White Death

The cracks in the ice stretched like lightning, jagged and unpredictable, splintering toward us with terrifying speed. Each crack sounded like a whip, sharp and final, echoing in my ears.

"Run!" I screamed, my voice breaking with desperation. "Move now!"

The group hesitated, frozen in confusion and fear. I didn't have time to explain. I grabbed Jae-hyun and Min-seok by their arms, dragging them with me, my boots skidding against the slick, fragile ice. The cold air burned my throat as I heaved, shouting over my shoulder, "Eun-jin! Move!"

She clutched Da-on tightly, her arms wrapped around her daughter like a lifeline as she sprinted. Each step was uneven, her boots slipping against the crumbling ice, but she didn't stop.

The ice beneath her feet groaned, then shattered.

The ground splintered into a thousand pieces, collapsing into a churning black pool of freezing water. She kept running, her breath coming out in ragged bursts, her eyes locked on the solid edge just a few feet away. The cracks were gaining on her, but she was so close.

So close.

But then my stomach twisted. A sick pull deep inside me, a weight that told me something was horribly wrong.

I looked up.

The elf.

One of them was watching us smiling from above, but the other?

Her bow was drawn.

The arrow was already loosed before I could shout a warning.

It sliced through the air like a whisper of death, grazing Eun-jin's foot. She stumbled, her body jolting as she let out a small gasp of pain.

And that was all it took.

The ice caught up to her, shattering completely beneath her feet. She didn't even scream. Her arms tightened around Da-on, and she hurled her forward with all her strength.

Da-on's small body soared through the air, her tiny hands gripping her bunny tightly. My legs moved before my mind could process what was happening, my arms reaching out instinctively.

I caught her.

The force knocked me back a step, and I almost slipped, but I held her tightly, her trembling little body pressed against mine.

When I looked up, Eun-jin was smiling.

It wasn't relief. It wasn't hope.

It was goodbye.

The ice crumbled completely, taking her with it. She disappeared into the freezing abyss, her voice echoing faintly in the frigid air.

"Take care of Da-on for me…"

Her words hung in the silence like a ghost, and then she was gone.

I froze.

The world blurred, the edges of my vision darkening. My chest heaved, but no air seemed to fill my lungs. My legs trembled, threatening to give out beneath me.

This isn't real. This can't be real.

"Eun-jin!" I screamed, the sound tearing through my throat.

For a moment, everything stopped. The ice shards, the elves, the cold—they all disappeared into the suffocating blackness that seemed to wrap around me.

Then—movement.

Min-seok lunged forward, sliding across the ice with a speed I didn't know he had. He caught Eun-jin's arm just as she was about to disappear completely, his legs scrambling for traction.

"Hold on!" he shouted, his voice strained as he yanked her upward.

The ice beneath him groaned and cracked ominously, but he didn't let go. Jae-hyun rushed to his side, grabbing her other arm. Together, they pulled her up, their faces red and strained with effort.

Eun-jin collapsed onto the solid ice, her body trembling violently from the cold. Her breaths came out in short, sharp gasps, tears streaming down her pale cheeks.

"Thank you," she whispered, her voice barely audible as she turned to Min-seok.

Min-seok smiled faintly, rubbing the back of his neck in that awkward way of his. "It's… only natural to save someo—"

The world turned red for a second. Time stopped moving, my nerves exploded in my head. Crimson surrounded me. A pool of red formed where they were sitting.

Cough

Min-seok coughed, heaving for air. His bloodied hands moved to his neck, there. A fleeting cold embrace of something hard and cold.

Eun-Jin shrieked, her face was covered in blood. Not her own but Min-seok's. Her voice hoarse as she looked at the ice arrow, shoved deep into his neck. She blinked, once, twice unable to determine if this was real or not.

Jae-hyun stumbled back, his smile turned into a confused frown.

"M—Min—Min-seok?" He said with trembling lips, touching Min-seok's limp arm.

Min-seok on the other hand, didn't even realise what was going on as he choked. Blood gushed out of his throat. Tears formed in his eyes, slipping onto his cheeks.

He looked up to me, pointing his trembling right arm in my direction. 

"Remember ou— promis?" He barely formed the words before drawing his last breath. 

Min-seok was…

Dead. 

My mind blanked out. My eyes blurred as I heard muffled screams in the background. My lips trembled for some reason.

Huh? What was going on? 

Something warm and wet tugged at my cheeks. 

"Tears?" I whispered moving my arm to my face.

Whose are these? 

W-where am I? 

The world turned black. It felt as if I was falling through a deep pit of suffocating tar. All of my senses were screaming, my heart felt like it was being stabbed from every direction possible. 

Why was this happening?

I didn't know, but for some reason the tears didn't stop. Neither did the rage bubbling up inside me. Slowly everything came back, as if pieces if a puzzle falling in place.

Ah… so the reason I was crying was this man. The rage I felt was targeted towards those beings sitting up there. Laughing as they primed their bow. 

Primed their bow?

Wait, wasn't I responsible for this bunch? 

The thoughts churned in my head, chaotic and suffocating. I wanted to claw out my heart, the pain was too unbearable. 

But then—

"Oppa…"

Da-on's tiny voice cut through the haze, soft and trembling.

I blinked, the darkness peeling back slightly.

Her tear-streaked face was buried in my chest, her tiny fingers clutching at my shirt.

"Are we… gonna die too?"

Her question snapped something in me.

Are we all going to die? 

No. 

No no no no no no no. 

"Someone s-save me. P—P—please. I—I don't want to die." I whispered in a daze, my hands moving to my head, ruffling my hair.

I was in a panic, my head refused to work, but for some reason another look at Da-on, just a tiny glance at her scared face and everything became clear.

No one wants to die. I know it. And I also know that no one is coming. 

I am the leader. I took this spot on your own. 

So I have to make my decision. 

Will all of us die sitting here in vain? Or will we die trying? 

Suddenly the darkness faded, the world came back to me. Back into my grasp. The suffocating tar disappeared into thin air. My tears stopped, my eyes sharpening onto Min-seok's limp body. The others were still grieving. 

"Don't think about him." I whispered, my voice felt foreign even to me.

"I said don't think about him." I shouted, this time my voice thundered through the room. Eun-jin and Jae-hyun turned to me in a daze. 

"W—what are you saying?" Jae-hyun said, his voice a frantic mess. 

I grabbed Da-on tighter, her bunny dangling in her arms. 

Gulping I shouted again. "Empty your minds. We don't have the time to grieve. Or do you want to die too? Huh?" 

I don't care if I become a villain, or if I don't honour the dead. All I know is that four lives depend on me and I wasn't going to let any of them slip away, at least not before me. 

I stood up, my legs shaky but steady.

The elves were still watching, their golden eyes gleaming with cruel delight.

This wasn't over. Not yet.

[Time Left: 11 minutes, 52 seconds.]