His first instinct was to yell out Tayla's name, but realized that would give away his position and distract his hunting companion. He wanted to help her, but saw no fast way of getting over to the other side of the temple.

Yuki-Onna laughed at Tayla as if she toyed with her like a plaything. It was obvious to Osian that she was heavily outmatched.

The witch cast a spell and a frozen stream of frost shot out from her fingertips. It impacted Tayla right in the torso and she screamed in agony.

The white witch laughed at her torment.

Tayla screamed in frustration and shot out one of her sai as she tried to contact the she-demon. The weapon simply flew past her opponent and landed on the ice floor. Tayla struggled to her feet. She looked defeated. It was obvious that she had already suffered several attacks from the witch.

Osian’s mind raced with what he could do. He wasn't in great shape himself having wounds all over his body from the Snowballs. He was also too far away to really do anything. If only he had taken Chimon’s bow and arrows he might be able to distract the Snow Witch for a moment. At the same time he was scared and knew that if he revealed his own position it would mean certain death.

“You might get me witch, but master Typhon will take you down!” she said.

The witch looked at her quizzically for second and then laughed.

“Your master failed to defeat me before and this time will be no different!” the witch responded in a hoarse voice.

Tayla swung her sai at Yuki-Onna who had floated closer. The weapon cut the fabric of her her robe but still missed hitting the demon.

Yuki-onna’s face changed from a taunting look to more menacing visage. She focused her hands blasted Tayla with another ice attack. Tayla looked up accidentally and stared into the face of the demon. The witches eye sparked with a bright green glow and the body of Tayla stiffened like a mannequin. Her skin color changed to white and her hands froze over like frost on a morning window. This icy cold spread down her torso and eventually consumed her whole body. In a matter of a few seconds the young female hunter’s was petrified. She was dead.

Laughter from the witch rang out across the pagoda.

Osian held back the compunction to yell out for his companion. He felt so useless having just watched her death, but knew that if he yelled he would just be Yuki-Onna’s next victim.

The witch floated away and disappeared into the cold mist.

The young recruit pounded his fists together in frustration.

"I should have done something to help her!" he thought to himself. "I should have done anything!"

Tayla had told him that would get people killed on the hunt and it turns out that she was right. The young man was sad, frustrated and angry all at once.

Osian waited a long time as he remained huddled behind an ice block. He was scared that Yuki-onna might return, so he waited a long time.

“You are such a coward,” he thought.

He had the power to do something about Tayla’s death, but he didn't act when he should have. This was only his first hunt and he already felt like a failure. He was making excuses for himself, but in the end he still felt guilty that he hadn’t helped Tayla when he had the chance.

A tear ran down his face as he huddled in fear behind the ice boulder. What was he doing here! He had barely survived being killed by some snowballs and now he was useless to help someone against the Snow Witch.

Rubbing the tears from his eyes he got up. He realized that he had waited long enough. Yuki-Onna had not reappeared, so he decided to work his way around pagoda to get to his frozen comrade. It took him a several minutes to cross over as the platform for the level of the temple was filled with all kinds of ice boulders and obstructions. He didn’t encounter any other creatures and Yuki-Onna never reappeared.

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Eventually he stood before Tayla and could see that she was undoubtedly frozen solid. She was like all the other petrified bodies that he had encountered inside the temple. Osian shed a few more tears as he knelt down at the feet of Tayla. She wasn’t nice to him, but he knew that she meant well. He had treated her like a little brother, and he couldn't stop to think that she would have done something to save him.

“I'm sorry Tayla, “he said quietly." I'm sorry for not helping you!”

He looked down on the ground and clenched his katana.

“I shall avenge you Tayla! I promise” he said.

There was obviously no response, but he looked deep into her face. It was frozen in the agony of her death. He didn’t really remember the death of his parents and siblings when he was young. Their deaths were only vague recollections. Tayla's death at the hands of a demon would be the first that he would remember vividly.

The quiet of the temple loomed over him like a giant weight.

“Osian!” a voice rang out.

The young recruit was surprised and when he looked up he saw Typhon standing over him. He had not heard him approach.

“Master, you’re alive!” he said.

“Yes. Tayla and I got separated after we lost you."

“Oh.”

Typhon quickly bypassed Osian and looked over the body of Tayla.

“How long has she been frozen like this?”

“Not too long, maybe fifteen minutes”

Typhon touched her body as if he was trying to decipher something. Typhon had magic, but he kept the knowledge of it secret. Osian didn’t think he had the power to reverse Tayla's frozen body, but he wasn’t sure.

“Stand back!”

Osian took a step back and Typhon cast a spell. His hands moved quickly and deliberately around the torso of the young woman. After a few seconds his hands started to shimmer with a bright yellow glow. He said some words in a language that Osian didn’t understand, but assumed that it was the secret language of the Archmagi. Typhon struggled to work some kind of reversal spell on the frozen body, but after several minutes of trying he gave up.

“It’s no use, she was frozen too long ago. My powers cannot reverse the effects on her body. She is dead!”

Osian had hoped for a brief minute that they could save her, but his optimism was quickly dashed.

“It was my fault again Master,” he said. “I'm a failure and you should go on without me.”

Typhon turned to his young apprentice.

“Why do you think you failed?”

“She was fighting Yuki-Onna and I didn’t do anything to help her. She needed me and all I did was watch her die.”

Typhon looked around the frozen temple and raised his hands up.

“We are in a very dangerous place, Osian. There was nothing that you could have done. Her fate was sealed when we all got separated.

"What happened after I got cut off from you two master?"

"I fell into the abyss of the temple trying to cross an icy floor. Halfway across the ice broke beneath my feet and I couldn't stop my fall till I fell for quite a distance into blackness. I lost contact with Tayla and spent a long time finding a route out of the depths."

“But you would have done something to save her. I just stood and watched. Maybe I’m not qualified to be a demon hunter!”

Typhon took the collar of Osian and slapped him across the face. The young man was surprised and took a step back. The slap wasn’t hard, but it did have an effect on him.

“Stop pitying yourself!” He said passionately. “It is disrespectful to her memory! This is not you, you are a fighter Osian Morgan. You have been a fighter ever since you arrived at the Archimagi sanctuary. You need to stand up and quit moping about Tayla’s death.”

Osian realized that his master meant well, and did take his message to heart. He had worked hard to get this point, but it still didn’t lessen the emotions he was feeling.”

“Her death cannot be in vain, young recruit! You are needed on this mission and you need to stop pitying yourself. You are injured and even if you had tried to help her against the witch you would have also been frozen … or worse.”

“I know, master, I’m sorry.” Was all that he could muster.

Typhon reached out and took the young man by the shoulders and held him at arm's length. He looked into the eyes of the young recruit.

“You have worked hard for three months, young one. You were so eager for this mission before we left. On a hunt people will die… that is just something that you will need to get used to. You won't be able to save everyone. You might not even be able to save yourself. You have a good heart and that is what is most important.”

“My confidence was so high when we left. I guess I was naive to think that the hunt would be hard, that everyone would be okay.”

“Having fellowship with your fellow bounty hunters is very important, but you cannot let your emotions get the best of you.”

Typhon paused and squeezed his shoulders tight. “We still need you to complete this hunt and kill Yuki-Onna.”

“Yes, master.”

“Are you ready to continue, or do you wish to continue to wallow here in self pity?”

Osian thought about it and realized that he had a duty to help his master on the hunt. His confidence was shaken, but he still believed in himself enough to go on with the mission.”

“I’m ready to continue the hunt master. I promised Tayla that I would avenge her.”

“Good!”