Hopefully, the winter was coming to an end, but that didn't matter as that far in the north was cold the whole year. It took me months to reach the secluded forest, going thorugh rivers, mountains and infertile plains. The place was perfect to be used as a prison and the thin door separeted me from my objective. After being chased by a giant golem, I just wanted to get out and head south.

The wooden door had familiar carvings, wave lines that formed the dead emblem. Fairly warm inside, I wondered about the lions of frozen stones as I stood still with suspicion. They were pale blue and had discreet markings, just like the veins of the golem. The details were perfect. If not for their color, one could deem them as true beasts, but what caught my attention were the eyes, gems like the giant's, they seemed to look right at me.

I took one step ahead and my paranoia was proven to be true. Crack. Noises were heard as the statues trembled and slowly moved. It wasn't a senseless fear, those were the true guardians of the chamber. Pieces of ice fell to the floor while the lions got back to life.

Their come back from slumber was slow, but they stood between me and the doors, now walking as if they were true lions. My eyes widened as I saw the complexity of the ice creatures before me. They stared at my eyes and got one to each of my sides, trying to encircle me.

My eyes wondered between one and the other and I said a single word "Crow". The beasts kept on going around me, but stopped and took steps back when they saw some sort of aura, a black energy, filling my body and twisting the air around. I saw them retreat further and smirked.

Beasts, but with rational thinking. They observed me from what could be considered a safe distance. The grim aura converged to a single area and took the shape of a bird, a crow. It flapped its wings, still surrounded by the energy, and flied to my shoulder.

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The eyes of the spectre were pure red, giving it the image of the death bird. It looked thorugh me, into my soul, but I was used to it. Silence filled the space as I looked to beasts on the other side. "Crow, give me a little help".

Answering in silence, the bird seemed to nod. It didn't take a second for its form to dissipate into the energy again. The aura flowed from my shoulder to my arm until it got to my hand before starting to take shape again.

I held the grip of the pitch black blade and smiled. The lions were beginning to regain their courage and advance, but I used my powers to make the world flow in slow motion as I leaned my body foward and used my leg to propel myself.

I swung the blade at one of the creatures and saw a wave of power shatter its thin protective layer as the world got back to the right flow. The other was taken by surprise and jumped away while looking at its dead friend.

Forgetting about the one taken out, I turned to the next. I narrowed my eyes and didn't let a single movement scape my sight. The beast wasn't afraid, but didn't seem to have any plan to simply act. Such an intelect on an artificial being.

From the blade, sharp waves were sent to the lion as I kept on swinging the dagger. Jumping to the side and throwing itself on me, it managed to scape a few, but lost its claw just before getting to me. The mouth moved as if to roar, but there were no vocal cords.

Seeing no chance of winning, it retreated. I saw shards of ice shake and float to recover the lost paw. I didn't give it the chance to regenerate and sprinted foward to deal the final blow. Clank. The body got split in two and crashed into the floor, shooting pieces that hit my coat.

"Thank you, Crow" The the blade faded and its energy dissipated, letting me alone again. I fixed my posture and passed my hands to take the ice and dust out of my dark clothing and headed to the door.

Simply pushing wasn't enough to open as it was protected by some sort of spell. "Well, let's break it then...". Dark power emanated from my hands as I pressed them on the doors. Crack. The door lost its strength and I grinned.