There they stood.
In front of them stood the frozen and shattered remains of a once lively village. Massive glaciers of ice protruded from the center of the town.
The homes were destroyed or frozen over. The small castle that sat in the center of the town was encapsulated in ice. The frigid air blew on them as they stood at the entrance of the town. Without entering they could see people frozen solid.
Bodies were scattered and maned on the floor of families who tried to escape their fate.
The group walked in; stepping around the decaying corpses and frozen citizens that littered the streets. It didn't take them long to find a few of the knights who were sent there.
They hung from pillars of ice, disemboweled and pierced onto the pillars by spikes of ice. Zahira and Iaceo seemed to be unphased by the scene in front of them as they examined the dead bodies. Lykos remained strong, but deep down he was disgusted and scared.
He could never show that front though. He always did live a lie afterall. He was a coward, but he was a coward who would stay strong for the sake of others.
Lykos held Dania's hand. Her face was pale disgusted by the scene around her. None of them had seen something so brutal.
Not in their time as foot soldiers in the military, not during their training, not during anything from their lives.
Adriel walked over to Zahira, his heart beating fast.
He felt something squishy as he took a step forward to her and looked down.
He had stepped through the decaying chest of a dead man. His foot became enveloped inside of the rotten decaying insides of the man.
He lifted his foot to see worms and maggots attached to his leather boots. He wiped them off disgusted and horrified.
"This is odd," said Zahira as she began messing with the corpse near her, "This man has no wounds. Actually from what I can tell it seems like he drowned," she pointed to the body's chest, "He's bloated, and his skin is discolored on the patches that haven't rotted yet."
"This is disgusting," said Dania as she crouched next to Zahira to see the body, "Who the hell would do something like this?"
"Well didn't Horv say that there was some organization trying to overthrow our government?" asked Lykos as he walked around looking at a few different corpses, his face static; trying to hide his fear.
"Wish he gave us more details," said Adriel as he walked, looking at the long open street, "This is a massacre, this isn't some ordinary attack. We need to find this guy fast, or we'll probably end up like them." he looked up at the knights suspended by spikes on massive pillars of ice.
Lykos stood thinking before he finally spoke, "We should split up. I'll go with Adriel to see if we can find any survivors. I know the odds seem unlikely, but we never know."
"That seems stupid Lykos," said Iaceo, "This man is clearly out of our league. If we split up we're more likely to die."
Adriel nodded, "Yeah Lykos, Iaceo has a point."
"Maybe so, but we can cover more ground this way," Lykos said as he began walking, "If anyone gets in trouble just yell. It's not like there are any citizens to worry about here."
Adriel looked back at the rest before following Lykos.
He walked with him silently. He looked around at the frosted buildings surrounding them. The silence was eerie as they could hear the crushing of sleet beneath their feet.
Adriel and Lykos stayed close. Lykos wolf ears remained perked and vigilant, twitching at the slightest noise they picked up.
"What do you think of this Lykos?" asked Adriel as he touched the frozen prison that a man was trapped in. He could see his terror in his eyes, forever trapped in that moment in time.
"I think we might die." said Lykos as he continued walking, not waiting for Adriel.
Adriel quickly caught up shaking his head, "Great, thanks for reassuring me."
They kept walking down the road seeing the town center infront of them.
They continued forward, seeing blood smeared on the icey floors.
They walked past the hanging bodies that rested on the spikes of ice; their entrails spilling out from their split open bodies.
They stopped walking for a while and sat down on the edge of a frozen fountain nearby.
"What are we even looking for? It's so empty." said Adriel
Lykos nodded, "Our best bet is to wait for this person to come to us," He pointed at the castle a mile away, "I bet you he's in there."
"Probably." Adriel said as he looked up. His eyes widened at what he saw and tensed as he pushed Lykos. Lykos landed, confused, before a hail storm of sharp rods of ice rained down from below them.
Lykos managed to scramble away while Adriel got pierced on his shoulder and neck as they ran for cover inside a building.
"What the hell? Shit! I guess he was watching us the whole time," Lykos said before he saw Adriel bleeding from his neck and shoulder as he groaned in pain, "Adriel! Dammit!" he grabbed Adriel, helping him up.
Adriel gripped the shard of ice in his neck yelling in pain as he pulled it out.
Blood gushed for only a moment before the wound closed. Adriel pulled out the shard in his shoulder, the wound closing just as fast. He shook from the adrenaline that pumped into his body from the attack.
"So this is the blessing of life huh? You're lucky you can heal something like that," Lykos looked around the building before finding a back exit, "Over here Adriel. Let's get the hell out of here and find the rest."
Adriel followed him out the door as they tried to stay in cover as they walked looking up paranoid of another attack.
They were unsure of what could happen. They both knew the holder was close. He could be watching everyone's moves waiting for them to let their guard down.
They weren't wrong.
The enemy did know.
In fact all three of them knew of their presence the moment their foot hit the ice.
From the castle he sat. Sitting on a throne of Ice. He wore a metallic mask that covered his mouth. Nozzles protruded from it glowing a faint light blue. Cold gas ejected from the mask with each exhale he took. His hair was jet black and messy. His body was big and fit. He wore a black t-shirt with a blue fur coat around him. His eyes were icey blue, like the glaciers he created. He wore black cargo pants and on his hip rested a holster with a sleek black pistol that had blue accents that faintly glowed.
He looked down at a young blonde girl at his side. She was also covered in a warm blue fur coat. She wore a long sleeve shirt underneath, and wore grey sweatpants with a pair of sneakers.
"This place sucks Ash," said the girl sighing annoyed, "First no technology in this kingdom, and now we have more visitors."
"And during the worst time too," said Ash, annoyed, Cold air blowing hard from the nozzles of his mask, "Of course the damn military came when one of our prisoners escaped. This is your fault Mira! You irresponsible brat. Why the hell did the damn client ask me to take you and Renus! I would have just killed these prisoners and moved on, but you insist on keeping them alive."
"Don't blame me, that kid was a slippery one." Mira said
"If only Fringhelm wasn't so behind in technology maybe this would be easier. I must say their architecture is magnificent compared to back home in Alium." said Ash as he stood up from the throne. He looked around the throne room.
It was covered with ice and stained with blood, although there were no bodies in sight.
"I think we should just kill the prisoners and leave back home. This job is really not worth it." Said Ash, looking at Mira.
Mira hesitated before answering then shook her head, "No we can't. Don't you think we've done enough? Wiping out an entire town is a bit much don't you think?"
Ash laughed, "Seriously? You of all people showing pity to prisoners? Weren't you the one laughing while you watched them choke on your water? Don't tell you've gotten attached to them like they are some sort of pet."
She shrugged, "Maybe I have." she began walking towards the exit of the throne room.
"Where you off to huh?" asked Ash.
"I'm going to help Renus since you won't help your little brother yourself. Maybe I'll find the kid before he meets the knights." Mira said.
"I don't help my brother cause he's an idiot. I swear I don't think I was as dumb as him in my twenties. Well whatever you do you. I could care less." Ash sat back on the throne as he watched Mira leave.
Ash could sense the footsteps of the two knights.
He could feel a third pair of feet following close behind from a distance. Every step on the ice he created sent a wave to his mind.
He knew where everyone was at all times.
A group of three and a group of two. His brother was getting closer. He could sense his ever growing impatience to finish them off.
Adriel and Lykos continued to run as they saw a cloaked figure behind them send a hail of sharp and hard ice.
They moved at rapid speeds, dodging and weaving. They hardly had time to stop, as the cloaked figure got ever closer.
They were stuck in narrow winding path; surrounded by abandoned houses and stores.
The cloak figured landed on the ground.
He pressed his hands onto the ground as the floor beneath them began to shake.
Adriel and Lykos kept running as a massive dragon head made of ice manifested from the ground. The man rode on top of it as it quickly dived towards them.
"Shit!" Adriel said he quickly stepped aside, dodging the head diving at him.
The ice dragon slammed into the floor causing a massive eruption of ice to explode from the ground sending Adriel and Lykos flying into the wall of a nearby building.
The cloaked man stood up from the center of the crater he created.
He laughed as he looked at both of them stand up. He saw Lykos shaking from the pain from the impact.
Adriel stood up as well, his wounds healed.
"So you guys are the new ones they sent? I thought they'd quit by now," He said as he took off his cloak.
He wore a plain black long sleeve shirt that pressed against his body. He was tall and his muscles were defined.
He has the same hair as his brother, Ash, and his icy blue eyes looked at the two of them, "The name is Renus Ranyls, and I'll be the one in charge of putting you up there with the rest of the dumbasses who thought they could stop me."
Lykos and Adriel took a small step back; looking at each other then back at him. They didn't have much of a choice. Adriel moved his foot back.
His stance demeanor changed from one of fear to one of pure guttural violence.
"Lykos," Adriel said, his voice serious as his muscles tensed, "Go find the others. I'll keep him occupied."
"You can't be ser-" Lykos was cut off by Adriels yell.
"Go now! I can regenerate if anything happens you can't!" Yelled Adriel as he unsheathed his sword. The amber glistening in the light. Light bouncing off the blade.
Lykos nodded and ran off.
He wasn't sure if he made the choice, but he trusted his brother.
He knew he was no push over. He always viewed him as weak, but the truth was the opposite. Adriel was nothing but a ruthless killer.
His sense of justice always dominated any sense of morality he had.
"Oh look at that and here I-" Renus couldn't finish his sentence as Adriel pushed off his feet toward him at a blinding speed.
He barely managed to dodge as the tip of Adriels blade cut his cheek.
Blood dripped from his wound as Renus' anger began to rise.
He raised his arms as Ice began to protrude from the ground sending Adriel up in the air.
Adriel quickly recovered mid air as Renus sent tendrils of sharped ice hurling at him. Adriel bounced between tendril dodging them with ease.
He wasn't the same.
He had many years of training and combat experience. He was powerless during all of it.
His physical abilities far surpassed the average knight, having to fight them without a heart for the majority of his life.
One of the ice tendrils suck up behind Adriel stabbing him in the leg causing him to lose balance and fall onto the ground.
His wound quickly closed as he stood up wincing. Renus went to the floor as well, sending a hail of ice pikes hurling at Adriel.
He didn't have time to move as three of them pierced him in the chest.
He coughed blood as he felt his organs pierced and damaged. The pain was too much to ignore as he fell to his knees pulling out the pikes one by one.
Renus took advantage, punching him in the face with his hand enveloped in ice.
Adriel was flung across the street as he cried in pain before it all suddenly was gone and he stood up again.
His brain yelled at him confused. He already died and was supposed to be dead yet there he stood. He couldn't comprehend it as he held his head in shock.
The pain was something he had never imagined before.
"Adriel," said a voice in his head. It didn't take him to recognize it as the voice of the masked creature he saw, "Adriel. Why are you panicking? Give into it. Kill him. Eat him. Take his heart for it is yours."
Adriel shook as his eyes widened.
His vision became blurry yet his mind became clear.
He could sense Renus walking toward him. He looked up at him. He could feel Renus' confidence in his victory over him. Adriel scolded himself in his head.
His life was on the line. He couldn't die in his very first battle as a knight.
His vision began to clear as he could hear a laugh of pleasure echoing in head. Adriel gritted his teeth as he ran at Renus.
Renus sent more ice projectiles at him. Adriel slashed at them with his sword; shattering them into pieces. Renus stepped back worried before sending a blast of ice at Adriel.
It hit his sword arm as the ice began to freeze his blade and arm as it attached onto the ground.
Adriel didn't stop.
He continued walking, pulling on his frozen arm.
His only goal was to kill Renus.
His mind flooded with thoughts as his eyes widened; thinking about all the murdered innocents. His rage was overwhelming as he yelled.
His ligaments began to tear, but he didn't care.
His flesh tore and blood spilled on the floor. Adriel torqued his body, snapping his entire arm off freeing himself from the frozen cage. Renus looked at him shocked as Adriel ran at him.
Adriel's arm began to regenerate.
By the time he closed the distance it was fully healed as he slammed his fist as hard as he could against Renus' jaw. The bones in Adriels hand shattered from the impact before reconstructing themselves.
Renus is sent backwards dazed.
Adriel didn't let him rest as he sent a volley of powerful punches at Renus sending shockwaves through his body that began to disrupt the pressure of his organs as his lungs collapsed.
Adriel sent a jab followed by his elbow crushing his face.
He threw a kick around at his head sending him tumbling backwards, but he managed to catch himself.
Adriel looked at Renus' shattered face as Renus began trying to parry and block his incoming flurry of attack.
Adriel faked a strike to his head, instead sending it directly to his liver causing it to explode and blood come rushing out of his mouth.
Renus could hardly breathe let alone stand Adriel's barrage.
Tears ran down Renus' face as he, as a last ditch effort, erupted an ice spike that stabbed Adriel directly though his chest.
Adriel looked at him, his eyes crazed as he continued walking forward through the spike. Adriel took out the dagger from his side and lifted it up toward the cowering Renus and stabbed it down. Blood spurted from the top of Renus' head.
Adriel twisted the dagger around before lifting it up.
The ice that impaled him began to melt as his wounds closed up. He stood over Renus' corpse as nothing but gurgles and slight twitches of his body gave off any sign of him possibly being alive. He went to grab his sword; the ice that surrounded it now melted.
He sheathed it again as he looked at Renus dead body.
"You know what's next." said a voice in his head. Adriel walked over to Renus and pressed the dagger against his idle chest.