Into The Frozen Forest (Part 9)

Chase couldn't help but let his gaze wander, as they passed through the decently large cave entrance, that they had hoped led to the other side of the mountain.

"It's beautiful..."

Vivian said, as she knelt down to touch one of the luminescent flowers.

It was getting far darker than Chase had expected, so he held his palm up and summoned a ball of flames to guide them toward the exit.

The fire seemed to radiate along with the vast cavern, as strange bugs began to dance around the flames, each of all shapes and different sizes.

The bugs were almost like fireflies in a way, but seemed to each have their own unique color that lit up both their heads and backs.

Beside them, a stream of water followed the path toward the exit, with crystalline water flowing seamlessly, as it tempted them to drink from the perfect liquid.

Chase spotted his reflection in the water.

Dark bags rested under his empty eyes, with his blood stained fur coat, and torn up armor.

On a whim, he summoned the Naga mask upon his face.

"Um..."

 Equan backed away, as the particles began to grow tangible on his face, appearing as the face of a demon.

And of course, the colors of the cave began to grow even brighter, and more luxurious.

It was truly an indescribable sight.

Stalactites made of an unknown ore hung ten to twenty feet down from the vast cavern ceiling, and far across the stream, axolotls played with each other, bumping their friends around in the water.

"Chase..."

Michael spoke from behind him, as a sudden truth seemed to have dawned on Task Force Unity.

'Whoops...'

He thought, forgetting that he had originally planned to keep his false identity as a secret alias.

Not that he really cared though, either all of them would die soon, or take the secret to the grave.

"You're the grinning devil?"

Equan asked, as both fear and amazement escaped through his tone.

Putting hands up in defense, Equan stuttered over his words several times.

"Forgive me for calling you a cannibal!"

For the first time in a while, Chase felt himself smile underneath the mask.

Finally in the far distance, the bright light of the usually cloud covered sun, lit up the exit of the cavern like something out of a vibrant dream.

Before dismissing his mask, he gazed at Talon out of the corner of his eye.

He tried to use the mask in order to take a gander into his soul, but instead of finding anything useful, he found a hidden rage within the man, something that seemed to resonate quite well with Chase.

Which only made him feel like more of a monster than he already did.

...

Once they reached the exit of the cave, they were met with an astonishing sight.

"Wow..."

An entire jungle awaited them on the other side of the cave.

Which made zero sense, considering they were in the middle of the coldest location on the continent of Vallmora.

A large pond was at the center of the Oasis, and behind it, rested a small wooden building that should have been rotted over from how old it truly looked.

"We will stay there for the next few days."

Chase said, followed by a nod of approval from Onyx.

The nine of them made it to the front porch of the building, and found themselves resting on the steps, basking in the strange warmth of the oasis.

After dismissing the mask, Chase stepped inside of their new temporary home, only to find a simple living room layout beyond the entrance, with a small flight of stairs leading to a lower level.

The building was quite strange, considering it reminded him a lot of the house he had grown up in.

On one of the wooden support beams rested a single lantern, which Chase lifted the notch of and set his ball of flame on the wax, letting the room be lit by his own source of light.

Upon descending down the stairs, he found a room with a stone round table, with twelve seats scattered around it.

"Strange..."

'Had Leander known about this place beforehand...'

He thought, as he made his way over to the farthest seat, that looked over the entire table.

A large and accurate scaled map of Frostfang rested on the table, like a fine wine that had fermented over the course of years.

Sitting down at the head of the table, he thought for a few moments, now that he found himself alone, he realized that he had truly been avoiding his own thoughts.

It was strangely peaceful, as if he hadn't truly let himself rest in quite a while.

There was simply just too much on his mind.

There was now blood on his hands, and from what Dragon had said, there would be much more in the coming years.

That is, if he survived his inevitable encounter with Sazir of House Frostfang...

The general that was known as The Wendigo.

Soon everyone found themselves seated at one of the twelve chairs, around the stone table.

Summer began to put together a meal of rations that she had already prepared, and Danny began to tinker with a small piece of machinery, that Chase had no clue as to what it was.

Equan had already fallen asleep with his face drooling on the ancient map.

Michael looked as if he was quite unsteady, and the previous days had finally caught up to him.

After eating, Chase stood up and explored the old home once more, finding a small room that he would rest inside of.

It had an old bed that had surprisingly held up quite well over the past years, and a small nightstand by its side, but that was all the room had to offer.

Not even a lantern to light up the darkness of the night, yet the room felt even more comfortable than his dorm room back at Phoenix Academy.

Summoning Sparky by his side, he looked into the flaming eyes of the Hellhound, and spoke somberly.

"Sorry I dragged you into this whole mess..."

All Sparky could do was let out a short whimper, and let his head flop onto Chase's leg.

Chase let his hand stroke the fur on Sparky's head, causing the canine's ears to perk up, and his tail to wag happily.

"Thank you, but you do need to stay with the others, there is somewhere I have to go tonight. And I need you to protect them while I'm gone..."

Sparky barked happily, and Chase couldn't help but feel grateful for the Hellhound he had stumbled upon by sheer chance.

Or more so... Destiny...