Osian looked around but couldn’t see any stairs that went up. His teacher pulled out a kaginawa with a very long thin rope attached to the end. He moved over the edge and tossed it up into the winter mist. The kaginawa hooked onto something as a low level clang reverberated around the temple. Nobody could see what it was hooked onto, but Typhon pulled the rope and it seemed secure.

The master bounty hunter shimmied up the rope like a stealthy ninja and disappeared into the mist.

Osian looked over at Tayla who seemed deep in thought. He hadn’t seen eye to eye with her since the outset of their hunt, but he didn’t hold any grudges towards. He wondered how he’d feel going out on a mission with a raw recruit if he were much more experienced.

A massive crashing sound erupted.

Stunned for a second, Osian looked around. Something had fallen only ten feet away from him and bits of ice skidded all over the floor as a result.

“Look out!” Tayla screamed.

She shoved him out of the way just in time to avoid getting crushed. A large four foot long icicle crashed down from the heavens. It then sprouted tentacles at its base and scurried away into the mist.

“What the hell?” Chimon said.

“Tsuransa or Icicle lancers,” said Tayla.

Another crash erupted beside them!

A second icicle lancer fell and landed only five feet away from Tayla. It also scurried away lightning fast after it had landed on the icy floor. Both icicles were different in shape and size, but each was between three to four feet long. They appeared to be made of ice crystals, but had a cerulean blue center to their core.

“Hurry! Climb up the rope,” they heard Typhon yell down to them. ”It’s safe up here!”

They couldn’t see the master bounty hunter through the mist, but it was obvious that he knew what was going on.

The three of them looked at each other to see who would climb first, but when nobody acted Chimon grabbed the rope.

“Let’s go recruits! Follow right behind me!” the tracker said.

He slung his bow over his shoulder and started climbing up the rope.

Chimon wasn’t far off the ground when several more ice lancers crashed down around Tayla and Osian. One, two, three, four lancers fell in short order. To avoid being hit, Osian rolled across the floor and ended up under a frozen warrior holding a large shield. It was positioned in a way that provided him a degree of cover from the aerial bombardment.

Tayla also dodged the crystalline creatures and dove over beside Osian.

“You’re going the wrong way Junior!” She said.

The two of them had moved away from the bottom of the rope and in the opposite direction from where they were supposed to be going.

“I just reacted instinctively,” Osian replied.

“You should have jumped up the rope, not over here!”

“Sorry!”

Chimon looked down and realized that the two recruits were lagging behind. He stopped climbing and yelled out to both of them.

“Hurry, follow me up….”

The tracker's words were cut short as an ice lancer impaled him through his chest. Chimon’s cheater glasses fell off his face and landed on the ground with a clink.

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Osian looked at the expression on Chimon’s face. The tracker’s eyes looked down as he noticed the lancer protruded from his chest. The vacant look on his face was that of a man who knew the fates had come for him that day. The lancer protruded through Chimon and the tip of the creature poked right out through his back. Blood splashed down from his back and spritzed all over the icy floor.

Chimon looked over at Osian and Tayla. He was about to say something, but only managed to cough blood out of his mouth. He lost his grip on the rope and then fell to the temple floor in a heap.

After that he didn’t move again.

A loud burst of laughter rang out from high above them in the temple. Osian looked up into the mist, but couldn't see anything. He knew that this was unmistakably Yuki-Onna. The demon witch was laughing at their turn of events.

Osian felt a sense of fear and hatred for the Snow Witch. He didn’t know Chimon very well, but he knew he didn’t deserve to die in that fashion. The witch must have positioned the icicle lancers to ward off any enemies that made it into her domain.

When he glanced back at Chimon’s body he could see that the icicle lancer had sucked something out of Chimon’s body. Its color changed from crystal white to a dark shade of blue. Osian was about to get up to attack it, but Tayla held his arm and shook her head. The lancer quickly finished its job and scurried away into the mist.

Typhon swung down the rope and dropped beside Chimon in one swift movement. He held a Japanese tate shield above his head as he looked over the body of their companion. A quick study of the tracker’s body was all that was necessary for him to see that he was dead.

Several more icicle lancers crashed down around the group. One of them landed only two feet away from Osian.

The young recruit gripped his katana and moved to strike. With one broad slash he cut the creature in half. The bottom half of the creature staggered from the blow and slumped over dead.

“Look out!” Yelled Typhon.

Osian dashed out of the way just in time to avoid two more lancers that came crashing down from above. He landed next to Typhon and settle under his master's tate shield.

“Follow me,” Typhon said.

The two of them slid over to the end of the rope and Typhon handed it to him.

“Climb fast! There is a ledge up top that’s protected from these aberrations.”

“But master, what about you and Tayla?”

“Go! Do not ask questions.” Typhon said sternly.

Osian turned and climbed the rope as fast as he could. He tried to not think about what happened to Chimon and glanced up nervously into the mist above him. He was ready to act if he saw an icicle lancer drop down. He climbed up about thirty feet and made it to an ornamental railing that the kaginawa was hooked into.

He jumped over the railing and then went underneath an overhang. Osian assumed that this was the second level of the pagoda temple. Here he was safe from the impaling creatures.

He looked around and saw several ornate wooden window covers directly opposite the railing. They had patterns of a written language that Osian had never seen before. In the other two directions there was a ten foot wide balcony that led around the outside of the building.

It wasn’t long after when both Tayla and Typhon appeared over the railing to join him.

Tayla immediately walked over to him and slapped him in the face. Osian staggered back from the blow and held up his forearm to protect himself.

“You got Chimon killed, you idiot!”

“What? How did I do that?” he replied.

“Chimon had to stop climbing because ran away from rope. If he didn’t stop to help you than he'd still be alive!”

Osian was frustrated by his female hunting partner.

“You were right beside me and did exactly the same thing to evade… those..those…”

Tayla raised her hand again, but Typhon grabbed it from behind.

“That’s enough Tayla!” Typhon said.

“But master, he got Chimon killed because of his stupidity. After getting our tracker killed wasn’t he then took another chance by standing out in the open to kill an icicle lancer for no reason. He nearly got himself impaled!”

Once again, the snow witches' laughter rang out again across the temple. They all looked around wondering if she was about to attack. Her laughter seemed slightly closer than previously.

Typhon quickly drew his sword, Osian and Tayla followed suit by brandishing their weapons.

"You will cease to fight Osian and focus on the demon!" Said Typhon. "Is that clear Tayla?"

"Yes, master Typhon."

The passages left and right of them led off into the mist. It was impossible to determine which way to go without the tracker’s aid.

The veteran bounty hunter chose to go left and they all proceeded down the passage.

Osian was always a quiet boy growing up in the orphanage and had dealt with a variety of bullies. He wasn’t timid and had gained a reputation for quietly extracting retribution on those that had wronged him. Tayla blamed him for getting Chimon killed - maybe she was right. He wasn’t experienced enough on a hunt to know for sure, but he didn’t agree with her admonishment that she was faultless in the tracker’s death. It seemed like she had had it in for him ever since the beginning of their mission. The most puzzling part is that he didn’t know why.