Shadow Slave: Immortal Ice

Back when Eirwen had first shot through the illusory wall and into the battle, he had immediately noticed how drastically the landscape had changed.

In the heat of the moment he hadn't paid much attention to his surroundings though, too focused on the fight.

Now, Eirwen finally took in his surroundings.

Jagged mountains surrounded them in every direction, their peaks disappearing into more swirling clouds. Below them were seemingly endless drops. They stretched down into nothingness -there was no ground to hit in sight for anyone unlucky enough to slip on the ice. Of course, anyone unlucky enough to fall would likely end up impaled on one of the jagged, fang-like boulders jutting out from the cliffs first.

Ignoring the dramatic -and obviously soooo beautiful- landscape around him, Eirwen made his way toward his three companions, carefully stepping around the scattered goblin corpses.

Eirwen's black winter boots sank an inch into the thick snow, leaving deep footprints behind him.

'Out there, in the Dream Realm, there are many kinds of Nightmare Creatures,' he recalled Gale's words from one of their lessons. 'And some of them can track you through many different things… your footsteps being one of them.'

But before he could even think of a solution for that, something suddenly slammed into him and nearly knocked him off balance.

It was Andromeda.

Dried blood stained the steel and fur of her armour, but aside from that, there were no obvious wounds on her. She looked mostly the same -if one ignored the dishevelled state of her hair and the slight fear in her eyes of course.

"Thank God you're also here," she mumbled against his chest, her voice muffled by the warm leather.

Obviously, she had no idea that it was Eirwen's fault she ended up here -though knowing her, she probably wouldn't care anyway.

'Raijin is too calm about being here,' Eirwen noted, watching the short Dreamer out of the corner of his eye as he idly patted Andromeda's back.

Seraphiel was calm too -well not that it was unusual for him. He simply stood there and scanned their surroundings as if trying to pinpoint their exact location.

Eliot, meanwhile, took a few steps back. His expression was tense and awkward against the cold and icy air that howled through the battlefield.

"Where you going?" Eirwen called out across the distance, pulling Andromeda off of him with one hand while his other still gripped the hilt of his silver longsword.

The green-haired Sleeper glanced at him for a moment, clearly struggling against the freezing cold in his thin hunting leather. "I-I read somewhere that… y-you have to be careful with strangers in the Dream Realm," his teeth chattered as he spoke. The biting cold was clearly getting the better of him now that he wasn't fighting and just standing around.

Eirwen raised a brow amusedly. "Strangers? Seriously?" He scoffed without slowing down, his hair beating against the wind. "We just fought alongside you with some vermin, and you're acting like we're about to stab you in the back?"

"Y-you never kn-know…" he muttered out his response, rubbing his arms.

Ignoring the tall boy's answer, Eirwen continued walking forward with sword in hand. He knew how it must've looked to Eliot, but he didn't even try to recall the weapon or hold it less intimidatingly.

The blonde Sleeper was clearly doing this on purpose.

Taking a sharp step back, Eliot's fingers twitched slightly, but this time it wasn't from the cold.

"My name is Eirwen," the blonde Sleeper introduced himself suddenly, offering his left hand once he was close enough.

The boy opposite him glanced at the gloved hand for a moment in confusion, then stretched out his own to shake Eirwen's.

"I'm Eliot or-" He hesitated for a second before something took over in him, "But you can also call me Herald of Blades."

'A true name? Why does he look so proud of himself!?' Eirwen almost rolled his eyes, but managed to fight against it.

He knew Eliot would stick with him no matter how he acted, but Eirwen still needed to make sure the boy stayed close for the long run. He didn't need him wandering off the moment they found a Citadel.

"A true name huh?" Eirwen nodded, gripping his hand a bit tighter before letting go. "You must be strong then?"

Eliot gave an awkward laugh, shivering as he spoke. "Not as strong as you clearly." He motioned toward the massive corpse in the distance. Its towering form resembled a snow-covered hill.

Ignoring Eliot's attempt at pleasantries Eirwen grabbed his wrist forcefully, catching the Sleeper off guard and putting him on alert.

"Accept it," Eirwen commanded with a neutral tone, his mind focused as he drew on the Spell within him, willing it to transfer a certain Memory.

It was a Memory of the second tier, called [Unluckiest Blessed]. The main Enchantment it held was a high resistance to cold. While it drained a considerable amount of Essence, there was the secondary Enchantment that converted a fraction of the absorbed cold back into Essence.

Eliot's brows furrowed in confusion, but he accepted the transfer without further questions. And without wasting a second, the boy summoned the new Memory.

He watched as sparks danced around Eliot's right ear before gradually taking the shape of a bright blue snowflake-shaped earring.

"Thanks," he mumbled, the blue tint from his lips already fading as warmth slowly returned to his body and blood began flowing freely once more.

After a closer look at their new companion, Eirwen noticed that Eliot's build reminded him a bit of Bernard.

'Nah, Bernard was far more muscular,' Eirwen pointed out in his mind, shaking the comparison off before turning slightly to give Eliot a clear view past him.

"The four of us already know each other," Eirwen said, pointing at Andromeda and Seraphiel who were having a conversation of their own, then to Raijin who was oddly sitting on a pile of corpses.

'Did he seriously gather them up into a…?' Eirwen's thoughts trailed off as he stared at Raijin in confusion.

Quickly pushing Raijin and his strange activities out of his mind, Eirwen focused back on Eliot.

"You should join us," he said. A mocking smirk appeared on Eirwen's face as he added, "I'm sure you also read somewhere online that surviving alone in the Dream Realm is practically impossible."

Eliot's face flushed slightly in embarrassment, his gaze dropping as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.

"You guys done flirting?" Raijin suddenly shouted from his ridiculous throne. "We better start moving before something jumps on us!"

Eirwen's face twitched in annoyance for a split second, replacing Eliot's embarrassment with confusion.

---

The green-haired Dreamer initially suggested they gather some meat from the intact corpses before they left, but Seraphiel quickly countered. The white-haired boy wasn't about to eat the flesh of a creature that had been possessed by a worm before its death.

So with nothing holding them back, the five Dreamers decided to descend further down the mountain.

No one had sustained any major injuries, and even Andromeda's earlier wound had been taken care of, so their pace remained more or less quick. However -even after taking their speed into consideration- reaching the ground was impossible in a single stretch. For now, their focus was simply on finding shelter and food.

And maybe finally something to fight. Eirwen was itching for another battle, and he could tell by the way Raijin's eyes crackled that he was just as eager.

'How high up are we?' Eirwen asked Leviathan as he carefully hopped over rocks and snow.

Seraphiel and Andromeda weren't saying much, Eliot was kind of strange and reserved, and Raijin was too annoying. So with no one else to talk to, he figured the mysterious voice in his head might at least keep him entertained.

And strangely enough, Leviathan actually did respond.

'Higher than we are supposed to be,' his voice echoed in Eirwen's mind. 'I can feel that we're inside someone's Reach of Authority, or a Domain, as you humans call it.'

'We're in someone's Domain? So there are other Sovereigns here?!' Eirwen asked. He was clearly surprised, yet his expression stayed neutral.

Leviathan was quiet for a moment before replying, 'I cannot say for certain, but there should be at least six Supremes, and possibly a Sacred being here. My strength still isn't enough to encompass all of Cocytus though…'