The sound of clashing steel filled the air as the yetis crashed into the Night Watch’s ranks. Edgar glanced at Mirai, the two of them had taken on some level three monsters before. They could help. Mirai caught his eye, sword already in her hands. Ahead, Klein and the rest of their party were already in the mix, blended into the lines of the Night Watch.

Edgar maintained [Hot Foot] with half his mana reserved, watching for any breaks in the line they could jump into, but there were none.

As Edgar and Mirai moved to the right, Milo raised a finger. “You two, wait here in reserve.”

He glanced at Edgar, catching his eye. “Your speed will be an important asset, to help catch any that sneak through.”

Edgar nodded.

“Should we take up positions by the entrance, then?” Mirai asked.

Milo nodded. “Exactly, good thinking. Do it.”

With that, Milo turned away to focus on the battle, calling out in a voice that projected around the space. “Begin the push towards the tunnels. On my mark! Step!”

The ranks took one step forward, pushing towards the yetis, their formation holding perfectly, but Edgar pulled his eyes away, moving toward the entrance. He moved quickly, outpacing Mirai. Testing himself, he jumped as high as he could at the arena wall. He didn’t quite make it to the top, but instead used his claws to grab the ice and climb the rest of the way. When he reached the top, he shook his cold fingers to warm them and watched Mirai make her way over.

An unexpected sound caught his ear among the clatter of battle, the echo of a soft whimper, a frightened sound. Edgar glanced around to see where it was coming from as Mirai clambered up the ladder. He heard it twice more and was able to narrow his focus to a row of seats further along the wall, but his attention snapped back to the fight as he sensed another aura appearing from the Cold Depths.

Monster: Yeti Shaman

* Type: Yeti

* Level: 4

A single monster stepped forth, casting its gaze around the arena as the other yetis surged forward around it. In a glance it took in the line of Night Watch in front of him, pushing the yetis slowly back into the Depths, one step at a time. The Shaman raised a staff topped with skulls and dangling baubles, gesturing towards the side of the arena. Powerful magic formed at the tip of its staff, a blizzard that crackled with lighting forming and surging outward at the arena wall. There was a huge crash as lightning struck the wall and obliterated it.

The spot in the wall was where he had heard the whimpering and as the wall came down, he heard a shrill, small scream. A child’s scream. He was running before the thought even registered.

Mirai had barely reached the top of the wall as he took off. “What the—where are you going now?”

A switch had flipped in Edgar and he was gone, skills thrumming in his core as he made his way around the arena in no time.

The Shaman’s spell moved into a second phase, the thunder relenting and the snowstorm intensifying, obscuring the area completely. Edgar darted in without hesitation, remembering roughly where he had heard the whimpering and screams. The noise of the battle vanished as the storm battered his senses. Even with [Darkvision], the snow prevented him from seeing more than a few feet in any direction.

He strained his ears and eyes to the limit, searching for children, but the first thing he heard was the grunts and shuffling debris of the yeti army climbing the icefall onto the wall. He had to move quickly. He scanned the debris at the edge of the collapse, where a row of seats had been knocked out. He rummaged for a moment, and was about to move on, when a small voice caught his ear.

“H-Help.” It sounded weak, but Edgar pinpointed the source immediately and began digging, using his claws to fillet the ice and liberate three small bodies.

[Monstrous Awareness] surged to life and he spun, holding his position with [Parry]. The head of an axe came down on him, the black metal appearing among the white snow only just before the blow landed, followed by the face of a [Young Yeti]. Edgar knocked the axe to the side and slashed with [Dark Strike]. The yeti stumbled backward and fell off the wall. As essence rushed into his core, he heard three more thumping closer in the storm.

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The hair on the back of his neck stood as one approached from behind, a level four [Yeti Knight]. Edgar hesitated for a split second, knowing he was outmatched. He glanced down at the kids, throwing all his mana into [Hot Foot], but the yeti followed his gaze. With his enhanced speed, Edgar reached for the kids, scooping up one in each hand, and just as he got his claws into the coat of the third, the yeti’s fist hit him in the side. The blow lifted him into the air, and he strained to keep hold of the third child.

Shrriiip!

His heart dropped at the sound of tearing fabric, but he held the other two close as the blow knocked them out of the storm. They landed, skidding to a stop, a bit more than half of his health claimed by the yeti’s punch. He scrambled to his feet as white fur began emerging from the Shaman’s blizzard in front of them.

Three Night Watch appeared between him and the blizzard, cracks lancing out through the ice as they landed. One of the three was Milo.

“Edgar, what are you—” He froze, noticing the kids in his grasp.

“There’s one more! I couldn’t get them. They’re still in there.”

Milo nodded, glancing at the other two, then shouting as loud as he could. “Keep pushing! Get that Shaman! We need this blizzard down, now!”

Another member of the Night Watch could be heard below. “You heard him, hold that line! Ready… Push!”

Milo turned back to Edgar, his daggers in hand. “Get those kids back, Edgar. We’ll get the other one.”

Edgar nodded. Mirai was there now, standing over him. “Here, I’ll help.”

They each took one kid and brought them back to the main entrance. The kids whimpered and cried; one limped heavily, blood dripping down their leg, and the other held its arm gingerly, but they were alive. They tried to put the kids down, but they latched onto their legs.

“We shouldn’t have… sniffle… come here!”

“I come here all the time… hic… it’s never been this bad… hic…”

Mirai fell to a knee. “You’re alright now. You’re gonna be fine.”

“Indeed.” Edgar and Mirai looked up to find Lizbet standing in the doorway. “You too go back and help. I might as well be the one standing here, keeping watch.”

Edgar blinked. “Can you help us? With your powers… There’s another kid in danger—”

“No.” She said firmly, but there was another hint of regret. “I am bound by the great purpose, to upload Maat’s laws and deliver justice within the Network. Meddling in rifts or rift breaks violates that.”

“Meddle? What do you mean, meddle? What if the child dies? What if the Watch falls?” Edgar fumed.

“Then Anubis will come for their bodies, as is the way of things. It is not within my power.” Lizbet said, turning her cold gaze down on the kids. “Sit, young ones.”

She wasn’t using her command magic, but the children obeyed.

“Now go, help the others. The Shaman has fallen and the enemy begins to flee.”

Edgar turned to see the blizzard in the stands sputtering out. Mirai and Edgar glanced at each other, and lept back over the railing.

“What kind of garbage is that? She can’t help?” Edgar asked Mirai, keeping pace with her.

“I don’t know much about the Feathers, only that adventurers volunteer for the position, and if they are accepted, their leveling and aging are paused until the end of their term,” Mirai said. “The Feathers resolve conflicts between adventurers or worse, conflicts between adventurers and mortals.”

Edgar cleared his mind as they neared the front line of the fight, turning his thoughts to how they could support the Night Watch, but even as they approached, the Yeti were beginning to lose heart and flee back into the tunnels.

Edgar turned to the wall and saw the shaman’s storm give out, revealing the massive damage to the arena and the icefall ramp leading up into the stands. Yetis fled down the icefall towards the tunnel, scrambling to escape Milo and the others.

Among them, Edgar caught the briefest glimpse of the missing child, slung over the shoulder of a [Yeti Knight]. The switch flipped in him again. The calculus ran on overdrive—half mana to [Hot Foot], which left enough for three [Shadow Steps] and a [Dark Strike]—but he felt a hand on his arm.

“It’s suicidal. Don’t go.”

“With all these shadows, I’ll be fine. This is what I’m built for.”

Mirai clenched her hand tightly, “I’m not. I can’t protect you.”

“It’s risky, but I have to try,” Edgar said, fingers of shadow reaching up his legs, and then he was gone.

He appeared again at the top of the icefall and used the extra height to scan the battlefield. Finally, he spotted them. The [Yeti Knight] still had the child over their shoulder and was about to set foot in the tunnel. Edgar fired up his attack skills and prepared [Shadow Step]—it was time to mess this yeti up.

~~~~~~

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