The northern ice plains, despite being in polar night, were not shrouded in darkness but rather cloaked in a silvery-white world. Snowflakes and ice crystals reflected the starlight and moonlight, casting a scene as bright as day, with only the narrow ice valleys harboring deep darkness.
Amid the howling winds, two three-meter-tall humanoid creatures moved swiftly across the snowy landscape: Uga Skullbreaker and the two-headed ogre.
The two-headed ogre, armed with a dark maul in its right hand and a staff in its left, ran like an armored vehicle, its speed belying its bulky form. Uga Skullbreaker, keeping pace, left dual dark trails across the white snow.
Fearing that the human mage might have traveled far, making the trail cold, the two-headed ogre only brought Uga Skullbreaker along, both enhanced with a speed spell to significantly quicken their pace.
As they passed a slightly raised patch of snow...
Whoosh!
The snow exploded like a buried shell, showering the two-headed ogre with a cascade of sparkling snowflakes.
The two-headed ogre's eyes flashed ferociously: "Seeking death!"
Its dark maul swung out with brutal force and a howling wind, striking a raptor-like beast that had launched a sneak attack from the blizzard.
Thud!
The creature yelped, its body flung away like a broken toy, its blood spraying onto the snow, creating a stark pattern of red and white.
The two-headed ogre didn't even glance at its fallen foe but continued forward, with Uga Skullbreaker swallowing nervously and following close behind.
Occasionally, unsuspecting creatures of the ice plains, lured by the commotion, would launch attacks. They were either smashed into pulp by the maul or reduced to ashes by magic, barely hindering the two-headed ogre.
Witnessing its prowess, Uga Skullbreaker felt a twinge of uncertainty about whether Garon could truly overcome the two-headed ogre. Desiring leadership, it felt it had no other choice.
The two-headed ogre was in its prime; Uga could not wait for it to age, as he too would be old by then.
As the icy lake loomed into view, Uga Skullbreaker recalled Garon's last instruction and pondered his next move.
A few seconds later, breaking the silence, Uga addressed the two-headed ogre: "Chief, your weapons seem heavy. May I help carry them? If we encounter the human mage, you'll need all your strength to easily overcome him."
The two-headed ogre thought this made sense, not suspecting Uga Skullbreaker's ulterior motives. It handed over the heavy maul but kept a tight grip on the staff.
Uga Skullbreaker offered to carry the staff too but was sternly rejected by a sharp glance from the ogre, so it dared not press further, merely carrying the heavy maul as they continued forward.
Eventually, they stepped onto the icy surface of the lake.
The two-headed ogre surveyed the vast expanse with a slight frown.
Behind it, Uga Skullbreaker, carrying the dark maul, seemed momentarily lost in thought.
There were no signs of any creature around them, let alone Garon's imposing dragon form.
Unaware of Uga's schemes, the two-headed ogre hesitated before fully stepping onto the ice, slowing due to the slippery surface.
Uga Skullbreaker, anxious, followed closely.
Suddenly, the two-headed ogre's deep voice reached Uga's ears: "How much farther to where you spotted the human mage?"
Without hesitation, Uga replied with a prepared response: "Just beyond the frozen lake, about a kilometer ahead."
The two-headed ogre nodded and moved on, unaware that beneath the ice, a dragon cloaked in mist merged with the water, obscuring its presence and silhouette, had positioned itself about two hundred meters ahead on their path, waiting quietly.
Garon's gaze was cold and motionless, his breathing so still he seemed like a lifeless dragon sculpture.
He had sensed their approach the moment they stepped onto the ice and became even more vigilant, carefully concealing his presence and waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
As the ogres neared, time seemed to slow. They approached Garon's position on the ice without alertness or the knowledge that a dragon lay in wait.
Garon, internally composed, calculated their distance meticulously.
Two hundred meters, one hundred fifty meters, one hundred, twenty, ten...
As he felt the close vibrations of the ice, Garon's eyes flashed a brilliant platinum, his entire body suddenly erupting with an oppressive aura that burst through the ice, covering a hundred-meter radius.
Crack! Crack! The ice instantly webbed with dense cracks.
In that moment of upheaval, the two-headed ogre's body stiffened under the dragon's fearsome presence, and as it tried to regain its senses and leap away from the breaking ice, it was already too late.
From the terrifying release of draconic majesty to the shattering of the ice, a pair of brilliant platinum dragon eyes emerged in mere moments.
Whoosh!
A massive blast of frost dragon breath surged from below, mingling with shards of broken ice and sharp icicles, enveloping the two-headed ogre in a white tempest.
"Ambush!"
Garon, well-prepared and calculating, had caught the two-headed ogre off-guard with a devastating blow, instantly encasing it in ice.
The expressions of shock on its two faces were vividly preserved within the ice crystals, their bodies riddled with wounds from the ice shards.
Thud!
The ice shook violently as Garon burst forth from beneath, landing near the frozen figure.
Water cascaded down his scales in shimmering rivulets as he emerged from the lake, his majestic appearance leaving Uga Skullbreaker speechless.
Garon landed on an intact section of the ice, observing the two-headed ogre frozen in frosty breath, knowing it still clung to life. He opened his maw again, unleashing a more lethal thread of time-plundering breath.
He had contemplated combining both types of dragon breath but had yet to achieve such a feat.
Meanwhile, a network of raised, black-veined lines suddenly appeared on the battered skin of the two-headed ogre, pulsating intensely under its flesh.
Just as the time-plundering thread was about to make contact with the ice, a loud bang erupted. The ice burst apart, and a massive wave of black mist extended outward, attempting to engulf Garon in its shadows.
Unperturbed, Garon's eyes glinted sharply. He knew that these desperate defenses were the two-headed ogre's last attempts at survival. Positioning himself, he prepared to counter the dark mist with his next move, combining his raw power and cunning to navigate this treacherous battle.