"Are ya done?"

Arteus staggered to his feet, the cold air burning his lungs as he took in the grim scene before him. The fall had left him bruised but not broken, his instincts now sharper than ever. The cellar door loomed before him, a way out of this decrepit tomb of a cellar. He rushed towards it, his boots echoing through the cold, damp space.

Ava groaned, pushing herself up from the floor with a grimace, her eyes never leaving the yeti corpse. She followed Arteus' lead, her movements stiff but determined. The dust of ages swirled around them as they approached the only exit from the underbelly of the town hall.

As they reached the door, Arteus threw his weight against the cellar door, the wood groaning in protest. It didn't budge. He frowned, his hand reaching for the handle again.

Its obvious the path was blocked from the other side by the corpses of some poor souls who sought refuge from the prophecy's wrath in the cellar.

The realization was a grim one, but the situation demanded action, not contemplation.

He took a step back, braced himself, and then lunged forward with all his might. The door shuddered and broke open with a wild swing that sent a pair of corpses spiralling through the air like a couple of beyblades.

"We need to get out into the open," Arteus called over the din of the approaching yeti. His voice was steady despite the tremor in his hands. "The last thing we need is to be trapped down here with those monsters."

Ava nodded in agreement, and the pair made their way through the corpse littered hallway of the town hall, the sound of their steps echoing in the emptiness. They emerged into the frozen street, the cold air a stark contrast to the stale cellar.

As they emerged into the open, the biting wind slapped their faces with the cold reality of their situation. Their eyes widened in horror as they saw titan yetis slow marching towards them from all four compass points, their monstrous forms silhouetted against the stark white skyline. The beasts' eyes gleamed with a feral hunger, their howls piercing the once peaceful silence of Qliax.

"Ava," Arteus shouted over the cacophony, "You take the ones on the left, I'll handle the right!"

Without a moment's hesitation, Ava nodded and immediately bolted in the direction of the advancing yetis. Her bare feet sank into the cold, powdery snow, but she didn't let it slow her down. Instead, she created feet from the frozen earth that matched her pace stride for stride as they extended higher and higher to catapult her to the height of the yeti like a step ladder.

As she reached the peak of her ascent, she threw herself into the air with a grace that defied gravity. In that split second of suspension, she grew. Her body elongated, stretching into a form that was both terrifying and mesmerizing. Her arms multiplied, six in total, sprouting from her sides like the limbs of a starfish, each one coated in a layer of ice that gleamed in the pale sky.

And she wasn't done either, suddenly, as she soared through the sky, the leftmost building quivered, as if in anticipation of what was to come. With a roar that seemed to shake the very foundations of the earth, a giant limb burst forth from its side, a construct of human flesh and ice. It reached out, a frozen tendril of destruction, and wrapped around one of the yeti that had been slowly advancing on them. The creature's howl was cut short as it was hoisted into the air, its massive body dangling from the building like a ragdoll. The weight of the yeti was too much for the arm to hold for long, and with a sickening crunch, it swung back, slamming the beast into the ground with a force that sent cracks spider-webbing through the ice beneath them. The yeti didn't move, a testament to the power Ava had unleashed.

Yikes...

Arteus wasn't going to be outdone though, not in the face of such monstrosities. With a deep breath, he crouched down, his hand reaching out to the ground. The frozen earth responded to his touch, coating his boots in a thick layer of ice, turning his feet into makeshift skates. With a roar that was as fierce as any beast, he pushed off the ground, his body gliding over the icy surface with the grace of a seasoned skater. He drew his axe, the metal singing a warrior's tune as it sliced through the air. With a flick of his wrist, he sent a spark dancing off the blade, and it ignited with a fierce flame that seemed to laugh in the face of the cold.

The first yeti to reach him was a massive creature, its fur matted with frost and its eyes burning with a hunger that could never be sated. It swiped at him with a paw the size of a dinner table, its claws as sharp as razors. Arteus ducked with the agility of a man who had spent his entire life evading taxes, the swipe of the yeti's paw passing just inches above his head.

As it missed, he took the opportunity to skate closer, his axe flashing in a blur of motion. He targeted the beast's Achilles' heel, the one spot on its towering form that wasn't covered in fur or armor-like skin. The blade bit deep, the creature's howl echoing through the air as it stumbled, the tendon in its ankle severed. It crashed to the ground, a look of surprise on its bestial face, and Arteus didn't hesitate to bring the axe down again, ending its misery.

But his victory was short-lived, for his eyes were drawn to the sight of Ava. He had never seen anything quite like it—her slender form was perched atop the shoulder of another yeti, her limbs a whirlwind of fury. Each hand ended in a spike of ice, and she was using them to jab at the creature's eyes with a ferocity that was both mesmerizing and horrific. The yeti roared in agony, its powerful body thrashing as it tried to dislodge her, but Ava was as relentless as the storm that had settled on Avaricia.

At that time, a single thought danced across the hollow walls of his psyche: "Man am i glad she's on my side."

Without wasting anymore time, Arteus sprinted towards the second yeti, his ice-coated boots giving him the speed and grace of a creature born for the frozen wastes. The beast, a monstrous aberration of nature, bore down on him, its teeth bared in a snarl that sent shivers down his spine. Yet, fear was a distant emotion in the Arteus of today. With a battle cry that was as much a declaration of defiance as it was a prayer for strength, Arteus flung his axe into the air.

The weapon spun like a fiery boomerang, its blade a scorching arc that painted the air with the promise of destruction. The flaming axe head seemed to dance in the sky, a fiery ballet that held the yeti's attention as it arced towards the creature's neck. The yeti's eyes widened, a moment too late as the axe sunk into its flesh with a sickening thud. The creature stumbled, the blade embedded deep in its throat, a grisly fountain of blood spraying forth like a crimson geyser.

But for creatures of the night, Arteus had no mercy. Connecting with the threads of chaos around the axe, Arteus charged the air around it, the magic caused the axe to whirl in the yeti's neck, transforming it into a makeshift chainsaw. The beast stumbled, its massive body reeling from the unexpected assault. The blade bit deep, the sound of bone and flesh giving way to the relentless force a gruesome symphony of their desperate battle. Blood spurted like a geyser, painting the pristine snow in a macabre display of crimson and black. The yeti's eyes rolled back, a silent scream trapped in its throat as it collapsed under its own weight.

The impact of the yeti's fall was as deafening as the crack of a lightning strike. The ground trembled beneath their feet, the very air vibrated with the creature's final breaths. Arteus watched with a grim satisfaction as the life drained from its eyes, the flame of his axe casting a warm, flickering light on the scene of victory.

As the dust of the battle began to settle, he turned to Ava, expecting to see her standing triumphant over her own defeated foe. And right he was, through the din of battle he hadn't even heard the creature hit the ground, but there she was, stalking towards him like a graceful queen of a gory masterpiece.

"Done?" She called out, all nonchalant like over the dying echoes of the yeti's howls.

Arteus nodded in response, but just as he was about to speak, a chilling wave of dread washed over them. Some not so distant howls from more yeti grew in intensity and number, multiplying like the limbs of a hydra, each one echoing off the abandoned buildings of Qliax. The realization dawned on them like the first light of a bitter winter's dawn—they had stumbled into the lair of a full on colony of yeti.

This was far from over.

-To Be Continued-