Awakening: I Ascend Alone-Chapter 37: Into the Cold, White Distance

Melvin and Aurex wrapped up what they were doing and began to trudge the path down the valley. At some point on their way, Aurex would even want to initiate a kind of downtrodden game; unfortunately, Melvin was not in the mood. There were more important things to take in in this dangerous place.

How could Aurex even think of a game in such a place? And the worst part of the whole thing was that he tried to defend himself each time he was blamed for his unseriousness.

"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy," Aurex would key in each time.

To hell with that.

Melvin could have agreed with him if only they were brought up in the same way. But how could he? His whole life as he knew it had been tied down with hustling and striving in an environment that suited no lazy man... all in the name of survival.

Even if he wanted to believe it, there was no proof to that saying yet. He was no dull boy. Like, could he have been able to survive until this point if he wasn’t smart enough? If he was dull?

’He’s such a nerd,’ Melvin thought. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Nevertheless, they got to the point on the snow hill, which was slippery, and both of them glided down playfully. When Aurex tried to criticize Melvin about it, he simply responded, "Sliding through the slippery ground allowed for faster movement."

And that response seemed to be his true thought, unlike Aurex, who had done it for fun. But why should it all matter?

Soon, the boys had fully climbed down the valley and were now standing on level ground. Only now did they see what they weren’t able to see while uphill.

Littered around were wolf corpses, and blood painted that large part of the snow, unknowingly creating a check of crimson contrasted against white. This sight only told them one thing.

Keth was locked in a fierce battle even before their arrival.

Quickly, Melvin rushed to where she lay beside the massive wolf. Now, he wasn’t even sure if he should call the creature he was seeing a wolf.

The first feature of the monster that implanted doubt in his mind was its wings. It had wings that could serve as a comfortable rest place for two of the wolves he had fought, with ridge-like bones running across it until they extended outward into pointed talons.

Then, Melvin walked around the wolf... around the creature. It carried a small head, not so small but not fit for a monster as huge as it was. Apart from these foreign features, every other characteristic it bore was akin to that of horned wolves, except it towered longer than the others.

It was really a wolf. No, a lycan? A winged lycan?

If only he had the appraisal ability, he could have known what this species of wolf was called. But he had his guesses.

Keth had disappeared earlier on, while they distracted the wolves that had her surrounded at the time. She left, only to return with this creature that was at least five times the size of those massive horned wolves. This action only told him that the winged wolf was somewhat special among the others.

If he was allowed to read Keth’s past thoughts while she was locked in battle, he would have understood that the creature had been her target from the start. And as someone who often read fantasy books, it meant one thing to him.

The lycan, or wolf whatsoever, was the alpha of the pack. It was the boss of all the wolves they had killed earlier. Its evolution phase up to that hierarchy must have been the cause of its unique features.

So, what rank has it descended into? Melvin didn’t know.

All he knew right now was that the more he delayed time on things that shouldn’t matter, the more difficult Keth’s current situation would become.

Good enough, there were no injuries... visible injuries at least. Which meant that she had collapsed out of exhaustion. That should really be the case.

"Aurex?" he called.

"Give me a minute," Aurex answered, and rushed not long after, holding a fur cloak in his hand.

While Melvin had been swimming in thoughts, Aurex was busy cutting out fur clothing for Keth to provide warmth since they didn’t know how much longer they would spend in this snow land.

"Help me," Melvin said, crouching down with his back toward Keth.

Aurex understood that he wanted a helping hand to lift Keth onto his back. Hence, he dropped whatever was occupying the space in his hands and helped lift the unconscious body of the girl onto Melvin’s back. Then, picked up the fur cloak and wrapped it around her body.

With unconscious Keth being backed by Melvin and Aurex ready for a way forward, they set to continue north. But Melvin turned back as they began to move and halted.

"Why did you stop?" Aurex asked, following Melvin’s gaze until they dropped on the winged lycan. "Don’t tell me you want to bring it along? I would give credit, even distinction, to that weirdo of a girl for being able to drag that giant the whole time."

"I think she needs something with it. She wouldn’t have dragged it to this point if there wasn’t a tangible reason after killing it," Melvin argued.

"Say whatever. It’s a load more than I can bear."

Melvin stared at Aurex for a while, saying nothing. Then, he tilted his head upward a bit as if in thought and said, "How should I put it? She did what you will never be able to do; is that why?"

Aurex puffed. "Haven’t you heard of her back in the academy? She’s a weirdo. I’m not."

What he said to justify himself didn’t matter to Melvin anymore. The silver-haired boy just adjusted Keth on his back, then with a belittling chuckle turned his back and began to head north. They wanted to avoid the forest to the east at all costs.

"Leave the corpse then, if it won’t hurt your pride," he said aloud and didn’t turn back again.

***

The snow stretched endlessly around them.

White upon white, broken only by jagged ice and the occasional dark rock buried beneath frost. The wind had softened a little, but the cold still lingered like a quiet threat.

After many immeasurable minutes of walking north, both boys were finally exhausted. Hence, they stopped.

Without saying much, they both understood it was time to rest.

The fur cloaks they had taken from the wolves wrapped tightly around their bodies, keeping the worst of the cold away. It wasn’t warmth, but it was enough to keep them moving... and alive.

Aurex didn’t waste a second. The moment they agreed to rest, he let go of the winged lycan’s corpse and dropped onto the snow, sitting down heavily as he let out a long breath.

"I’m done..." he muttered.

Melvin, on the other hand, was still standing.

Keth remained draped unconsciously over his back, her arms hanging loosely over his shoulders, her breathing faint but steady. Melvin adjusted her slightly, making sure she wouldn’t slip.

For a moment, he just stood there in silence, staring at nothing in particular. The world around them hadn’t changed since they arrived. There was no sun, no sky, and not even the slightest sense of time.

Just endless snow and that same dull, frozen light they had met.

Melvin narrowed his eyes slightly, coming to a conclusive guess from all that had happened so far.

’If this were the real world, it would probably be late in the evening by now.’

The thought came and went just as quickly. He exhaled slowly and was about to lower Keth to the ground so he, too, could rest but then paused.

Something caught his eye.

Far in the distance, barely visible through the drifting snow, was a rising shape.

Melvin squinted.

At first, it looked like nothing more than a darker patch against the white landscape. But the longer he stared, the clearer it became.

It was a break in the snow.

A jagged opening was carved into what looked like a low rise of frozen rock. The edges were uneven, shadowed like the mouth of something ancient half-buried beneath layers of ice. From this distance, it wasn’t fully clear, but the darkness inside it felt deep.

It looked like a cave.

Melvin’s eyes sharpened immediately as he turned sharply toward Aurex.

"Get up," he said. "I think I found somewhere we can stay. Let’s move immediately."

Aurex groaned from the ground, not even opening his eyes or making the slightest move that showed he was going to get up. Instead, he laid his complaint.

"Are you serious? Can’t we rest first, just a little? Are you never tired?"

Melvin shook his head.

"Now that I’ve seen hope..." he said quietly, adjusting Keth on his back again. "...I can’t afford to stay hopeless."

And without waiting, he began walking toward the distant structure.

Aurex opened one eye, staring at his retreating figure.

’What does he mean to call me by saying that?"

For a moment, he frowned and sat there, thinking. Then, seeing that the more time he wasted, the farther Melvin went, he sighed.

"This guy..."

Slowly, he pushed himself up, dusted the snow off his clothes, and followed behind Melvin into the cold, white distance while dragging the winged lycan by the wings behind him.