“What happened?” asked Felkin. “She cast some spell and now we’re here.” Metas held his weapon though his hands were beside his waist. Yuria continued, “When we first got here, Metas was on his guard, and he was ready to strike me down. He noticed his surroundings and we stood at a stalemate for a minute.” She let out a slight chuckle. “Well, I realized that nothing could be gained if we killed each other and realized we forgot about you.” Metas smiled but Felkin could sense he was still on guard.

“Where are we going?” “Well, we were looking for you, and Yuria said we could worry about leaving after. Well now that we found him, now what…” “Shhh…” Yuria motioned for silence. She paused for a while. “This way.” Led by Yuria they turned and walked around in the darkness, the glow of Metas’ flame burning in the blackness of the abyss.

They walked around for minutes, moving, and turning according to the direction where Yuria was going. Metas was getting a little impatient, but Felkin was watching their surroundings, the dark expanse of the abyss appeared to him as if he closed his eyes but could still see his own body. “If this is the abyss, then where are the beasts?” asked Metas. “Oh, they’re here alright, they are beyond our gaze waiting to strike.” Metas raised his spear and the tiny spark of flame in his palm grew brighter. “You did not think to tell us this?” “Well, if they attacked, we probably could have handled it.” Felkin drew his sword and answered. “Probably?” Metas remarked.

She stopped. “We’re here.” The space in front of them looked indistinguishable to the place they’ve walked to before. Then she held out her hand. A small tear suddenly opened revealing light momentarily dazing them because of its brightness. She suddenly tensed up. “They’re coming.”

Metas sent out his spark of flame into the darkness revealing dozens of dark shapes that resembled limbs, claws, and jaws. Yuria was trying to pry open the fissure while Felkin whirled his sword and whipped it like a vicious storm. Metas threw his spear and pulled the chain back every time he hit a target. The sound of howls as well as the sound of flesh splitting and bone cracking resounded through the empty darkness as Yuria pried the fissure open.

She pulled on the tear until it grew large enough, and Yuria pulled the both to the surface as the tear closed behind them. Felkin and Metas lied on the ground for a moment, both were tired and breathing hard. Yuria had hands on her knees and was panting. Felkin and Metas’ weapons were drenched in inhuman ichor and were dripping onto the ground below.

The crimson liquid touched the ground and soaked it, turning the white snow to red. The expanse they were currently in was the opposite of the abyss they had been in before. The tear had briefly given them glimpse to the world outside. White as the eye could see and the ground was soft and moist.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Felkin had never seen snow before and was in silent shock as he slowly stood up from the ground. Metas had learned a thing or two about the icy lands in books, but he never expected to be in one any time soon. He looked up and surveyed their surroundings. They were in a valley in the middle of an enclosed mountain, there were pathways to the outside and they were surrounded by high walls of rock. A hole was at the top revealing a muted sun shining above. A chilling breeze swept through them, making Yuria slightly shiver as her clothing was ragged and slightly worn.

Metas stood up. Somehow, he still had the wolf’s hide in his possession although the skull was sadly lost. He handed it to her, and she draped it over herself like a cloak. It was quite large compared to her and covered her up nicely. Remembering the item that was lost in confusion she uttered a quite apology. “Sorry about your skull.” She said, then pausing for a while. “What were you going to use it for anyway?”

Metas answered: “Maybe... I was going to sell it.” “Sell it?” Felkin and Yuria both spoke at the same time. Metas looked at Felkin in slight surprise. “Maybe somebody in town was going to buy it.” Metas stated plainly. Yuria laughed, her face looked like it had not laughed in ages, and it looked slightly unnatural.

Felkin shrugged, then suddenly remembered something. “Your… spine…” It had indeed looked like she did not have possession of it any longer. She was befuddled. “What?” She asked. “The wolf spine, its missing.” Felkin continued. “Oh… its not missing.” “Hrm?” Metas asked. For the past few seconds, he stopped paying attention and was trying to flick the dark liquid off from his weapon. “It’s right here.” Felkin stared confused when Yuria reached into her back and pulled the wolf’s spine from her clothes. It was a few vertebrae shorter now. Felkin stared in amazement, while Metas gazed in curiosity.

“Isn’t that uncomfortable?” Metas asked as he finished flicking the blood from his spear and tucked it in back in his coat. “I’ve been through worse than some bones sticking into my skin.” Yuria remarked. Felkin thought for a while… Then he said, “I can carry it.” He offered. “Thanks, but...” She put the spine over her shoulder and put the wolf’s hide over it. “I’m fine now. Thanks for the offer.”

They began to walk and soon neared the entrance of the cave towards the valley. “Going to the depths of the abyss wasn’t what I expected when I woke up today.” Said Metas, sighing. “Oh, that wasn’t the depths, that just felt like we barely reached the surface.” Said Yuria with a cheery expression. “You are joking right?” Said Metas with a worried expression. Felkin walked ahead of them, he sheathed his sword on his waist, rubbed his hands together and cupped them over his mouth to breath out warm air onto them. Yuria chuckled in response to Metas’ question. “Let’s go.” Said Felkin. And one by one all of them went outside and their figures were obscured by the icy wind.