Of Ice, Death & Monsters

Day 1

The wind was rather soft for an endless winter. It blew against my face as the snow danced onto the ground like petals in Autumn, piling up ever so slightly as they were crushed beneath our feet as we trudged along.

Matthias and Katya both led the way as the former knew where to go, and Katya knew of all the dangers around us, with Leonid, Kariya, and Rodion at our sides and back, keeping me, Godwin, and Carey in the middle.

"Remember, whenever you travel, make sure it's during Sun's Peek, since monsters avoid daylight. But this does not ward them completely." Katya gave us some tips as she trudged along a path through the forest.

Rodion then took out a few flasks from the strange, shadowy stitches he had on. "Does anyone need some water?"

Immediately, I raised my hand alongside Matthias and Carey, who both looked rather excited at the prospect as they were handed the flasks. Well, I probably was too, I hadn't realized I hadn't had much to drink in a while.

"Drink fast and give it back to me as soon as you can so it doesn't start to freeze."

I drank it as fast as I could, not expecting the freeze that would flow through my head as if I just drank a slushie. It was certainly filling, that was for sure, but I groaned and stumbled a bit, and so did the other two as they took a swig.

"What was that?" Carey asked as she rubbed her head.

Rodion laughed a bit and faced them. "Welcome to the party! That was made from the snow of the land. It freezes fast, but better than nothing."

"I-I guess..." Matthias muttered as he stuck his tongue out like a cat.

"You guys want some berries as well?" Rodion brought our reddish black berries, the size of peas.

He then, without warning, placed it on Matthias's tongue, and instantly it froze on it as the poor catboy immediately shot his tongue back into his mouth and tried his best to remove it to no avail.

The Keeper laughed for a bit as Leonid sighed and shook his head, rolling his eyes while Kariya tried to suppress a smirk.

"What was that? Some kind of special berry?" I asked with a look of concern towards Matthias as I went to his side.

"No, it simply sticks to your tongue since it is quite cold."

Matthias managed to finally scrape off the berry with his teeth and sighed, sucking on it like a candy. "Ugh... At least it's somewhat sweet, a little sour though."

Rodion handed it out to Carey and me as we both rubbed it gently in our hands to warm it up for a little bit before we ate. Matthias was right, it was tarty, like somewhere between a cherry and a raspberry.

Carey shakily raised her hand over to Rodion and quietly asked. "C-Can I have some more?"

He grinned and handed her a small packet. "Keep it for now. We always keep a few in our hideouts."

"T-Thank you." And thus the poor girl began to suckle on them like her life depended on it.

I sighed a little. "I miss when we could use fire and roast them, really brought out the flavor."

"You... Tried these al- Oh." Rodion looked away at the ground, as if he were reminiscing. Leonid and Kariya did the same before Katya called back our attention.

"Whenever the light starts to fade, we make sure to head towards the nearest cave, or if possible, we can lead you to one of our hideouts." She raised her hand up and began to march ahead and into the forest once more.

The mornings weren't all that safe anymore. Every few hours or so, we would find another monster, another beast that stalked the tundra. If only it were a zoo and not a literal death continent, I would have been much more delighted. They were so varied in size, shape, and ability to murder people and each other.

There was the Bes, of course, they were the primary threats, always stalking around, sniffing the air with gored corpses on their antlers. We encountered a few Bauk packs, wolves that looked like they were made of shadows. They were much easier to handle since they were afraid of light.

However... There was one type of monster that always had us unnerved. One type that always had me thinking to myself after we're done.

"Ghouls! Incoming!" Katya whispered aloud to all of us. Instinctively, we all hid behind the Keepers as the forest came forth, shambling corpses. Their skin, preserved yet failing, like rotten meat in a freezer. Their eyes were glassy, dazed, frozen over like a fish on ice.

They didn't make any sounds like the ones you would find in movies. They were completely silent, no groan, no shouting of brains. They stumbled and shambled in the snow as they approached us. There was no way to shake them off; once a ghoul noticed your presence, they would simply follow you to the ends of the world.

But that wasn't the worst part. It was the fact that they were all so familiar. They all wore clothes, jeans, and t-shirts; some had necklaces, and others had rings. They were once people, they were once people that I knew, that I worked with on the expedition.

For once, I realized I was one of the lucky ones here, able to survive out here thanks to the Keepers. But then I wondered, how many were even left? How many of us could even make it out of here? How many were buried under the snow?

The thoughts sickened me to my core, but it was worse on Carey and Matthias.

Carey looked around, trying to find a place to hide, nearly running off if not for Kariya holding her down as she hyperventilated.

Matthias, on the other hand, froze up, shaking and shivering as he tried to look away. He cried, whimpered, and nearly broke down. Godwin had to console him, hugging him close as I watched right beside them both.

I turned away, not wanting to see such a sight, and focused on the ghouls ahead, which were being taken care of by Rodion and Leonid as they threw makeshift daggers made out of wood and even their shadowy spikes from their bodies to impale and stagger the ghouls to the trees.

There was a part of me that wanted to join in, that wanted to come and fight with my brothers and sisters, but yet... I wanted to stay put, I wanted not to put myself in any danger.

‘Why am I afraid? Can I even die?’ My mind began to whisper again, but unlike before, it became clear enough that I could hear it properly, and it posed a very good question. Could I?

‘Huh? What? Are you crazy? I definitely died out there, we just came back for some reason?’

‘That would be correct, and maybe that reason is because we can’t die properly?’

The voices were getting more restless. They spoke to me in my sleep, and every so often, even in my mind. I had to push them aside to be able to think properly. But every so often, I found my body moving on its own, or even muttering things I didn't intend.

"Coast is clear, let's keep moving." Rodion called out as they began to move once more. But I was so out of it that I bumped into Kariya.

“Are you alright? You've been acting much more restless. You keep on talking to yourself and staring at us. Do you need some sleep? I can carry you, you do not look like you weigh much.” She whispered while narrowing her eyes and looking into mine as if she were trying to read something.

"Uhm, thanks?" I muttered quietly, not sure if that's a compliment, but if it helps out, sure, I guess I'll take it. "Yeah, I’m alright. I don’t need that much sleep anyway..."

Suddenly, a thought in my mind popped up that I can't believe I didn't ask in a week... or perhaps, I couldn't have asked for it. "Do you still have the dagger I gave you?”

She stared at me for a moment as if I had said something stupid before unsheathing a small dagger from her waist.

“Oh, thanks-” I reached out to take it, but she shook her head.

“This was Andrei’s dagger, not yours, but… You really think you’re him… or maybe what the others were saying was right. Maybe a little bit of him is now in you, in which I guess…” She handed me the dagger back. “This should be yours.”

I blinked for a moment. “Oh-yeah uhm thanks.” I took it back and strapped it to my waist as if I had done it a hundred times.

“I’m sorry about your friend-”

“Don’t be, he died protecting others, like a true hero.” She smiled a little as she unsheathed her blade, staring at herself with it as she gave an airy sigh. I still felt sorry, no matter what she said.

“I only hope I can do the same.”

The thought unnerved me a little. Dying to protect others felt like a waste; only people in movies and TV shows would do that. There didn’t seem to be any benefit either. No one can guarantee that the person you saved will live on long enough for your sacrifice to mean anything, so why even bother?

“Isn’t it better to find a way for everyone to live?”

“Of course it is. That’s always the top priority, but if I had to choose how to die, it would be protecting others. That’s what we were trained for, do you feel the same?”

I shook my head. “No, not at all. I’d rather die…” My words escaped me as I thought to myself. “How do I actually want to die? I never really thought about that, but the more we ventured forth, the more I knew that I would be faced with death.

'I already had faced death, multiple times even.'

'Maybe if we do every death we'd unlock the secret ending.'

'I don't think that's how it works.'

“I want to die at peace, maybe alone or maybe with people I know. I want peace of mind in my death, to take a deep breath before falling into the sleep I won’t wake up from.” Carey spoke quietly as she slowly caught up with Kariya and me.

“That’s more reasonable. I guess that’s how I want to go to.” Kariya gave both Carey and me a pitiful look as she brushed a few branches from a tree in our way. “Well, I hope we can help get you that kind of ending.”

“T-thanks, I hope so too.” She gave a hopeful smile that I tried to emulate before we continued with our journey.

Day 2

This time, our passageway was near a river that was halfway frozen over. For a while, there didn't seem to be many monster sightings that we were able to comfortably trudge along.

I instinctively picked up a few smooth stones, and a desire came over me to try and skip them.

"Eh-What do you think you are doing?" Leonid asked as I was mid-toss.

"Oh, that? Well, I used to skip stones with my wife when we were younger; whoever got theirs on the other side won..." My voice faded out as I realized... Those weren't my words.

Leonid gave me a confused look as he stepped back a bit before I dropped the stones. "S-Sorry. L-Le'ts just keep moving."

'What was that? Why did I say that?'

I muttered, trying to get it out of my system as I closed my eyes and meditated.

However, right before I could really concentrate, Matthias silently spoke out. "I found some movement around us, be careful!"

At once, we all rushed to each other behind a large tree, keeping close as I drew out my dagger, Godwin his staff, and the rest pulled out their weapons.

Then… we heard a wail. The bawling of a child echoed throughout the forest. It reminded me of getting into train stations in the middle of a busy day. Their incessant cries were annoying, but I was also curious. “Did you guys bring fucking babies on the expedition?” I looked at Godwin while whispering as harshly as I could.

“No, of course not!” He whispered back, looking at me as if I had insulted him. “We would never do such a thing… although, maybe one of the staff was pregnant?” At that, everyone else looked at him, mortified.

“No! Of course, no one was pregnant in the expedition, Godwin! Why would we allow that?” Matthias shook his head and peered over the tree. “That’s a Drekavac.”

I closed my eyes to try and remember anything known as a Drekavac. “That’s… the tiny monster that drowns people, right?”

Rodion nodded as Leonid peered at Katya. “You would be correct. They fool passersby with their wails or scream so loudly that they break eardrums. Don’t be tricked by their size; they are as strong as a fully grown man. Found that out the hard way when I went to check one out.”

He then turned, moving away his red hair bangs to reveal several scratches on his forehead. “They grab on your head, hug it tight, and try to scratch your face off.”

Rodion grinned a little grimly. “Can you believe this one almost got done in by a hairy baby?” Leonid rolled his eyes and elbowed him. “Can you almost believe I’m going to throw you to the hairy babies?”

“Oh, I wanna see you-” But before he could continue, Katya elbowed them both. “Knock it off, both of you, now! We need to move as quietly as possible so they don’t notice us. And if you make any noise, may the Spirits help you because I’ll leave you both here to the hairy babies, is that clear?”

Both men nodded along as they looked at each other, Rodion with a shit-eating grin and Leonid with a blank stare as he rolled his eyes again. But, both Keepers readied their swords in case of any more trouble.

Katya sighed in relief and turned to the rest of us. “Alright, stay quiet. Don’t attract it, as the Drekavac always comes in groups, and we don’t want to handle multiple of them at once, even if we can beat them away. We need to conserve our weapons for threats that we need to fight off."

All of us nodded along as we crouched down and started to sneak past the lake. Of course, I was curious. I wanted to see what this thing looked like, so I listened to the wailing, narrowing my eyes as I tried to get a better view through the tree branches.

It was there that I spotted it. A hairy, small figure, no bigger than a toddler, wailing by the shoreline as it moved around. If I were further away, I could have mistaken it for an actual child.

But then, I saw something bubbling in the waters of the lake, something rising up and bobbing around before turning on its side, revealing that it was a waterlogged man, someone who had drowned quite a bit ago, judging by the bloated skin and rigor mortis judging by how stiff and statue-like they appeared.

My stomach churned as the voices began to whisper in my head.

'Run for it.'

'Fight it!'

'Stay in cover.'

With so many of them whirling in my head, I couldn't help but stumble forward, stepping onto a branch, cracking it as the sound echoed into the forest.

Everyone stared at me for a moment, some eyes with exasperation, and some with worry, as they all could see that the Drekavac stirred at the noise. Its face stared up at where we were as dozens of them emerged from the lake as if they were some kind of army. Each one with sunken eyes and sharpened claws.

They started to crawl towards us on all fours, frothing at the mouth as if they were dogs with rabies. For a moment, I froze again, just like with the Bes, yet another voice told me to run, and another wanted me to draw my blade to fight.

Yet, none of those options came to pass, as Matthias curled his hand up, summoning several faerie-like specters to grab hold of a packet of snow before throwing it across the lake and onto a tree, landing with an audible thud. Immediately, all the Drekavac ran towards it, giving us time to book it and continue our journey forward.