It was cold. The snow fell downâno pattern or supposed reason why. It simply fell. The forest, while once lush with life, had all retreated due to the sudden shift and now was simply swamped with an abundance of static powder.
Throughout the tall pines was a man; masked completely by a tattered gray cloak, from which in the moon-lit grouping of trees and subtle clusters of odd, tall plants which were topped by a thin lair of snow, stood as a mysterious figure. Seemingly completely out of place.
Nothing made a sound. Only the crumple of the snow below his dark leather boots and fast-paced breathing is all that could be heardâplus the howling winds and rustling leaves, of course.
It was only when he reached an oddly curved and large stone wall did the man stop. Engraved upon it were a variety of symbols and writing, with its center a notable insignia of significant size; a circle, paired with disconnected lines forming something similar to a cross, though notably shorter and tighter overall.
Instantly, the strange man collapsed onto his knees, his hands gently placing down onto the ground as he mumbled incoherentlyânot even sounding like words; not even human. The man let out a sigh.
"Raise." He mumbled out, a mass of pure blue ice crashing out from the ground below and straight into the wall. Chunks of rock and displaced snow scattered throughout the air as dust and fresh powder slowly spread through the surrounding environment.
The man paid no attention to what had happened, simply beginning to dig straight through the snow and dirt with his raw, bare handsâthat of which were now shaking and frosted over, turning rather clumped in appearance.
Unbeknownst to the man, a gargantuan, leviathan of a creature leaped from the forest, briefly peering towards the man before turning back towards the shattered wall. With a swift growl, it quickly churned back towards him; still on the floor helplessly digging into the earth. The beast loomed overâan overgrown lizard-esc appearance as numerous protrusions of spikes and loose skin littered the back of the creature. Its head was strikingly fierce; a resting face of pure anger and rage as a seemingly natural horned crown sat inlaid within the head.
More notably, the beast walked on six legs; two in a pair, as you'd imagine, except for a single limb in the front and back, overall appearing in an odd gem formation. It towered over the strange man, who in comparison looked frail and insignificant. That being said, he dared not to raise his head; still desperately digging into the snow below him.
The beasts eyes narrowedâall four of its vertical slits growing tighter and tighter until they were as thin as a strand of hair. Slowly, it began approaching the man. Each step of its legs being followed by a tremendous thump. Thump. Thump.
It walked until it was barely a spec away from his head, it's mouth slowly widening open as the unknown figure finally looked up.
"You came-!" He squealed out with his raspy voice; tainted by age, only to be followed by a violent cough. That being said, he took no heed towards it; instead simply stretching his arms out over the hole he had just dug.
"At long last..." he murmured to himself as his face visibly froze over with pure blue and black iceâcreeping over his body as if some form of creature attempting to swallow him whole. "Dear Lisa, I'm comi-!"
Before he could even finish his words, the tremulously sharp teeth clenched onto his body, instantly snapping the man in two as his warm blood and organs spilled out onto the snow. Faint mumbles emerged from him, only to fade out as the crystal ice he formed by the wall shattered into thousands of pieces. After that point, all that was heard was the chewing. Nothing else. Nothing more. Just the chewing.
Just by his lower halfâhorrifically fitting perfectly within the hole the man had dug before his deathâwas his still beating heart, that of which slid out under the upper half and out of the beasts grasp. Instead of the beating haltering or slowing down, the heart simply froze. Not by regular ice, but of pure blue. It appeared as though a sculpture by that point. Not as if it originated straight from a human. A man who was alive. Now, it simply looked constructed. Not organic at all.
The beast, having finished its meal, simply walked away. Off into the forest, leaving behind the severed lower half and remaining blood and organs still scattered across the ground. The snow already began covering it all. Soon enough, no one would know of his death. Of his corpse. Of the heart wrenching scene which had occurred here. Not a single soul would know.
It was only what happened after that people would remember. What they will remember. The heart collapsed in on itself. In an instant, scorching heat emerged in the once snowy forest. Nothing was safe. It was an explosion.
The cloud towered high over the treesâover the mountains of which it was bigger than as it culminated into the shape of a mushroom. Everything was destroyed as countless radiation and torrential winds flew throughout the world. The dragon, still somehow unaffected by the blast, simply flew straight up. Straight through the cloud and into the sky.
As for the lower half of the man, there was no trace of. Only ashes. And yet, the stone wall still lived on. Through the blast. Through the fire and shockwave. It was still there. Waiting. for an unknown reason- an unknown purpose. Nevertheless, it was waiting.