Once the two were rested from their fight, they decided they needed to move out further. They had to spend two more days in the forest but they weren't even out of their territory yet. Meanwhile in the distance, Connor and Luc had been watching from the trees. Connor was more impressed than worried that the two managed that fight. The two Guardians continue to follow behind keeping their distance so the two don't sense them.
Jayce had wrapped his trophy in cloth and hung it from his waist while Terek patched himself up. Placing the cold snow on his wounds to help them heal.
"Are you sure you don't need bandaged up?" Jayce asked as he ties the cloth tight on his waist.
"I'll be fine. It's something my mother once showed me when I was little before she passed. Our blood is unique here in our village." He tosses the rest of the clump of snow from his hand. "Let's keep going before more show up." He could hear the growls of more Arctic Drakes in the distance and begins to head further from the village with Jayce not too far from him.
As the time went form their departure again, the duo hunted the local wildlife to survive. Frost Bears, giant white bears much larger than an Arctic Drake with claws the size of boulders, even began to fear the two in their own lands. Little did they know, once they got past the Frost Bear territory, they were stepping out into the unknown. This would be the farthest from the village, no the mountain, either of the two had been and yet it was too quiet. The Arctic Drake territory had been as far North as possible but the thought of seeing a pack down south close to the village began to worry Terek. His father taught him each territory of the creatures that lived in the forest and on the continent but this almost seemed like they were trying to expand. Terek shook the thought off and continued as he could hear them still.
"They're still following us even though we are basically talking them away from the village." Jayce felt the wrappings to make sure his trophy was still in tact.
"They don't care about the dead… They're only focus is on us right now. We're in the middle of our trial, but we need to lead them away from home." Terek said softly as he trudged through the growing thick snow. "If they try to attack us now, Luc and Connor will be forced to join us."
The two silently agreed as they knew what they had to do. Further east sat the territory of an unknown Snow creature. No one in the village dared to travel that far but the guardians ensured there was always food for it before their shifts end. Jayce leaps up and runs up the trees until he reaches the top. The two had trained together for so long that they had grown accustomed to working in silence. Jayce stood on the edge of the trees looking out into an open field of snow that spanned for miles. The sound of screams in the distance but none that sounded like a human. The screams were coming from the creature and he knew it. Jayce jumps down and lands beside Terek.
"It's out there alright." He said softly as he could hear the Drakes minutes from them.
"Let's go. If we can lure it out, they'll run into it as well. We need to get it out before the blizzard hits." Terek was looking toward the sky as it grew darker then rushes out into the snowy field. One of the Drakes bust down a tree behind Jayce only this one was much larger than the others.
Jayce books it out of the tree line and catches up to Terek as they are now being chased by the colossal Arctic Drake. The smaller ones stopped as they heard the screams but then began to follow behind. The screams were growing closer and closer as the two led them deeper into the snowy fields before hissing themselves behind a rock and under some snow.
The large Arctic Drake peaks around the rock but doesn't see them then stops as it hears the screams. The terrifying screams were right beside them, the creature had the head of an owl, piercing eyes that could kill, the body of a Wolf. It's feathers and fur were white to camouflage with its surroundings. The owl creature stood taller than the Drake itself as it which was much larger than a normal. The owl stands towering over the Drake for a moment before lunging forward, tackling it to the ground and pecking at it's throat. The two could do nothing but watch as an apex predator took down another. After the owl devoured most of its prey, it watched while the lower Arctic Drakes backed away back into the forest and disappeared from view.
"I can sense you two humans hiding in the snow." It spoke, sending a chill down Jayce's spine. Terek stood up patting the snow off him followed by Jayce.
"You knew we were here but yet you didn't attack." Jayce stood beside Terek looking up into the eyes of the owl head.
"If you wish to know why I did not attack…. It is because I sense the blood of the Old Wolf." It told them and walked up to them. "Not in just one.. But both of you."
Jayce looks over to Terek "Are we not going to question the fact that we're talking to a GIANT MURDER BIRD?!"
"That Giant Murder Bird just saved our asses. Now relax for a moment before we get murdered." Terek told Jayce trying to help him relax. "What do you mean we both have the blood of the Old Wolf?"
"As I have told you. You two both have the blood of the Old Wolf. As well as another who does not live on this continent." The Owl walks away from them. "Allow me to take you to my cave, before the blizzard hits."
Terek could smell the change in the air and agrees to follow it. Jayce was still confused as he grips his chest. One coincidence after another he was learning more of the prophecy that the prophecy hadn't spoken of. The two follow the Owl to its cave and watch as it lays down against the back wall. I'm minutes of entering the cave, snow started to slowly fall and mix into the blizzard.
"Can you tell us about the third? And why is it this prophecy only tells of one?" Jayce had so many questions but he needed to focus on just the two for now.
"The prophecy has told of a child with your descriptions but doesn't say who. The third is on the continent Strazza Grah. I fear there is a faction hunting the three of you down." The owl spoke softly before laying down.
"How do you know all of this?" Terek questions the owl as he still stood facing it.
"Because, mortal…. I am the other creator of this world. I am the one who created the other living beings and creatures on the other continent, no continents, before the Old Wolf went into slumber." The owl stood up, burning away the fur and feathers to reveal a woman who appeared to be in her thirties. Her fur shifting into a long white dress, her feathers changed into long black hair, and her eyes shifted from that of an owls to a dark eyes pierced through Jayces as he feels a pressure that forces him down. "I used to go by a name I hated… Until I gained my power, then I was known as Dogma. To the humans of my lands, I am known as Valphine." Her black hair flickered like flames but ever so slightly.
"I had a feeling something was off about you from what the Guardians told us." Terek felt something deep inside him as he reaches for his chest. Jayce felt the same as they two grip their chests above their hearts.
"I came to look for him myself… But instead he greets me with young men with his blood." She walks over to the two and places her hands on their chests above their hands, pushing a heated sensation into them. "The third has already discovered, but you two are different. Why have you not discovered your auras?"
Jayce and Terek look at eachother confused as the pain dissipates. The fiery feeling inside each of them still lingered. "What did you do to us?"
"I merely awoken your auras. The three of you remind me of him at his prime…" She spoke softly and sat back down on a rock behind her.
Jayce felt like his body was lighter as he liked at his hands. He then looks at the goddess before him and sees her aura, the pressure no longer weighing him down.
Terek didn't feel any different but could tell she did something to them. "I'm assuming you want us to find the third one and go looking for the Old Wolf?"
"You are correct… You are closer to him than you realize…. But without the third, you stand no chance of waking him. You must tell the leader of your village what is going on but I warn you… You must not speak of my existence to anyone."