Reinhard pressed his head against the wooden door as he gritted his teeth. The tray in his hands trembled before he sighed and then forced a smile.
He knocked on the door before uttering. "I'm coming in, guys."
He opened the door to see his little sister Anna sitting on the edge of the bed. She had curly long black hair and crimson eyes which brightened when she saw him while she wore a black dress.
Beside her was Klein who was hunched over slightly with disheveled his short brown hair and his blue eyes avoiding direct contact. Klein was wearing similar clothes to him, black shorts, and a white button up shirt.
"Big brother! Is that soup? You didn't have to buy-"
"It's fine," Reinhard smiled, setting the tray on a small side table. "We have a lot of money stored up. I brought Klein his soup, and ours is in the kitchen."
Anna nodded while Klein nervously looked up at Reinhard. "Big brother... I have something to tell you."
Then the dream froze before shattering like glass.
…
Reinhard gasped as he woke up in the same area where he had lost consciousness. He felt the rough bark pressed against his back and saw the white sword lay beside him. He looked around cautiously to see everything was the same and then he began listening for any sounds of the dragon.
But fortunately, he heard only the sound of the wind and blizzard outside.
He looked up at the ceiling as his dream lingered. His hands gripped his pants as he thought about the Dark Tide curse that afflicted his brother.
The curse was a mystery that had plagued their world for centuries. No one knows its origin or how it chooses the victim, only that it chooses randomly. When it manifests, dark markings would appear on a person's body, starting from the stomach and slowly spreading outward over the body until finally the face.
The markings themselves weren't the true horror.
Every time the night came, the curse would unleash waves of pain through the cursed person's body. The agony was so intense that victims would scream and thrash, often trying to tear at their own skin or claw at their eyes to make the pain stop.
Families and friends learned to restrain their cursed loved ones at night with rope around the wrists and ankles. And even leather bits placed between their teeth to prevent them from biting through their own tongues.
The only good thing is that the cursed person would have no memory of this pain. But the families never forget hearing the screaming, seeing the person thrashing, and their desperate pleas for death.
Eight years was the time limit.
If a cure wasn't found within eight years of the curse's appearance, the victim would transform into a phantasm monster. It's this phenomenon that has the Empire advise people to kill the cursed one before they could transform to avoid the terrible consequence.
Reinhard brought his cloth-covered hand to his face as an image of Klein transforming and attacking Anna flashed in his mind. He gripped his face tightly before forcing himself to release it.
Klein was eight when the markings first appeared.
Three years had passed, and despite all of Reinhard's efforts of using medicines to ease Klein pain, it wasn't a cure. If that wasn't enough, Klein was beginning to remember fragments of his nightly torment.
It was a rare occurrence for some who were cursed and usually because the person had a very good spirit.
To think having a very good spirit would be a curse.
The Elixir of Life was the only guaranteed cure, and Reinhard refused to gamble with his brother's life on anything less certain. Time was running out, and he couldn't afford to fail.
Reinhard narrowed his eyes as he began formulating his next move as he refused to give up. He wouldn't let his brother transform into a monster, and he certainly wouldn't be forced to make the horrible choice that so many other families had faced.
As he sat in the cramped hollow, he thought about the dragon. There was something that stood out to him, which was him being able to outrun the dragon and evade its beam attack.
Normally that shouldn't happen because a dragon blast is said to be faster than sound and even lightning. And Reinhard isn't even close to that level of speed, so how was he able to evade it?
Here is some advice. All is equal here except for their ability to think.
Reinhard's eyes widened as he recalled his beast spirit words. He was suspicious when he fought the Frost Troll but now with the giant and dragons. It seems all the monsters and himself all have equal strength, the only difference is thinking and their own abilities.
"This is why I could clash with the trolls… Why I could beat the Frost Serpent… How I could stab the Yeti to death… And even evade the dragon blasts." Reinhard muttered in awe before then a smile began forming. "That also means all monsters are equal to each other, even the ones that shouldn't be."
He recalls the trolls, wolves and snow horses were hurting the giant. Even though the giant was able to defeat them, the fact those monsters could make the giant bleed should have been impossible. And most likely if the Frost Giant didn't use its ice ability, it would have been ended by the other monsters.
Reinhard then recalled the cavern that housed the Frost Giants. A plan began forming in his mind, dangerous but potentially effective.
A slow chuckle escaped his lips as the pieces fell into place.
He had found his way to defeat the dragon.
Reinhard carefully pushed himself out of the cramped hiding place with his muscles protesting. Then he pulled the white sword out with it scraping against the root as he forced it out of the small opening.
Once outside, he immediately noticed that his footsteps, the evidence of the dragon breath and movement had been completely covered by fresh snow. He glanced up at the falling snow and wondered how long he was unconscious.
But this was fine as it helped his plan even better.
Reinhard began creating a trail in the snow, making sure his footprints were deep and obvious. He retraced his steps close to where the dragon had first appeared, then continued the obvious trail back toward the area where he had fought the One-Eye Yeti.
The remains of the creature were still visible, though partially buried under the new snowfall.
Then he continued the trail back to the cavern where the giants were at, making sure the tracks were obvious to see. He had to walk backwards to give off the illusion he was moving forward from the cavern.
Regardless, each step gave off the illusion of someone moving hastily and quickly through the snow.
Once the trail below was completed, he climbed up onto the massive root and then move on top of the snowy area above the cavern. His boots found purchase on the snow-covered bark as he ran across the area, moving as quickly while maintaining his balance.
The root highway stretched out before him but it was to navigate going downwards.
Reinhard could hear the heavy footsteps and growling voices of the giants. When he reached close to the other side of the cavern where the opening was. He began looking for one of the gaps in the snow-covered area that he saw during his previous time through the area. It didn't take long to find a hole that could provide a clear view of the interior below.
Reinhard crouched down and peered through the opening and saw at least eight Frost Giants moving around the vast underground space. His blue eyes shifted to the ground to see the giant's weapons which were axes, clubs, and spears.
"Here goes nothing."
Reinhard quickly gathered snow in his hands and quickly packed it into a ball. Then he took aim before hurling it through the opening towards one of the giants, watching as it struck one of the giants squarely in the back of the head.
The creature paused mid-step, blinking in surprise as it reached up to touch the spot where the snowball had hit.
Without waiting for a reaction, Reinhard packed another snowball and threw it at a different giant, this one catching the creature in the shoulder. Then another, and another, each one finding its target among the confused giants below.
The giants paused collectively before looking at each other and then looking upwards. Reinhard grinned at them when he saw all of them staring up at him through the gap in the ceiling.
"You trash giants," Reinhard called down, his voice carrying clearly in the enclosed space. "Get ready to die."