Gray opened his eyes to a pale sky filtered through a frost-covered window. He sat up slowly, body aching from the cold night. Every joint felt stiff. The others were beginning to stir, groaning and shivering, wrapped in whatever fabric they had left. The silence was heavy, as if the mountain itself were holding its breath.
Renn, huddled in the front seat, tapped at the controls of the vehicle. "Engine's frozen again. Give me a few minutes," he said through chattering teeth. Lira nodded and began checking through a worn satchel. Korr groaned from the back bench.
"Someone remind me why we didn't just turn back."
Adel ignored him, stretching her arms and pressing her fingers to the window, watching frost melt slightly beneath her touch. The vehicle groaned as Renn worked, heating systems trying to come back online.
Gray stood and walked to the front. "What's the plan?"
"We still head toward the smoke signal," Lira said, not looking up. "That's our best lead."
"Before that," Renn added, "I found something last night. Hidden compartment under the front bench. Had about a week's worth of rations in it. Emergency stockpile, I guess."
Relief spread through the cabin.
"Why didn't you tell us sooner?" Adel asked, raising an eyebrow.
Renn let out a weak smile."Didn't want to wake anyone. Figured it'd be a nice surprise."
They ate sparingly, passing out dried meat, hard crackers, and nutrient gel. It wasn't much, but it helped dull the gnawing cold. After their short meal, Lira stood and opened a side panel near the exit.
"We need to mark our return path," she said, pulling out an old flagpole. She stabbed it into the ice behind the truck. It held firm.
Gray stepped outside briefly. The air was sharp, slicing across his skin with every breath. He didn't stay out long. As the others packed up, Renn climbed back into the driver's seat and turned the ignition. The engine coughed, then rumbled to life. A vibration passed through the vehicle. The door lifted and sealed, and soon they were rolling down the opposite side of the cliff.
The descent was slower than before. The left path dipped between jagged ridges, and the fog thickened. The vehicle's treads crunched over ice and broken stone. Visibility dropped rapidly.
Korr squinted through the viewport. "Something's moving out there."
Gray tensed. Outside, through the thick mist, low shapes skulked along the frozen terrain. They were canine in shape, but twisted. Longer limbs. Bone-like protrusions from their backs. Frost coated their hides like armor. Their movements were predatory, slow, calculated.
"Ahh shit." Gray sighed.
'It was only a matter of time.'
The truck came to a halt.
"Everyone stay calm," Lira said. She grabbed her weapon and moved to the back.
Her words didn't reach Renn's ears. He started to panick, quickly reachingunder the seat and pulling out a small black book. "Monster Catalogue. One of the few things they gave to help us."
The creatures emerged from the mist, pacing toward them. Their eyes shimmered with a sickly blue light.
"We're not waiting for them to get closer," Lira said. "Out. Now."
The ramp dropped, and cold air rushed in. One by one they exited, weapons drawn. The wolves let out low, guttural snarls and charged.
Lira was the first to move. Her blade glowed faintly as she traced her hand along it. A breath of flame clung to its edge. She met one of the beasts head-on, carving a heated arc across its side. It reeled, smoking where the fire licked its hide, but did not fall.
Korr followed with a bellow, slamming his fist into a wolf's face. The beast staggered, but rose again, blood spraying from its snout. Another leapt at him from the side and he grabbed it mid-air, slamming it into the snow.
Gray stood still. Then he closed his eyes and pulled Vyre into himself. He didn't shape it or direct it, he simply let it flow into his limbs. A warmth spread through him, pushing back the cold. The moment it touched his muscles, the chill numbed. When he opened his eyes, his movements were faster.
He lunged forward and struck a wolf, sending it flying. His bones ached from the force, but he could still move. Another beast circled around, snapping at his side. He ducked and swept its legs. It collapsed, but within moments it twitched and started to rise again.
Adel moved in precise bursts, dashing and slicing across their flanks, but nothing stayed down. The monsters' resilience was unnatural.
"Why won't they die?" Korr shouted, slamming another beast into the ground again and again.
Gray struck one repeatedly, his knuckles bleeding from contact with icy fur and bone. The creature twitched violently, but refused to stop moving.
Renn flipped frantically through his book. "Give me a second. I'm almost there!"
Another wolf leapt at Lira, catching her off guard. It knocked her down. She rolled out of the way just in time to avoid a crushing bite and blasted a flame pulse into its torso. Still, it rose.
Finally, Renn shouted. "Found it! Frostmanes, Rank D-minus. Undying subtype. Their weakness is a gland buried just above the back right leg. If you hit that, they drop instantly."
"Back right leg!" Gray shouted, ducking a swipe from a beast's claws.
Lira circled her target and aimed a low, burning sweep just behind its hind leg. The strike landed. The creature let out a metallic howl and fell still.
Adel followed suit, stabbing one precisely behind the leg and twisting. It collapsed in an instant.
Korr grabbed one, pinned it to the ground, and with a thunderous elbow strike, crushed the area Renn had described.
Gray dashed between two beasts, his limbs enhanced with Vyre. He felt his blood heat and mind sharpen. Each movement was fluid now. He struck one in the correct spot, feeling its body shudder before dropping limp.
One by one, the Frostmanes fell.
When the last collapsed, the team stood panting in the snow, surrounded by steaming bodies and patches of burned ice. The silence returned slowly, broken only by the whimper of wind.
"You all good?" Renn called from the ramp.
They nodded. Bruised, scraped, but alive.
Gray looked at his hands again. His veins still buzzed with Vyre. "When I infused my body with Vyre, it fought off the cold. Almost like my blood started boiling. We should try it while we're out here."
Lira nodded. "It might be the difference between surviving this place and freezing to death."
They climbed back into the truck. Exhausted, cold, but now informed.
The vehicle rumbled forward again. They continued for another hour before arriving at the origin of the smoke signal. It rose in thin wisps from a patch of snow-covered trees, clustered together unnaturally tight.
Renn parked the truck behind a low ridge. They stepped out into the biting wind once again.
Gray looked at the others. "Infuse your bodies with Vyre. Just a little. It helps."
They followed suit, and soon their breaths stopped shaking as much. They approached the trees in silence, weapons drawn. The snow crunched beneath their feet.
The smoke twisted above them like a warning.
They stepped forward together, vanishing into the thicket.