"Questions unasked, George the Curious."

It appeared without warning, a sphere of blackness that seemed to pulse with a malevolent energy, the very air around it shivering with each sickening beat. The veins that spiderwebbed across its surface glowed with a cold blue light, like the frozen rivers of a nightmare realm. At its core, a single eye blinked into existence, a baleful orb with three long, spindly lashes that fluttered like the legs of a drowning spider. The eye looked upon them, a silent sentinel that bore witness to their fear and determination, unblinking and unforgiving.

In the split second it took for the creature to fully manifest, Lilly's instincts kicked in. She moved by pure instinct. Without a moment's hesitation, she let go of her grandmother, dropping her to the icy ground with a thump that seemed to echo through the desolate streets. The old woman's cry of pain was lost in the wind as Lilly stepped in front of Gracie, her eyes locked on the creature that now loomed over them.

Arteus saw her move, and his own body responded in kind. He leaped forward, his body a blur of motion that seemed to defy the very laws of the frozen world. He placed himself between the creature and the two girls, his dagger at the ready.

His thoughts were a jumble of confusion and dread as Arteus stared at the creature. What type of abomination could this be? What dark force had it been born of, and why had it chosen this precise moment to reveal itself? He knew the prophecy had wrought chaos and unleashed ancient terrors upon Avaricia, but this... this was something else entirely.

But before he could even begin to formulate a coherent question, the air around them was split by a sound that seemed to shake the very heavens. It was a boom that echoed through the village, a thunderous voice that seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere at once. "Introduce thyself, young squire," the voice declared, resonating with the authority of a deity.

Arteus stumbled over his words, his mind racing with the suddenness of the creature's presence. "I-I am Arteus," he managed to get out, his voice quaking like the ice beneath their feet. "Son of Hanna, the village herbalist."

"And whom do i speak to?" Arteus demanded, his voice a whip-crack in the icy air. The creature before them, a monstrous amalgamation of shadow and ice, towered over them, its singular eye unblinking.

The creature's eye narrowed, the pupil dilating and contracting as if it were scrutinizing him. "Arteus," it murmured, the syllables of his name coated in a layer of ice that seemed to freeze the very air around them. "This form is called Gildred, but 'i' am 'without' this space."

A wave of relief washed over Arteus as the creature spoke. It wasn't the language that soothed him, but the tone—devoid of malice. It was almost... curious, as if it were studying a peculiar insect rather than a potential meal. The creature didn't radiate the hunger of the wolves or the anger of the yeti. It was something else entirely—a presence that was ancient and unknowable.

He nodded slowly to the girls, the smallest of gestures that spoke volumes. The tension in Lilly's stance lessened, and Gracie peeked out from behind her sister's protective embrace, her eyes still wide but no longer brimming with fear. The creature, Gildred, floated a step back, the very air seeming to shiver in response.

Arteus took in the creature's form once more, his mind racing. It was a sculpture of nightmares, a symphony of shadows and ice that sang a song of ancient power. But as he searched for a weakness, a chink in its icy armor, his instincts remained eerily silent. This was no beast of the frozen lands, driven by hunger or territorial rage. It was a puzzle, a riddle wrapped in an enigma that seemed to defy the very essence of his skills.

He knew he could not face this creature in combat—not yet. There was something about Gildred that suggested it was a force beyond his understanding, a creature that could crush him with a thought, much less a swipe of its clawed hand. And so he chose a different tactic, one that had served him well in the past when faced with the unknown: patience and cunning.

"Are you the puppeteer of the events that unfold today?" Arteus questioned, his voice steady despite the fear that gnawed at his insides. He knew he had to keep the creature talking, to understand what it was and why it had come to this desolate place.

The creature, Gildred, paused, the shadows within its form rippling like the surface of a disturbed pond. "I am not the orchestrator, merely an observer," it replied, its voice a frosty whisper that seemed to carry the weight of millennia. "However, i do find pleasure in knowing there are those like you, who seem to have caught on to what transpires today."

Lilly's puzzled look grew more pronounced as she stared at Arteus, her eyes searching his for answers that she knew he didn't possess. Her mind raced, trying to piece together the puzzle that lay before them. Who was this creature, and what did it mean by 'observer'? Was it an ally or a foe? And were the events of the day truly conspired? Her thoughts were a tumultuous storm, a whirlwind of doubt and suspicion.

"The wolves," Arteus began, his voice a low growl that seemed to resonate with the very earth beneath their feet. "They were not acting of their own accord." His gaze was steely, his eyes never leaving the creature's unblinking stare. "Their movements, their ferocity... it was too human, as if they were being controlled by an unseen hand."

"What draws you to such a conclusion?" The creature asked with a piqued curiosity, the shadows within it shifting and coalescing into something almost human in its intensity.

"As i passed through the village square," Arteus said, his voice measured and calm despite the racing thoughts in his head, "I saw how the villagers had been attacked. Whatever attacked them didn't hunt for food; it targeted the strong and capable. It was as if it were following a strategy, a human one." He paused, his gaze never leaving the creature's unnerving stare. "And the bodies, they were not fully consumed. It's as if the beasts had no hunger, only the desire to eliminate."

"And the yeti that took my mother's life..." Arteus paused, the grief of the ordeal still fresh within him. "Nevermind that, everything that happened today suggests a higher force at play," he said, his voice heavy with unspoken words.

"...intriguing." The ancient creature boomed curiously, the very sound of its voice making the ground tremble beneath their feet.

Lilly's eyes searched Arteus's face, looking for a sign of the grief she knew he had to be feeling. The loss of his mother was a wound that had barely had time to scab over, and yet here he was, piecing together the clues of a much larger puzzle. She could see the exhaustion in the lines around his eyes, the tension in the set of his jaw. But he held his ground, a rock in the face of a hurricane, and she found herself admiring him for it.

"Your insights do not go unnoticed," Gildred said, the shadows within it shifting to form a semblance of a hand, which it then brought to its non-existent mouth to applaud. "You are quite the perceptive soul, Arteus."

"Well, i have overstayed my welcome," Gildred murmured, the shadows of its form beginning to dissipate into the surrounding blizzard.

But Arteus was not about to let it leave without more information. "Wait," he called out, his voice cutting through the howling wind like a hot knife through butter. "What do you know of the second birth? Why are you here?"

The creature's eye narrowed, the pupil expanding like the maw of an abyss, swallowing all light. "Your questions are many, and your curiosity, while commendable, is not my burden to satiate," it replied, the words freezing on the air as they left its lips. "I leave you with one piece of knowledge though, you'd do well to remember your birthright and understand the chaos that flows within you."

"...what?" Arteus' voice was tinged with desperation, the creature's cryptic words leaving him more confused than ever. "You can't just..."

"Hm? It appears you are needed elsewhere." The creature's voice came a frosty whisper that seemed to carry the weight of millennia as it cut him off. "Fare, well, 'Arty'."

"Wait!" Arteus shouted as Gildred began to absorb itself, the shadows and ice that composed its form retreating into the very fabric of the air around them. The creature's movements were sudden and erratic, its body contorting and distending in a way that defied natural law. It grew larger and smaller in the space of a heartbeat, the edges of its being stretching and snapping back like elastic before finally bursting into a shower of crimson.

Arteus and the group shielded their eyes from the crimson shower that Gildred's disappearance had left in its wake. The red flakes fell like a macabre snowstorm, each one a stark contrast against the pristine white that had dominated the scene just moments ago. They flinched at the sudden assault on their senses, the warmth of the creature's parting words now a distant memory as the cold reality of its departure set in.

"...what did you, call me?..." Arteus mumured to himself, his mind reeling with the creature's parting words.

The crimson snowfall abruptly ceased, and a sudden silence fell upon the desolate village. The quietude was so profound it seemed to press down on them, a heavy weight that made even the act of breathing feel like a struggle against the unyielding cold. It was as if the very air had been sucked out of the world, leaving nothing but a vacuum of anticipation that echoed with the pounding of their racing hearts.

And then, like a shattered chord in the symphony of silence, a piercing scream sliced through the air. It was a sound that seemed to carry with it the very essence of fear and despair, a cry that resonated in the marrow of their bones and made the hair on their necks stand on end. Gracie's eyes grew wide with terror, her mouth opening in a silent mirror of the scream that had so abruptly pierced the stillness.

Survivors!

-To Be Continued-