Yuurei was impressed by what he saw when they exited the cave. He wanted them to take a break until the snowstorm would go away, but it didn’t look like it would go away anytime soon. He would relax as Kailani was healing him with her magic. She had to make sure that he would be able to continue forward and fight in tiptop shape. Once she was done healing him, she would look over to Brone to give him a thumbs up. She knew that the dwarf was fine, and the only person who needed her attention was Yuurei at the moment.

“I guess we move forward? I don’t like the looks of this storm, but I don’t think it was meant to ever stop, or at least not today.” He said to everyone.

Kailani didn’t like the sound of that. She would have wanted them to wait, but she knew that Yuurei was stuck on getting revenge. She couldn’t stop him now that he had gotten this close to Ansem.

“If another avalanche happens you save us both, or you don’t save us at all.” She said to him.

He would rub the back of his head as didn’t want to get her angry again.

“Okay I will do what I can. Now let’s go.” He said to them as he started walking forward.

He was happy he could see everything around him again. Yuurei didn’t like that as a light mage he couldn’t light up the place to see what was around him. Still, now he was in front, and he would be leading them and the first to take a hit if it came to that.

280

Brone Heavyaxe peered about the landscape while Kailani tended to Yuurei's wounds. As far as the dwarf could see, there were no enemies... so far, but the snow seem to prove troubling as it came down from the clustered clouds and because of that, it was difficult to tell what time of night it was, just that he knew the sun had set already at some point. The only other hint he had was the trouble Yuurei and Kailani had with seeing, meaning the sun had gone long ago, "Come, ye blind bats" he joked as he grabbed their wrists and led them forward up the incline through the piling snow.

Though Brone was use to traversing snowy mountain tops since he was a child with his clan, he knew this would become more of a problem. He wasn't sure how long they'll be in this terrain and how high up they will have to go. If the vampire Ansem was sturdy enough, then the monster wouldn't be bothered by the high altitude, but the dwarf worried about his companions, mainly Kailani. Yuurei was a force of nature himself, and the dwarf was naturally sturdy due to his own experience living in the mountains; he had to keep in mind to keep an eye on them both, every second in the snow was tasking on all three of them. Hopefully their quest reaches succession as quickly as possible.

Every so often, Brone would sink, the snow reaching up to his chest and he'll have to find his way out of the drop, but it never really truly bothered him, his cousins and him would play about in such soft snow, now to him it was difficult terrain. To him, this was just an obstacle, the true impediment was facing monsters before facing the true enemy.

306

Yuurei and Kailani would soon feel someone grab their hand. It was dark, but not total darkness. The storm abrupted their vision though, but they knew who that hand belonged to. It seemed like Brone was going to pull them in the right direction again. The half-elf wasn’t sure if the storm would mess with Brone’s vision, but he kept moving. His eyes looked at his friend as it seemed like the snow was really high. He had to make sure that they were taken by the snow in the storm.

“Is this how these areas are Brone?” He would ask him as he was the one that was used to the snow.

While they were moving through the area, Yuurei would notice something. It was getting harder to see. The snow was increasing throughout the storm.

“Why is it that I can't see anything man! This isn’t fair at all, we need to get somewhere inside quickly!” He said to the group.

Kailani was upset that she was going through this snowstorm. She stood quiet because she didn’t want to ruin their momentum.

“I don’t like it either, but we have to keep pushing. It will be for the best. I’m sure we will find something soon.” He said to Renji.

While they were walking it seemed like there wouldn’t be a path for them. Still, Brone would be able to find one even if he barely saw it. The light mage was trying to figure out what would be waiting for him out in this horror.

“By the way Brone, try to make sure you're on guard, I don’t want a monster getting the jump on us.” He said to Brone.

283|563

As the group made their way up the mountain side, albeit it relatively slowly due to the pressing cold wind and snow, the weather was worsening. Brone was their eyes in the dark, but he increasing snow was beginning to blind him as well. "Aye! though not all the time, we were just lucky enough to be caught in one!" Brone answered back to Yuurei, regular communication was being muffled through the roaring of the wind, so the dwarf had to yell over it.

Though Brone was more experienced with trekking through such weather, he was more worried about his elven friends... and the cats, so he didn't argue when Yuurei and Renji went back and forth about deciding whether to push forward or find shelter, even the dwarf was considering. He was looking about for some time, hoping there was at least a cavern or coverage of some kind that was shield them away from the onslaught of the forming blizzard.

"We've been dropped down on by ghouls and abominations! I'm not dropping anything, let alone my guard!" he yelled back to Yuurei as he was shielding his face with one of his arms.

After another few minutes, there was a sound, or at least Brone thought so, it might have been the wailing of the wind, but at first he could have sworn he heard something else, like yelling or crying, but he didn't stop to listen, he had to push forward.

Eventually, Brone spotted a crevice within the mountain side, it looked to be a long deep crack that ran vertical, "There!" he yelled as he tried his best to run through the impeding snow. He was then make his way into the crack. Luckily the two sides of the mountain pressed so closely together that it formed a small cavern for the group to take shelter.

313 | 619

Yuurei would hear Brone speak to them. While that was happening things would get worse and they would continue to move through the snowstorm. He could see that Brone was yelling throughout all of this, and he was fine with that. It was the only way he was going to be able to hear him. As they kept moving, Yuurei would chuckle as he understood Brone. It wouldn’t take long for Brone to find a place for them to shelter in, and Yuurei had no choice but to follow him. When they got there, he would look at his friend.

“Do you think this is the right thing to do?! If we stay here all that is going to happen is that we’re going to freeze to death!” He shouted as the storm was indeed strong.

Kailani was frustrated with this, and she knew that Yuurei wanted to continue pushing forward. She wasn’t happy that Yuurei wanted to seek vengeance and go this far from it.

“I don’t think it matters what we choose, but if the choice isn't to go back inside of the cave, then we die!” She said as it was the only option presented to her.

Yuurei didn’t like the sound of that. They were so close, and he could feel it. What were they going to do? Renji was not happy with this as he would rub his fur to keep sure that he stood warm.

“Let’s find a path! If we can find a path no matter what it is, we should follow it! I’m sure it will lead us to Ansem!” He shouted hoping that would work.

If Brone chose to go with the plan, he would eventually find red flags a few meters away from each other to indicate a path. This would indeed lead them somewhere but where was the question?

310|873

Brone had slip into the crack, but turned to face his comrades. Kailani was at the opening, waiting for the dwarf to enter further to make way for her, but they were all looking at Yuurei who was adamant with continuing further. Brone stared, there his friend was, trying to convince the majority of the group to trek through the dangerous weather, all for the sake of vengeance. The dwarf wanted to lash out, but Kailani was quicker than him, and her tongue never hesitated to lash out at either of the boys if it was needed.

Though both Yuurei and Brone could brave through the storm, if was obvious that Kailani and Renji weren't as physically enduring. And there was a moment of quiet as the dwarf angrily stared at the half-elf while he had pulled away from the crack, standing out in the snow. He wanted to yell out what his thoughts were, but his voice ended up quieting. He wasn't sure why and for a good long time onward, Brone wouldn't find out why he made the choice he did. Maybe it was his trust in his friend.

"Fine" Brone's voice was low and deep, like an angry defeat. He first walked over to Kailani and handed her his leather gloves, then his bear-hide cloak, then finally his boots. Then he turned to Renji and said "The cloak is big enough for you both" with his voice still low. Another look to Yuurei, this time his expression told him 'You have my faith... don't ruin it', then he began walking forward through the snow while barefooted; something he had done before when his beard was half it's current length, but even with his sturdy body, he couldn't walk through the cold snow for too long.

Luckily, it wouldn't be long before they found a path of red flag.

314 | 933

Yuurei would look at everyone and it would seem like things were getting rough between them. Still, the light mage wasn’t sure how long this storm was going to last, and honestly, it was never going to finish. It wouldn’t take long, but Brone would hand over a bunch of clothing to Kailani. Kailani would take his boots, gloves, and even his cloak, and it would seem like he was going to trust in Yuurei’s judgment. The light mage was glad that he was trying to make sure that Kailani would be the warmest of the two as he knew he could handle this weather.

They were now walking through the snowstorm again. It was ridiculous how it was out here, but they pushed through. He wasn’t sure how long they would be able to last, but he had faith that they were all more resilient than they looked.

While moving through the cold area, and having the snow constantly hit them, Yuurei would see something waving. He had to get really close, but it would seem like there was a flag on a stick that was stuck deep within the ground. This was good, but what did it mean?

“Do you see any other flags out there Brone?” He would ask his friend wondering what he would say.

Kailani would look at Brone and she was hoping he would give them an answer quickly. They couldn’t stand still for too long or things would go bad for them. The Exceed would move over to Kailani and he would plant himself her on the other shoulder. This would allow Renji to be covered by the cloak, and he was fine with this. He was just wondering what the trio would do next.

292|1165

A red flag was waving, catching everyone's eyes. The pole the flag was attached to was erected from the ground and given how it didn't waver in the slightest against the storm, this was suppose to be a permanent mark, though Brone was unsure as to the reason. Yuurei had drew his attention from the flag and asked for others. The dwarf nodded and began searching the area, though his eyes were piecing the darkness, his sight was still slightly affected by the constant snowfall. But eventually he spotted the next flag, "There!" he called through the blizzard and he continued his trek.

When he reached the second flag, he spotted the third and realized it was indeed a path. Where was the path leading to? Brone didn't really care, he simply wanted to make sure he and his friends had shelter, so he continued forward, searching the terrain for other flags. Every so often, he would look over his shoulder, just to make sure his companions were still following; Yuurei was stern in his resolve, but his main concern was Kailani, even though she had the most clothing out of the rest of them, her body was built for this abuse. "Don't fret! We're almost there!" he called out, obviously he wasn't sure if he was right or not, but he needed to keep the hope up.

230 | 1,163

Yuurei would follow Brone as he was the one leading the way. They could see, but it was hard for them to get a grasp on anything in front of them. It wasn't very pleasant, to say the least, but he was happy that his friend was here on this trip with them. As they continued their journey Yuurei would see all the flags they were passing, and soon enough there would be a lot of different noises coming from the distance.

Brone would be the first to see it, but there would be a bunch of people wearing the same uniform and cloaking over them as they were trekking through the snow. There were twelve men there and they would catch sight of the group of people.

The vampires would be alerted now, and hopefully, Brone would tell them before they got too close. If he didn’t Yuurei and Kailani would find out when they got close enough.

Either way, Yuurei would get into a fighting stance when he was alerted about them. The light mage would get ready for a brawl, and he wasn’t going to be the only one. Kailani would move back from the group as she was there for backup.

The vampires started rushing toward them. They would split into three groups of four as they were teaming up to take them on. Yuurei would see that there were four vampires that rushed straight toward Kailani and when he went to stop them, he would get cut by another vampire.

Yuurei would move back from this as he stumbled back and saw that they were coming for him. The Nephilim would rush to ignore them as he would run straight toward Kailani. He was trying to help her out first. Kailani would run away when she smelled them coming toward her. She wouldn’t spend her mana and knew someone would come to her recuse soon enough.

321|1486

His toes were beginning to feel numb, but Brone made sure not bring any attention to them; he didn't want to disparage his comrades. If he, who was barefooted and with the basic clothing on his back with armor could trek through the snow with little issue, then it could encourage others to push forward, hope was needed in this tasking situation.

Then there was movement. At first they were silhouettes in the the blurring snow, which made Brone wondered if they were mirages, but a second later, he confirmed there were a dozen of figures, "Trouble ahead! Two handfuls!" he quickly shouted back to his comrades while drawing both his axes. When he turned to face the enemies, the foes had were already quickly closing the distance, but instead of them all attacking the first line of defense together, they had equally split apart, "Damn it!" He had no concern if they all rushed him, but it was Kailani and the cats that he was concerned with, so he turned on his heal and ran towards the back.

It seemed Yuurei had the same idea since the half-elf was retreated towards the rear. After only but two seconds, Brone realized he wouldn't be able to stop the four vampires before they reached Kailani, he hoped Yuurei would delay them long enough so he would be able to get there in time.

One of the vampires aiming for the dwarf had caught up to him and slashed their sharp claws against him, but his helmet protected Brone's head, albeit leaving it damaged. The dwarf quickly turned about and slammed his steel axe against the vampire's neck, severing it from it's shoulders. He had only slowed for a second, but he quickly got back on track, heading towards Kailani's side, hoping he could be her second line of defense while Yuurei was the first.

315 | 1,478

Yuurei kept rushing straight toward her. This time with his magic in his hands, two magic circles would appear floating, and soon after stars would come out and enter his body. He felt that he was stronger and faster, which is what he wanted. The snow he was stepping on made him move slower than usual, but the speed buff he acquired was enough for him to go through it. He would feel that they were attacking him. It was then he would see the cuts on his arms because he was blocking his neck. It would seem like they were trying to cut his throat, which he wouldn’t allow.

While moving he would see Kailani’s silhouette. There he would also see that a vampire would have latched on to her. The fangs of the vampire could be seen by Kailani as if they were ready to sink into her neck. The light mage wouldn’t allow this as he would use his gauntlet to increase his speed even further. He would be right next to the vampire as it got really close to Kailani’s neck, and Yuurei would punch the creature with his maximum power output and he would punch the vampire right on the neck. The vampire wouldn’t stand a chance as his head would fly off their body and their body dropping right next to Kailani.

She would get up from the ground as she was nervous, and she would get on her guard. Nimbus and Renji would climb back onto her shoulders as they would look around. The light mage would look around as well as the vampires knew that she wasn’t going to fight now. That meant they were going to spread the group by two.

“One of you go help take out the dwarf.” He said as one of them would start heading towards Brone.

Yuurei would see that he was left with fighting six of them now, which he was fine with.

“Once we kill you two we will take turns with the beautiful lady.” He said to Yuurei, which he shouldn’t have.

349|1835

The vampires fluttered about like shades darting in and out of view as if a series of lanterns swinging about a room full of shadows. The only stable figure was Kailani who was then grappled. The dwarf shouted in rage as he pushed himself as hard as he could, demanding his feet move faster. He couldn't think about the possibility that he couldn't get there in time, he just had to get there, he shouted so that no doubt could enter his thoughts.

Then a flash of light darted into the darkness and with a flicker, the vampire was decapitated; Yuurei had rescued the elven women. Even with that moment of reprieve, the dwarf still pushed forward, there were still too many monsters about. The shades shifted again, now splitting in half. It was but a second, but it was long enough for Brone to see a handful was making their way towards him, "Easier for me then!" he growled as he he arced a wide swing. Two vampires had jumped out of the way, however the third that was behind them didn't see the axe in time and had his chest caved in by the blade before his body was sent flying, dying before he hit the snow.

Another vampire quickly made his way behind the dwarf and grabbed the shoulder of the smaller being, planning on throwing him into the snow so that he would be pinned down, but unfortunately for him, Brone was too sturdy and stubborn to be moved. Before the vampire could make another attempt to move the boulder-like dwarf, Brone swung his other axe and severed the vampire's arm at the elbow, "Was going to say 'move your hand or lose it', I guess I forgot" Brone joked, though he was too angered to smile, his expression still raged. The four vampires swarmed around him, looking for an opening while the dwarf twirled his axes, waiting for the next engagement.

329 | 1,807

Yuurei would see the five vampires that were surrounding him. He was glad they understood that Kailani wasn’t a fighter and directed their attention toward the duo. He was ready for this and now that he knew that there were six on him, he would be ready. He did feel the warm blood flowing on his arm, and it seemed like they could sense him because of it. That was smart of them to inflict a small wound on him, so they knew where he was at all times.

The light mage looked around as he hears the rustling of the snow. It was dark though and the snowstorm was loud, but they were making their way toward him. He had sighed because he knew what he was going to have to do. He would have to take a technique out of Brone’s playbook. He couldn’t really see them, so he was going to have to take a hit while he fought. When the first of the six arrived at Yuurei, he would aim for his neck.

This was something Yuurei noticed earlier, so he guards his neck over anything. When they got close, he would feel and see them and he would be wounded once again. He could feel the cut on his arm, but it was enough to allow him to counterattack. His right hand would reach out to the vampire, and when he got a hold of the monster, Yuurei would kick the vampire so hard that he would split him in half.

He had a smile on his face as another vampire would slash him and it would scrape him on his neck. Yuurei was angry alright, but not because of the pain being inflicted on him. No, it was what one of them had said to him about Kailani.

The Vampire behind him would meet face to face with Yuurei as he had used his left hand to backhand his neck and remove it from his body. It would fall to the ground as the remaining four vampires were surprised at how strong this man was. They had gathered themselves together before leaping toward him together.

361|2196

The four remaining vampires had halted, but only for a moment. They surrounded him, looking between one another and the dwarf. Even though they didn't speak, they nodded as if they could read one another, then they began moving again like shadows. Brone didn't know what they were planning, but he was confident that his axes would find their mark.

Suddenly a vampire appeared before him and tried going for a frontal attack, to which Brone swung his attack to counter. But it was a feint. The vampire backed away just in time for a strike to hit the dwarf from directly behind him; he heard some of the rings from his armor to fall to the ground. Brone then realized it was a ploy. The first vampire didn't intend on a frontal attack, but a distraction. He swung his steel axe as he turned, but the vampire was gone, they were all darting back and forth around the battlefield.

"Fine" is all Brone said as he positioned himself. They were playing the hit-and-run tactic. They had realized the dwarf was the slowest out of everyone and decided to play against his weakness, but he didn't intend on letting them play such a card. So he waited.

The snow fell and all seem to be a blur, shadows moving behind the blanket of snow, all while the dwarf simply stood in the center with his deadly blades ready.

Then he spotted another vampire trying to strike at him from the side, but he knew already it was but another feint, so he quickly spun on the ball of his feet, allowing both his axes to swing in a large arc about him. One of the axes had split the hand of a sneaking vampire, while the other had bisected another who was too close, then died as soon as he hit the snow.

"Get yer hand too close to the forge, and ye get burned!" Brone laughed as he got back into position.

335 | 2,122

Yuurei couldn’t see how Brone was doing, but he figured he was doing fine. Now he was going to take care of the four vampires that were in front of him. He hoped that everything would be done after this, and they could push forward. The four vampires would rush straight at the same time. They figured they would take him out as a group instead of separately.

Yuurei had a smile on his face when he heard total silence. It seemed like they were plotting something and he was going to find out. He would see their appearance all at the same time. His eyes widen when he saw this. He would quickly do his best to block their attacks, but they would get him lovely on his arms and legs. Still, he wasn’t going to allow them to just hit him and run away. No, he had reached out to one of the vampires quickly and he would grab ahold of him.

He would bring the vampire back straight to him and he would have a smirk on his face as he brought the vampire close to him. The vampire would see the smile on his face, and it was the last thing he would see before his head was taken off as Yuurei lariat had connected. He moved forward before he couldn’t see them anymore, and he would rush toward one of the remaining three.

He would catch up to them in no time and he would grab one of them by the back of his head. He would slam the vampire into the snow, and he would crush his skull without hesitating. Yuurei didn’t have time to spare their lives, it was cold, and they didn’t show any compassion when they tried to kill Kailani. The other two would rush straight toward Yuurei.

They could tell he was quick, but he couldn’t see. That was the advantage they had on him. Still, what they didn’t expect was that he would be blindly running toward them. He had an understanding of how tall they were, and he would stretch his arms out. They would collide with each other as Yuurei had used all his strength to kill the last two vampires with lariats. He would come to a stop as he wondered how Brone’s fight was going.

Kailani would head over to Yuurei as she could smell his blood and rushed over to heal him. When he felt the soothing wind around his body he knew who it belonged to.

423|2619

The three vampires darting about the dwarf continued their constant position shifting, trying to throw him off, knowing all too well if they stopped, Brone would immediately rush after them. Seconds ticked away, letting Brone know that they were changing up their tactic. He scoffed, not worried in the least, the only thing he was concerned about was his feet freezing over before the vampires finally made their move.

Suddenly, a bundle of snow erupted to the right, Brone immediately swung his axe, cutting through the snow, but the snow. Possible distraction; he spotted movement to his left, so he quickly swung his second axe, though unfortunately it was another bundle of snow being kicked up, another distraction. "Enough with the toys!" Brone yelled, getting frustrated. His eyes darted around the area, trying to read the movements of the darting silhouettes, but they were too random.

Then they all vanished. The dwarf looked back to Yuurei and saw his fight was uninterrupted, so where were his remaining three?

They answered the question by attacking all at once. One had grasped his left arm, careful of the axe, another vampire grasped his right arm the same way. Before Brone could react, the third vampire, who had lost both his hands to the dwarf had used his only remaining weapon: his teeth, and came down upon Brone from behind. The fangs sank into his neck.

"Blast ye!" the dwarf yelled as he used all his might to pull the first two vampires from their positions. They were strong, but not as strong as Brone. The dwarf brought them close together, slamming them into another another, forcing them to release their grip.

Brone yelled at the top of his lungs as he ran towards the two vampires who had tumbled away. One of them quickly got his focus back and tried to dart away, but the steel axe quickly came down and destroyed his head. The second vampire noticed their handless friend was still hanging off the dwarf's back, drinking the shorter creature's blood, but even though he was being drained, the dwarf seemed to either not notice or not care, his rage was keeping himself from dropping to his knees due to the loss of blood, treating the handless vampire like an annoying leech.

The vampire on the ground quickly got to his feet, figuring he had a chance to defeat the dwarf now that his blood was being drained, but as he took a single step to try and attack, the dwarf's axe that had destroyed the previous vampire was brought up for a second swing, severing the attacking vampire's head.

"There" Brone spat at the dead vampire. Then he realized he still had a leech on his back, trying to drain him of his blood, so he used his steel axe like an intense backscratcher and scraped the vampire off of him before bisecting him as well.

It was the last of the vampires he realized as he took a look about.

505 | 2,627

With that, they were done with the fight with the vampires. Still, now they needed to keep moving and hopefully find the mansion. Kailani would run over to Brone as she would heal him next as it seemed like he had his blood taken away from him. When she had done that, the group would be able to push forward from here. Yuurei had stood tall as his wounds were healed. He didn’t like that these creatures were using his blood to find where he was. He also needed a way to see through all of this. He was hoping that their next destination would have light within the place.

Once Brone would lead the way and continued to follow the red flags through the area. It would lead the group to Ansem’s mansion. This was the final place and the location where they would finally meet up with Ansem. He was excited, anxious, angry, sad, and happy that he was going to meet with the man who killed his parents. He wasn’t going to make sure that his parents get the vengeance they deserved.

“This is it, guys. I don’t know what’s going to happen, but if something bad happens I need you guys to make sure you get out of this alive.” He said to his friends.

219|2838
[exit]

All fell silent. There were no longer any silhouettes darting about the battlefield, now it was all white with snowfall. The sound of metallic rings moving along with the crunching of snow below barefoot emanated against the howling wind as Brone made his way towards his companions, "Good, ye alive" the dwarf said as he looked over the others.

As the healing hands of Kailani touched him, he felt the warmth returning to him. He didn't realize it at the time, but he was relatively slower due to the blood loss. As the healing spell replenished his blood, his pale face began gaining color back, "Alright, lass, that's enough for me, we need to continue forward before we're all snowmen" he patted Kailani's hand and walked off.

They walked on, following the path, all being directed by the red flags. Every so often, Brone would look behind him to make sure they weren't being followed. He had lost count of how many times they had ran into trouble and he hoped this will come to an end soon. Abominations, blizzard, high altitude, and the damn drive for vengeance; the dwarf understood where Yuurei's determination was coming from, but his desire to hunt down Ansem had pushed them all up this forsaken trail. He didn't want to complain about it or even think about it, but muttering his breath angrily was keeping the dwarf warm while they continued to trek.

Eventually they spotted a mansion; when Brone noticed the rest of the flags were leading directly to the front door, he pointed it out, "Seems like that's endgame" he said as he looked at the mansion and noticed there were no lights emanating through the windows, "Vampires can see in the dark right?" he asked, not because he wasn't sure, but to confirm that even though the lights were out, that didn't prove that no one was awake. The ambush recently possibly hinted whoever was within the mansion was already aware of their presence.

"Ready yerself, Yuurei, ye had a lifetime to prepare, so don't freakin' die" Brone said through his teeth as he continued to walk through the piling snow, already wanted to finish this quest based in the frozen hell.

376 | 3,003

[Exit]