The other wolf bore down on Chimon as he struggled to get into the action. Osian knew that he needed to help his hunting partner, but was leary of how to approach the creature.
Chimon looked up at Osian for help with his cheaters half crooked on his face.
Not knowing exactly what to do, Osian swung his katana towards the head of the wolf. He missed badly, but this gave Chimon a chance to rise back up to his feet and gingerly limp closer to the center of the group.
“Behind me tracker,” Typhon said as he whipped around to protect their injured group member.
Osian felt a degree of admiration for his master unlike anything he’d felt to that point. He knew of the legendary demons that Typhon had defeated over the years, but to actually see him action was awe inspiring for the youngster.
“Osian, their weakness is around their neck,” said Typhon. “Target that area when you strike!”
The young apprentice nodded in response as he gulped air down his dry throat.
Tayla shot out with her weapons and managed to pierce her wolf in its torso. The wolf yelped, but the blow wasn't fatal.
Chimon regained his equilibrium and fired an arrow at the demon wolf fighting Tayla. His arrow sunk into the rear of the animal and a gush of yellow demon blood oozed out.
The injured beast growled and shot out at the female apprentice.
The wolf sunk its maw into her forearm and shook its head violently causing even more damage.
“Ahh!” Tayla screamed in agony.
She dropped the sai from her entrapped arm and switched the grip of the sai of her opposite hand. In a quick stabbing motion she sunk the weapon into the neck of the demon wolf. The creature’s eyes flashed of green demon energy, but it quickly succumbed to the fatal blow and fell into the snow.
The remaining wolf concentrated on Typhon whom it seemed to recognize as it's most dangerous opponent.
Osian tried moving to flank the demon wolf and managed to distract its focus for a second. This gave Typhon a chance to make a quick spinning maneuver and sink his katana into the ribs of the wolf. The beast howled and died in a bloody yellow mess.
Typhon immediately went over to both Chimon and Tayla to look over their wounds. Chimon was the worst of the group as his leg was bleeding from a large gash. Tayla’s arm was bloody, but she seemed unconcerned with her wounds.
“Chimon, can you still guide us against Yuki-Onna?” Typhon asked.
“You’re not leaving me behind!” he said indignantly.
Typhon rubbed his hands together and placed them on the tracker's gash. His hands glowed briefly for a few seconds and Chimon’s wound partially healed over.
“This will get you by until we return,” said the master hunter.
Typhon then looked at Tayla. She had wrapped her arm in a cloth.
“I’m okay master Typhon,” she said. “I’ve had worse!”
Osian looked down at the wolves. He saw that they were disintegrating and melting into the snow. The young apprentice knew that demons weren’t natural to the world, so when they died their bodies decayed at an incredibly rapid pace.
“Kind of gruesome eh?” Tayla said.
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“Yeah!”
With the blizzard around them it took only a minute for the demons to all but vanish into the snow.
“Looks like you made it through your first fight unscathed,” Tayla stated. “The witch won’t be as easy. These demon wolves were just a warm up!”
“Does your arm hurt?” Osian asked.
“Don’t worry about it junior,” she said. “I’ll be alright.”
Typhon finished wrapping some bandages around Chimon’s leg and stood up. He stared at the steps that led to the base of the temple. He was as a still as a statue, as if he were trying to sense something in the air. The blizzard peppered him with wind and snow, but he just stood there staring at the stonework.
“The witch knows that I’m here,” he said. “When were inside the temple she will concentrate all her focus on me last. She will try to eliminated the three of you first. If you get a chance to kill her, do not hesitate!”
Osian gulped down more air. His throat was parched and dry - he just couldn’t get any saliva in his mouth. He followed Typhon up the stairs and onto the platform that made up the outer area of the temple. Chimon pointed at the stone wall in front of the group and said something to his master that the young man couldn't hear over the wind. Osian looked back at Tayla who was grinning like a cheshire cat. He assumed that she wanted him to go first so that he would take the brunt of the Snow Witch’s attack.
Typhon moved towards the stone wall and passed through the wall as if it were a mirage. Chimon quickly followed and he too disappeared. Osian paused for a second to gather himself.
“Move it Junior - let’s go!” Tayla said.
Osian gripped his katana sword with both hands and walked forward the illusory wall.
The young man hadn’t thought about it at the time, but he had closed his eyes as a reflex action when he went through the mirage.
When he emerged he re-opened his eyes and realized that he was about to walk off a ledge. There was a drop down of about twenty feet to the base of the pagoda. Shocked by the situation Osian lost his footing and was about to fall over when Typhon reached out, caught him, and pulled him to safety.
“Always walk with your eyes open young one,” Typhon whispered in his ear.
“Sorry master!” He replied very softly.
Osian felt incredibly stupid for having walked through the illusory wall with his eyes shut.
“What are you doing?” Osian thought to himself. “Are you trying to get yourself killed!”
After regaining his equilibrium he looked around the insides of the pagoda. It was a winter wonderland of ice and crystal. The walls and floors of the temple were made of stone, but they appeared to be covered in a thick layer of ice and snow. The pagoda was elaborately decorated in traditional Japanese style. Osian couldn't see any windows, but there was an eerie light that reminded him of an undersea illumination. As the young recruit looked around he realized that he could easily get lost inside the temple. The inside of the building rose up and disappeared into a cold mist. This icy brume enshrouded everything and made it impossible to see more than fifty feet ahead. The temple was definitely built as a maze to confuse any trespassers.
Nearby was a figure of an ancient Japanese samurai warrior. The body seemed like he had been frozen in place for centuries. Only its right arm and head were visible as the rest of it was buried deep in an mound of ice. The samurai appeared to have been frozen differently than the others. Osian realized that he must have been alive when he was buried in ice. That seemed a most horrifying fate.
Tayla walked through the illusory wall and joined the rest of them.
Typhon gave each of them a glance and held his hand up his lips signaling that there was to be no talking.
Osian squeezed the hilt of his katana as a sense of apprehension enveloped him.
Typhon had talked to him about the hunt before they had left the sanctuary. He had been in training as a bounty hunter for just over three months. Most of his tutelage had been concentrated on combat, demon lore, and survival tactics. He had done a couple of mock demon hunts, but it was nothing like the real thing.
The young recruit was proficient with the katana as swordplay came naturally to him. It was his strongest attribute. Many of his companion trainees were jealous of his natural talent, especially another recruit named Seo-jun.
Osian knew the statistics involved in coming back alive from his first hunt. It was a well known fact that the archmagi purposefully made initiation difficult, so that only the best candidates would progress to be bounty hunters.
Typhon led the group down a series of wooden steps to the base floor of the temple. All around the insides of the temple were the frozen victims of the Snow Witch. Osian saw at least a dozen or more bodies of various shapes and sizes. The agony of their death seemed forever itched on their faces. Osian looked at them and hoped that he wouldn’t end up the same way.
“Chimon?” whispered Typhon.
The tracker glanced upwards and pointed towards the top of the pagoda. Signaling that Yuki-Onna was most likely at the top of the structure.