preparing, unconcerned. "It doesn’t take a genius to know you did sothing to it."
She chuckled softly.
"Looks like you think highly of ," she said, tilting her head. "Although I did do sothing, it won’t last long. Certainly not long enough. That bear is sleeping under a diocre spell and will wake up soon. And even if you run right now, it’s faster than you and has an incredible sense of sll. You’ll be caught. Your death has already been decided. So enjoy your last al, lost son of sumr."
Ryan simply continued preparing the at, unbothered. There was no point worrying about sothing he couldn’t change. In fact, his biggest concern right now was his arm.
After eating calmly, Ryan removed the bandages from his arm and saw exactly what he feared. He sighed as the woman against the wall laughed harder.
"See? I told you. You’re going to die," she said. "With an arm like that, there’s no way you’ll survive."
Ryan stared at her in silence.
His arm was sick. The wound had beco infected.
This ti, he didn’t know what to do. He didn’t know how to treat it, so the only alternative he could imagine...was amputation.
Sothing he definitely wouldn’t do.
After all, dying from infection and dying because he couldn’t fight without an arm led to the sa result.
He leaned his head back and sighed. "So this is where it ends..."
The woman smiled broadly at that and began to laugh softly.
"What’s so funny?!" the slave snapped, ready to silence her once and for all.
"Everything!" the woman said, amused. "Hey! Bastard of Winter! Let’s make a deal!"
[ New Quest Unlocked: Lost Son of Winter ]
[ Details: %@&#)$_!(@ ]
[ Reward(s): @(#Y$)(! @* ]
User Comments
0 comments from readers