I stifled a gasp at the site of one of my longtime friends getting brutally devoured, but the creature still noticed my presence. Its head snapped around like an owl and I got to see its horrid face, triangular teeth of bone, and milky white unfocused eyes. I jumped to the side just in time as a whirlwind of claw and teeth ripped through the tent. I managed to get away but unfortunately, Apelica was not so lucky. It hit her like a runaway horse and before I knew it her jaw was ripped off reducing her screams into a loud gurgling. Not done yet the monster raised its head and sunk its grotesque teeth into her shoulder, and with a loud squelch, her arm was bit off.

I was shaken out of my frozen state by an arrow striking the beast’s back, I got up and raised my blade above and brought it down with all the force I could muster. Unfortunately, like the arrow, it was futile and only caused barely noticeable surface-level damage. The monster noticed my attack and like an annoying fly, it swatted me away causing me to be sent flying into a tent. I looked down in panic to check for injuries but thankfully the gambeson blocked the worst of it. I shakily got up and hobbled over to my sword that was sent flying from the earlier attack.

Damn, that attack had enough force to split someone in two, trust me I have more experience than I’d like to admit in that area, yet that thing stood completely fine. I looked over at aria who was still tied to the tree to see if she knew what this thing was, she knew this forest the best after all, but I was quickly disheartened by the panicked expression draped over her face. I turned back to the monster only to see that its meal was almost gone, we are running out of time. I waved over Ferdinand and Rolaf before advancing forth then promptly chickening out, we already established that there was no injuring this thing.

I signaled the group to retreat but not before grabbing necessary supplies, this is a dangerous place and we won’t survive without supplies. By the time we had our bags time was quickly running out so we ran as fast as we could, and soon a horrible wail echoed out that sounded like a mix between a mother who lost her children and a trapped fox. We picked up our pace but with Jack carrying Aria and me carrying an injured Alex we weren’t going as fast as I wanted. A noise to my left caused my head to snap around to see a silhouette within the darkness, my breath caught in my throat and Rolaf readied an arrow but to our relief when the figure stepped out of the darkness it was revealed to be Sahona.

“Thank the gods, you almost gave me a sudden death. Something happened at camp and we need to go now,” I looked behind us for any sign of the creature, “let's walk and talk.”

“Two of our own went missing in the middle of their watch and one came back all mangled and twisted. We tried to bandage him up and everything, but he suddenly turned into some sort of creature, towering, pale, with sharp teeth, claws, and milky white eyes.”

She gave me the signature deadpan look before sighing, probably the first sign of emotion I have ever seen from her, and joining us in our march, “I know of what you are talking about, and it's not good.” She looked over to Aria who was carrying jack and her eyes widened a bit, “It is an ancient spirit of ice and greed with skin tougher than iron, but thankfully it is not unbeatable, fire burns through its skin and will melt its Icey heart.”

Well, that’s good news at least, looking around we had six torches, three lit, and a thing of flammable fat. Well, looks like the gods haven’t abandoned us after all. Another wail echoed out, closer this time, we picked up our pace, but I knew that the creature would soon be here telling from how fast it moved when it ripped apart Apelica. And before we could even get another twenty paces in, I was quickly proven right, the sound of shaking trees and rapid footsteps fast approached.

“Prepare for battle, get in formation,” I passed Ferdinand strips of cloth soaked in fat that I had made in preparation, “Everyone ready torches in front of you, Ferdinand wrap your spear in the cloth and light it, if we make it out alive I will pay for the damages.”

Ferdinand let out a loud curse but still followed orders, and the unlit torches were quickly passed around and lit in preparation before being stabbed in the ground in a protective circle. Counting me and Sahona we only had five people who could fight, and only three of us fought close range. Rolaf had a few arrow tips designed to set roofs alite when we are raiding but they needed to be set up and screwed on, so he only can get two ready in time. The two noncombatants, Alicia and the injured Alex, were set behind us and covered in snow.

We were woefully unprepared with only a few with proper armor on, but we were not at a complete disadvantage, Sahona was said to be a great spiritualist who can use the wind to dice people to pieces. Another wail echoed out, closer than what’s comfortable this time. Suddenly silence descended, the footsteps have stopped, and the sound of snapping limbs have disappeared. Abruptly a shadow leapt out of the forest going straight for Ferdinand, but it was unable to strike true when he quickly stepped aside. It landed with a thud and Ferdinand took the chance to strike out with his flaming spear and Rolaf with a flaming arrow. They both landed cleanly but it did not cause as much damage as we hoped.