CHAPTER 31: Blood and Ice

{North of the Forest of Spirits, at the foot of the mountain range}

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Winter had arrived, striking every plant and animal in its path. Although this area of the continent always had much lower temperatures compared to other places, with the arrival of winter, they dropped even further, making it impossible for ordinary people to live there.

On a path towards the end of the Forest of Spirits, where the vegetation was sparse and a few bare trees were scattered around, two figures walked, surveying the area. They were a middle-aged man and a young boy, no more than 20 years old.

Both wore heavy silver armor, the middle-aged man with a sword on his back, and the young man with a travel backpack on his back and a sword at his side.

The sound of their steps on the thin layer of snow that had formed on the small path was covered by the rustling of the light wind that was beginning to blow.

The young man with the backpack shivered from the cold, feeling the icy wind on his face. His name was John, and he had recently joined the Order of Knights of the Kingdom of Light.

He had been taken under the wing of the commander of the seventh division of the Order of Knights, who, seeing potential in him, decided to train him personally.

For John, this had been a godsend. Coming from humble beginnings, he had never thought he would get this far in his career.

Having no elemental affinity, he decided to train to become a knight, and after much effort, he managed to enter the order.

He thought that from there, his life would only improve, but reality hit him very hard. As soon as he enlisted, his division had to leave for an emergency mission far from the capital, in this godforsaken place.

The journey had been long and tortuous. They traveled for almost two months before arriving here.

It had been more than a week since they had settled in this small plain at the foot of the mountain range, and they still had not found what they were looking for.

John did not believe they would have any results by staying here longer, so with a slightly trembling voice due to the cold, he spoke:

"Sir Jake, don't you think it's time we head back to camp?" he said, eager to return and have a steaming bowl of that terrible broth he had been eating for the past few days.

Although the taste of that broth was awful, the cold climate of this area had made him appreciate that stuff.

In the past few days, his team had split into pairs and explored this region several times.

They had been walking in this area for hours without finding anything.

John could only console himself with the fact that today would be the last day of investigation in this area.

The middle-aged man walking a few steps ahead of John couldn't help but laugh upon hearing him.

He had been the commander of the seventh division for quite a few years now, so he could imagine what was going through his apprentice's mind.

Continuing to walk along the path, he responded in a calm voice.

"Get used to it, boy. You will have to face many similar missions in the future.

Be patient, we have almost finished exploring this area of the plain."

John sighed upon hearing this. He knew that changing his commander's mind would be tough, but he tried anyway and failed. He could only grit his teeth and endure the cold for a bit longer.

As his commander had said, there was little left, and then they would return to the camp.

While John tried to rub his hands together in the hope of warming up a bit, he noticed that the wind was starting to become a bit stronger.

He found it a bit strange.

'It can't be that a snowstorm is starting, can it?' he thought.

Snowstorms in this region were common, especially in the evening when the temperatures started to drop, generating colder winds.

The reason John found it strange was that only a few hours had passed since sunrise, and it was very rare for a storm to start at this time of day.

Just as he was thinking of suggesting they turn back, a swift rustling of footsteps was heard in the area.

Both John and the commander stopped at this sound.

The commander had already placed his hand on the hilt of his sword while remaining alert.

John also became alert, ready to draw his sword from the sheath at his side.

For a moment, both remained still and silent, waiting to hear the sound again, but nothing.

"Maybe it was the wind," said John, still on alert, waiting for instructions from the commander.

The middle-aged man did not respond and continued to stay alert.

His many years of experience told him that sound was not a simple effect produced by the wind.

He tried to sense the environment around him with his mana, but he found nothing.

For a moment, he thought he might have been mistaken.

At that moment, out of nowhere, a shadow appeared beside the commander, launching an attack towards his head.

The commander wasted no time thinking and, with quick and fluid movements, managed to protect himself from the attack, using his sword as a shield.

CLANG!

The clanging sound made John, who had not yet noticed the figure, alert.

He turned and looked in the direction of his commander, only to see him being pushed back a few steps.

He tried to see what had attacked him, but he saw nothing.

The wind, which was beginning to become stronger and stronger, was starting to obstruct their view more and more, making it harder to spot anything far from him.

The figure that had attacked him had already moved from its original position, disappearing from the sight of the two.

"Be careful, whatever that was, it's strong," said the commander as he felt a tremor run through his entire arm.

The commander was an advanced C-rank awakened, yet the earlier blow was strong enough to push him back a few steps.

He didn't know what that creature was, but he knew it was agile enough to evade his detection.

John, who had already drawn his weapon and was on guard, tried to locate the creature.

The icy wind blew through the few trees in the plain forest, carrying with it a putrid smell that made anyone who dared venture into that desolation shudder. Among the shadows of the trees, some blurry figures began to appear.

First, one appeared,

then two,

and then three.

In no time, several creatures appeared in the surrounding area.

The creatures began to advance towards them, and little by little, their features became more visible.

They were of different shapes. Some were tall, others short, and many had elongated bodies.

Their shapes were almost deformed.

They had skeletal bodies covered by a thin white fur, long arms ending in skeletal hands, and very protruding necks.

Every movement was accompanied by an unsettling creaking sound, as if their bones were breaking with every step. They emitted a nauseating odor, a mix of decomposition and stale blood, that filled the air and made it hard to breathe.

The sight of these creatures made the blood freeze in the middle-aged man.

'No, it can't be,' thought the commander, trying to deny the sight before him.

'It's impossible for them to appear at this time of day,'

he said to himself as memories of creatures with similar appearances, which had devastated many places and spread much terror across the continent over the past centuries, came to mind.

Nightmares.

Abominations that appeared at night to spread terror and disappeared by day.

For a long time now, these beings had attacked and destroyed everything indiscriminately in their path. Little was known about them.

They first appeared over three centuries ago, and since then, they had wreaked havoc across the kingdom.

The middle-aged man understood how grave the situation was and said in an agitated voice,

"John, flee from here and alert the others,"

he said as he positioned himself in front of him, ready to attack the creatures.

John immediately understood what his commander wanted to do and couldn't help but feel useless in this situation.

He wanted to contest his commander's decision, but he knew he couldn't.

He also understood that it was impossible for them to face these beasts alone. Although many of them were weaker than him, their numbers made up for this weakness.

He realized that they wouldn't have a chance to escape together.

He gritted his teeth and, throwing off the heavy backpack he was wearing, ran in the direction of the camp.

Hearing the metallic sound of his commander's sword, he could tell that the battle had begun.

He ran as fast as he could, trying to ignore the sounds of the battle that had started behind him.

Without looking back, he ran without stopping.

The cold cut his face like sharp blades, but John kept running, each breath a cloud of vapor in the relentless frost. The path wound through the bare trees, and the fresh snow made it difficult to maintain balance.

Each step was an ordeal, but the urgency in John's heart drove him forward.

The shadows of the trees seemed to stretch like menacing claws, and every sound in the forest seemed amplified by the snowy silence. After what felt like an eternity, John saw the lights of the camp in the distance. The sight gave him new energy, and with a final effort, he closed the distance between him and his companions.

He arrived breathless, his breath heavy, and his heart pounding wildly. But what he saw made him stop dead in his tracks.

The camp was destroyed.

The tents were in tatters, the fire was out, and all around were torn bodies, scattered like broken dolls. Blood stained the dark red snow, and the air was saturated with a smell of death and despair.

"W-what?"

John ran into the camp and began checking tent after tent, hoping to find someone still alive.

He continued searching, but to no avail. Everywhere he went, he found the bodies of his teammates.

He searched for a while longer until he stumbled upon the corpse of

 someone.

John fell to his knees, paralyzed by horror. His eyes fixed on the scene before him, his heart heavy as lead. A choked sob escaped him as he felt the icy tears flow down his face.

"Marta," he whispered with a broken voice, staring at the motionless body of the girl lying next to a tree trunk, still and silent.

Marta, the one with whom he had shared the hardest moments and the brightest hopes.

She had been his adventure companion, his confidante, his pillar of support in this harsh reality. Over time, a close, unbreakable bond had formed between them.

So seeing her in this state froze his mind.

At that moment, just as despair was beginning to overwhelm him, he heard footsteps behind him.

A spark of hope ignited within him as he turned to see who it was.

CRUNCH

And in the next moment, a headless body fell to the ground, splattering blood onto the white snow.

As the blood flowed out of the decapitated body, the sound of the steps began to move away until it ceased completely.

Silence enveloped the camp, while the snowstorm began to intensify, covering everything under a layer of snow.

At that moment, as if moved by a will of its own, the blood from the headless body began to move.

It started to flow and gather in a small stream. This small stream, in turn, merged with another, and then another.

All the blood present at the scene converged towards a central point.

In an instant, the ground beneath it opened, and the blood sank underground, disappearing into nothingness.

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THE-PENGUIN: I'm still working on volume 2 of the novel, but I wanted to leave you with something to reflect on (even though there isn't much to reflect on) while I give the volume its final touches.

If all goes well, I should resume publishing within a week.

I say "if" because you never know. Nowadays, problems seem to rain down endlessly.

If you're still interested in following this story, please let me know. In that case, I'll consider whether to pause this novel to start another project, giving myself more time to complete this one, or to continue with this, since you're still interested in reading it.

Your feedback is valuable to me and will help me decide the next steps to take.

(╥﹏╥)

Thank you again for your continued interest and support.

I'm putting the message here because not everyone reads author's notes.