Cough! Cough!
Sharp howls exhaled out of Riven. Each more painful than the other.
The frost had buried deep.
Invading.
Harming him from the inside.....and the out.
"Haa.....ha....."
But this wasn't a time for rest.
No way.
His thigh, his shoulder. It'd all been injured.
One by one.
Cough!
As his knee sunk into the pillows of white, his blurry vision stared all around.
The beast was waiting patiently.
"Hkk-"
His grip on Mael's Fang had faltered, slipping out every so often.
'It's numb'
Was it intentional that the beast struck his predominant arm?
He couldn't hold it up much longer.
Cough!
But he couldn't stop here.
His left arm swayed across, picking up his second heart instead.
Instead of hearing, he could feel his partners wail as he plucked it.
'I can't die here....'
He told himself, again and again.
Cough! Cough!
But would each affirmation....make it anymore true?
He could feel gusts of powerful wind, whipping his torso and face in waves.
The weight of which almost pulled him deeper into snow.
He could feel a pair of eyes, circling him.
Dread heavy in the air.
"Haa.....ha...."
He forced himself up.
It was the only way.
And so he slowly rose in this muted bubble, as snow and ice covered all around....
It could have been behind him.
To his left.
To his right.
He wouldn't have known.
Cough!
Did it matter?
He was trapped regardless.
Trapped in a cage as he was slowly disciplined....
Frost expelled out from his mouth, veiling the air.
In that motion.
Cough!
In the slow rises and sharp lowers of his chest, his mind went back to the cave.
The drips.
The rare crackles.
The warmth of touch...
'....Was it a good idea leaving'
Cough!
If he could have laughed, he would.
Risks.
If they'd stayed, they would have died regardless.
Lack of food.
The paranoia.
It was a double edged sword.
....But would that death be better than this?
Hunted.
Wounded slowly.
Humiliating.
'...Alone'
At least then, he might have passed with someone.
Cough! Cough!
'...No'
Loud.
It silenced the thoughts.
Anchoring his dull silhouette in that silent expanse.
He was here now.
"Ha...ha...."
What would thinking of the past do?
The snow surged.
A blur.
It was coming....
THRUM!
It wasn't a fake.
The beast descended like a slingshot, ribs sinking as its maw widened large enough to eclipse his vision.
He was wounded enough physically to be eaten.
Was that the case mentally?
His left arm twitched, now the holster of his blade.
The grip was jagged and unfamiliar.
No stance. No guard.
He relied on just instinct.
Would it be enough?
Black claws carved through the hazed storm, their extension shrouded, as pale orbs pierced through.
The shrouds couldn't hide its towering hunched silhouette as its maw dripped, blood present on its tongue.
SHHRRKKKKK!!
Sudden.
Riven moved, his dull eyes staring at the beasts blue flames.
His body tilted, weight shifting just enough for the claws to rake past his chest.
SHHRRKK-
It wasn't by thought.
It wasn't by will.
His chest burned, each breath ragged.
Blood warmed the snow beneath, his right shoulder screamed as gusts of frost bit.
He should have fallen.
But somehow, instinct carried him through the strike.
Coug-!
THRUM!
Another lunge followed immediately; fangs flashed, as those four claws pierced forward.
Exactly like before.
"Haa.....hkk-"
Riven twisted aside, boots grinding through frost as it passed his scalp....the threat still felt against his marrow.
THRUM!
His chest seized: "Hhk-"
Cough! Cough! Cough!
Coughs ripped out, blood flecking the snow.
He staggered back, gasping as his feet slid through the frost.
Vision tunnelled.
Snow swirled as the beast landed.
It didn't immediately recoil. Instead its ribs sank low, jaw widening into its cheeks.
A deep rumble built in its chest....
Hhhhhhh---
SSHHHHHHHRRRRRKKKKK!!!
The noise was hazy, and it was hard to see.
Magic.
A torrent of frozen breath tore, blasting the air into a wall of white.
Again.
The same move.
Snow and ice roared outward, as if the veil had been swallowed inside, before releasing with its full force at Riven.
"Haa....-"
He closed his mouth immediately.
The pain of before still lingered in his lungs.
Just like before, a blizzard swallowed him whole.
White.
Nothing but white.
His eyes saw nothing at all.
His ears caught nothing.
His skin felt nothing.
'This was death'
A voice slid through his mind, quiet as the snow, heavy as the air.
"A strike without intent. A step without thought."
It wasn't memory.
It wasn't sound.
....It simply was.
Riven's dulled eyes didn't blink.
His arms didn't tense.
His cemented, injured legs did not prepare.
His body just shifted.
Barely.
Emptily.
Meaninglessly.
And the beasts maw shredded past....
Snapping at where he had been, tearing at the snow in a spiral.
The world came back in a rush.
THHRRUUMMM!!
"Haaa...."
Breath filled his lungs. His shoulder screamed. His thigh burned.
Alive...for another breath.
"....Haa.."
Cough!
His knee buckled into the frost.
The veil of white had evaporated, the magic wall slowly leaving.
The taste of iron touched his lips.
A thin line of crimson spilling into snow.
"Haa...hk--"
His chest heaved, each breath jagged.
'...Alive'
He didn't know how....
Metres away the beast stood there as Riven's vision came too.
Its hulking pale form half-shrouded in drifting snow, eyes burning blue.
A monster.
It didn't vanish back into the surroundings.
It stared, unyielding, unreadable at the kneeling prey who bled in frost.
For the first time, it didn't move.
"Haa....hhh-"
Was it in a trance?
Riven's eyes swam, as he gazed over.
'...Why?'
Cough! Cough!
Then....
Light.
A faint gleam split the snowfall.
It rose, cascading the air like a shard of dawn.
The beast's head jerked toward it, orbs flaring.
SCHRRKKK!
A line of brilliance tore across its flank, searing fur and flesh alike.
Its massive frame lurched sideways, as its claws carved trenches in the snow.
A guttural and raw yell resounded as ice and blood scattered in a spray.
SCHRRKK-
THRU-
Its weight collapsed into the frost, as for the second time....the predator faltered.
"Haa.....haa..."
In that moment, Riven's vision swam.
Blurred edges.
White upon white.
A single streak of light carved through it all.
The blizzard split, as the snow swirled in circles and motions....
Dawn was here.