"Are you okay, Jess?" Sky inquired while attempting to gently remove my hands that were covering my eyes.
The excruciating pain in my eyes came momentarily and was gone as soon as it was felt but I still covered my eyes.
The persistent headache was gradually subsiding with time, but my heart was racing even faster than when I first attempted to use the Eye of Psion.
As I was about to respond to Sky's question, I heard three thunderous stomps that sent tremors through the forest floor.
'No !' I thought as I recognized what made the sounds.
The king of the Ice Bears. The Loucura virus must have felt me gazing through its past or maybe it was the scream that attracted the creature and made it leave the Ice Bear it was attacking.
My hands fell from my face, and I screamed at the top of my lungs, "Run, everyone!"
In that instant, something vanished just inches in front of me. It might have been a notification, but I didn't have the time to ponder it or even investigate further.
But even before my scream, Hassan had already charged toward the approaching monstrosity, and Sky had summoned her dagger from her inventory.
She remained rooted in that spot, much like during the encounter with the River creature, but this time, she didn't appear frightened. Instead, she seemed uncertain about her next move, aware that any hasty action could result in instant death.
Hassan ran in between the creature's legs and dug his dagger into its skin managing to pierce through its muscles.
But before he could damage any vital part the creature suddenly bent down and thrust its claws through the gap between its legs. This maneuver forced Hassan to leap aside to avoid the attack.
While Hassan was dodging the creature's attack, I struggled to gather myself and concentrate on the approaching ice bear that was about to enter the fray from behind.
Just as I focused on the ice bear I got into the vast darkness momentarily and found myself peering into the upper limbs of a fluffy animal that ended in a deadly set of claws.
' I still got it ' I thought as I moved towards the mad king.
Hassan was running around the clearing barely managing to evade being stomped by the mad king of the Ice Bears.
The ice bear whose mind I had invaded was named by me just after I had succeeded in the mind transfer.
I called it Kylan.
Kylan lunged at the ice bear's abdomen and sank its claws in. Surprisingly, despite the appearance of hardness, the creature's abdomen proved easy to penetrate.
At that moment the creature yelled out in pain. It was probably the first time after its rampage that it had been inflicted by pain.
It swirled around and then picked up by Kylan and swung it deep into the clearing. At that moment Hassan thought it was a good opportunity to strike while the creature was still writhing in pain. It held its abdomen as crimson blood slowly poured out of the claw marks.
Hassan's eyes were filled with the dark aura that flowed out of them towards the side and then slowly enveloped his whole body. When that happened it seemed as though his speed doubled and his strikes became more efficient digging deeper into the creature's body.
Hassan rushed towards the creature from the front, then lunged at one of the hind limbs of the creature and dug his dagger into the creature's limbs.
This time it went deeper into the creature's skin and managed to sever an important blood vessel which was evident when blood spurts ran into the air.
The creature stomped its four limbs simultaneously in an attempt to destroy the tiny being that didn't seem to know his place.
Immediately Kylan was thrown toward the tree It held the tree and used it as a crutch to send it forward to the mad king of the ice bears.
It got to the king of ice bears and wrapped its body around its face holding it tightly in a deathly embrace. That was enough distraction for the creature not to see where the next attack from Hassan was coming from.
As soon as the body clung to its face, the creature rose onto its hind limbs, attempting to remove it with its forelimbs. However, Kylan clung even tighter, crossing its fingers behind the mad king of the Ice Bear's face and wrapping its legs around the creature's neck, restricting its airflow.
The mad king's movements became even more erratic and unpredictable as it spun around, making the ground treacherous for Hassan, who was approaching. Hassan had to quickly sidestep and roll out of the way several times as the creature staggered on its hind legs, desperately trying to dislodge the persistent nuisance from its face.
The creature after several moments of dragging Kylan off its face finally was able to pry Kylan off. When that happened it landed on the ground with its forelimbs on top of Kylan. The mad king then immediately dug its claws into the lowly creature ripping through its thorax and digging its fangs into its head.
Before I could get Kylan to react to the onslaught I found myself in the vast darkness and back in my body.
I was lying down on the floor and when I sat up slowly I felt a huge headache and instinctively I reached into my winter hat and felt the main site of the headache. I rubbed it slowly in an attempt to alleviate the pain but it didn't work so I brought down my hand.
Sky was looking at me then. She was still filled with uncertainty and the fear that she was so accustomed to in the Cold Lands was evident in her face.
"Are you okay?" She asked as she rushed up to me. "I didn't notice when you did the mind transfer so you landed on the floor. I'm so sorry"
Her voice and expression conveyed the same sentiment: concern.
Nonetheless, it wasn't her fault that I ended up on the ground. If blame were to be assigned, it would fall on me for not informing her about the mind transfer beforehand and on the virus for being such a dreadful creature.
"It's not your fault, Sky. You don't need to apologize"
Just as I finished saying this Sky screamed "Blood!"
On the palm that I had pressed against my head, there was a red substance, unmistakably blood. At that moment, I began to hyperventilate.
The last time I had a horrifying injury was when I fractured my legs, but thanks to Sky's abilities, they were able to heal completely.
But this time it was a head injury, and I had no idea how severe it might be.
Sky swiftly made her dagger vanish into her inventory, then hurried over to me.
She gently said, "Let me take off your hat," and as she spoke, she removed my winter hat and placed a hand over the bloodied area.
I couldn't see the back of my head, but I had a hunch that the golden aura was radiating from her palms.
"Thanks, Sky," I said appreciatively.
We didn't have any duties towards each other, but we had all chosen to help each other instinctively.
I felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude for having met her.
Without them, I couldn't fathom how I would have managed to survive with my abilities, let alone deal with the injuries I had sustained. Navigating the treacherous terrain with those injuries would have been a daunting task on my own.
She didn't respond but instead focused on what she was doing. Even without looking at her, I could tell that the look on her face was going to be of deep concern.
Meanwhile, Hassan was still facing off the terrifying creature. He had summoned three of the BLIZZARDKIN that belonged to the cave paver and hunters class.
They assisted him in facing some of the attacks head-on.
Whenever Hassan was in danger of being struck by one of the mad king of ice bear's limbs, one or two of his soldiers took action to deflect the limb and assist Hassan in evading the attack. This sometimes helped to bring the creature crashing down on the ground.
However, as soon as the creature tumbled to the ground, it swiftly rose, letting out a deafening growl to assert its dominance.
The creature was indeed strong; stronger than all the creatures we had encountered. If Hassan fought with the king of the BLIZZARDKIN I would have been able to gauge who was stronger between the two monsters.
Despite the terrifying size of the mad king, the creature possessed the ability to manipulate its body parts in such a way that it made it challenging for Hassan to land blows on critical areas. Its massive bulk also did not impede its agility and swift movements.