"Long..."

The little girl looked Arteus over up and down, her crimson eyes piercing through the dust and debris. Despite the chaos that had just unfolded, she sat there, as serene as a statue in a garden of the gods, surrounded by the lifeless coils of snakes that had once writhed with the ineloquence of a serpent. Her innocent features were a stark contrast to the scene of destruction that played out around them. Her skin was pale, almost translucent, with a hint of blue that made her appear like a ghostly apparition amidst the ruins.

The girl's beauty was like a rose in a field of thorns, so stark and pure that it seemed almost out of place. Her golden hair fell in waves around her, a stark contrast to the crimson of her eyes, which seemed to burn with a fierce intensity that belied her tender years. She cradled a doll in her arms, its porcelain skin as white as the snow outside, and its eyes as black as the pits of the abyss. The doll looked as though it had seen too much, too soon, its expression haunting in the flickering light of the rundown church.

Arteus was in awe of her ethereal beauty, and judging by her small frame she couldn't have been older than thirteen winters. Her presence, however, was as confusing as the scene of destruction around her. Perched amidst the snakes and vines like the forbidden fruit spoken of in Eden's lore.

But the serenity of the moment was short lived, for suddenly, the quietude was shattered by a howl that cut through the air. It was the call of the yeti, amidst all the ethereal fluff of the matter Arteus had almost forgotten that he was still mid-battle.

"...ahh" Arteus mumbled out, a flurry of emotions stirring within him, "I'll be back for you."

The girl, with the crimson eyes that seemed to pierce through the very essence of his soul, simply nodded, not a single word escaping her lips. It was as if she knew exactly what he was saying, even though he had uttered nothing more than a simple acknowledgment of her presence.

Arteus pushed off the ground, his boots leaving cracks in the frozen earth that spiderwebbed out like the aftermath of a seismic tremor.

He jumped through the hole he had made when he fell through the roof and found himself at its top with a perfect view of Qliax. The town lay spread out before him, a tableau of carnage and chaos.

In the little time he was away, the yeti had converged on Ava's position. They came from all directions, surrounding and closing her in, in a living wall of fur and claws.

Ava, ever the stubborn pre-dinner snack, had raised arms around her like the ones in Sovereign. Made primarily of flesh and bone, but coated in stone, they grew from the frozen earth around her. Forming a protective barricade that would put the walls of Castle Avarice to shame.

She found herself at the centre of the yeti onslaught, and in that moment, decided it would be pointless to fight back. Opting for a war of attrition in place of a full on kamikaze style assault. The beasts marched on her like toy soldiers, a sense of foreboding hanging in the air like a heavy mist. It was clear to her that she was going to need a miracle, or at the very least, a very strong cup of tea.

"..." Arteus looked upon her hopeless situation with a stoic expression, "...heh," and gave a maniacal grin as he sprung into action. He sprinted across the rooftops with a speed that defied common physics, his boots sending tiles flying like shrapnel from a grenade's explosion.

He saw the first titan of the yeti horde, its fur the colour of an abyss' deepest point, and he came to the conclusion that this wouldn't take long. Taking a leap of faith, his axe ablaze, Arteus landed on the creature's broad shoulder with a thud that echoed through the silent battlefield. The yeti roared in fury, its breath a storm of frost that would freeze a man's soul on the spot, but Arteus was already in motion.

He held firm on his lofty perch, and slashed at the titan's nape with a ferocity that seemed to have been borrowed from the very gods of war. His axe cleaved through the beast's fur and flesh with the ease of a hot knife through butter. The creature roared in pain and fury, but it was a sound that was soon drowned out by the defeated wails of a creature long felled.

With the grace of a dancer and the precision of a hawk, Arteus begun to jump from yeti to yeti. Swinging his axe each time like a conductor's baton, orchestrating a macabre ballet of carnage. He struck at the base of their necks, where the fur was thickest, where the skin was toughest. Each blow sent a geyser of crimson spraying into the air like a wellspring of life, staining the pure white snow below a gruesome shade of scarlet. The creatures roared in pain and anger, their eyes rolling back in their heads as their lifeblood painted the landscape artistically.

One by one, the yeti began to topple, their massive forms crashing to the ground like ancient oaks in a tempest. Each fall was accompanied by a cacophony of snapping bones and the crack of ancient ice giving way beneath their weight. The buildings around them groaned and creaked, some even crumbling under the impact of their dying comrades. It was a sight that could be sung about in tavern tales for centuries to come.

As the last yeti fell, Arteus fell with it, his axe still lodged in its nape as the creature's body thudded into the ground. The impact sent shockwaves through the frozen earth, a silent testament to the power of his strike. He emerged from the creature's carcass unscathed, landing on his feet with the grace of a cat, the axe still held aloft.

He had landed at the forefront of Ava's makeshift shield, a solid Hail Mary or plan B depending on which of the two you'd ask. The air was thick with the scent of iron, probably from all the blood, as Arteus took a moment to survey the carnage.

His eyes scanned the horizon, admiring the beautiful chaos he had just rained down upon the yetis. And then, he moved. With the grace of a porcelain cat navigating a minefield, Arteus made his way through the maze of the fallen behemoths, his boots barely disturbing the fresh crimson snow beneath him.

Arteus approached the barricade Ava had conjured, which from an artistic standpoint was an impressive feat. He approached it with a cocky swagger that would make the gods themselves question their own self-importance. His steps were deliberate, each one echoing through the quiet town of Qliax like a drumroll before the grand finale of a battle. He reached the wall of stone and flesh, and with a smirk that could charm the birds from the trees, he raised his hand and tapped it with the butt of his axe.

A gentle knock on the stone meshed flesh that broke the silence in a humorous way, as if the very barricade itself were but a door he could knock down with a gentle whistle. Arteus's grin widened as the wall of arms, rumbled in response. Sure, Ava's power was formidable, but to see it manifested in such a way was both awe-inspiring and a little absurd.

The fingers of the arms unfurled with the slow majesty of a flower opening to the sun, revealing Ava's slender form, untouched by the chaos that had unfolded outside her makeshift fortress. Her eyes were closed, a look of intense concentration etched on her face, her breath coming in slow, measured puffs of mist in the cold air. As she felt Arteus's presence, she opened her eyes and let out a relieved sigh.

"Yes?" Ava's voice was a soft, sarcastic whisper, a gentle breeze that carried the weight of the world. She looked at Arteus, her eyes a mix of relief and weariness, the tapestry of her thoughts woven in the lines of her face.

"Oh-uh, nothing, i just... thought, you'd want to know, that i, found a survivor," Arteus said with a smug grin, watching as Ava's eyes shot open in surprise before her legs gave way. Her body crumpling to the ground like a marionette whose strings had been cut. 

That was, long...

-To Be Continued-