CH 015: The Arctic wind was a bitch
No, scratch that, it was a rabid, frost - breathing hellhound of a bitch.
The howling of the wind was like the furious roars of a wild beast, piercing Lily's ears like a thousand needles.
As she fumbled with the satellite map on her tablet, the cold air stung her cheeks like tiny knives, and her fingers, even encased in the supposedly "Arctic - proof" gloves John had insisted on, felt like ten tiny icicles about to snap off.
The gloves, though thick, were no match for the bone - chilling cold, and the rough texture of the gloves against her skin was a constant reminder of the frigid environment.
The screen flickered, displaying a dizzying expanse of white.
To her eyes, it was a vast, endless sea of pure white, so bright that it almost hurt.
Punctuated by the ominous red dot marking the Moonstone coordinates, it stood out like a drop of blood on a white sheet.
Alexander, ever the pragmatic (and surprisingly considerate) vampire, draped a thick, fur - lined blanket around her shivering shoulders.
The soft fur of the blanket brushed against her neck, providing a brief respite from the cold.
"You know, for someone who can turn into a giant, fluffy wolf, you're remarkably susceptible to the cold," he murmured, his breath misting in the frigid air.
The sound of his voice was deep and smooth, like the low rumble of thunder in the distance.
"Yeah, well, I haven't exactly mastered the 'thermostat' setting on my inner wolf yet," Lily grumbled, her teeth chattering.
The chattering of her teeth was a rapid, staccato sound that filled the air.
"Besides, you're the one who's supposed to be cold - blooded."
He gave her a wry smile.
"Perks of being undead. I can appreciate a good chill." His eyes, however, were fixed on the tablet screen.
"Interesting. There's an anomalous heat signature near the coordinates. Significant enough to register even through this… ice cube." He tapped the screen, and the gentle tapping sound echoed in the quiet helicopter.
"Someone's built something under the glacier."
Before Lily could process that unsettling tidbit, John Blackwood's face popped up on the tablet, his usual tech - geek enthusiasm dialed up to eleven.
His excited voice crackled through the tablet speakers, like the sound of a fire crackling in a fireplace.
"Guys, guys! You are NOT going to believe this!" He was practically vibrating with excitement.
"I hacked into the nearest weather station's data logs. Get this – the temperature in that area has been spiking over the past three months. Like, way above normal. Something's… melting the ice from below."
Lily and Alexander exchanged a look.
"Subterranean lair? With a built - in ice - melting system?" Lily said.
"Sounds like someone's been watching too many Bond villain movies."
"Or," Alexander said, his voice turning grim, "someone's planning something big. And very, very hot."
The helicopter, a beast of a machine that looked like it could survive a nuclear winter, touched down on the ice with a bone - jarring thud.
The impact sent a shockwave through the ice, and the vibration could be felt through Lily's feet as she stepped out.
The moment Lily stepped out, she wrinkled her nose.
The acrid, sulfurous smell was like a cloud of noxious gas, stinging her nostrils and tickling the back of her throat.
"What is that smell?" It was faint, but definitely there.
Alexander, ever vigilant, was already scanning the horizon, his eyes narrowed.
He moved with a preternatural grace, a blur of motion, and suddenly, a dagger was quivering in the ice mere inches from Lily's head.
The sound of the dagger hitting the ice was a sharp, metallic clang.
Embedded in the dagger's shaft was an arrow – black - fletched and wickedly sharp.
The sight of the arrow sent a shiver down Lily's spine.
"Thanks for reminding me to bring this," Alexander said, casually plucking the arrow out and handing it to Lily.
"Consider it a souvenir."
Lily's pupils contracted as she examined the arrowhead.
The cold metal of the arrowhead felt smooth and slightly damp against her fingers.
Etched into the metal was a crest – a serpentine dragon coiled around a crescent moon.
Nathaniel Shadow's family emblem.
"Well, this is just great," she muttered.
"Ambushed by ninja assassins on a godforsaken ice floe. My life is officially a cliché."
As if on cue, figures emerged from the ice itself.
Not rising from cracks or crevasses, but literally phasing through the solid surface like ghosts.
Ten of them, cloaked in black, their faces obscured by hoods, each wielding a spear made of what looked like solidified ice.
The sight of these ghostly figures emerging from the ice was a terrifying vision.
They moved with an eerie, synchronized precision, their eyes glowing with an unnatural blue light.
The blue light cast an otherworldly glow on the ice around them.
"Showtime," Alexander said, a predatory smile spreading across his face.
The fight was a brutal, chaotic ballet of claws, fangs, and ice.
Lily, embracing her inner wolf, lunged at the nearest two assassins, her claws ripping through their throats with savage efficiency.
The sound of her claws tearing through flesh was a sickening, wet crunch, and the air filled with the sickening crunch of bone and the hiss of escaping air.
Beside her, Alexander was a whirlwind of motion, his blood - manipulation powers turning the air itself into a weapon.
He conjured razor - sharp blades of frozen blood mist, slicing through the assassins' ranks with deadly precision.
The sound of the blades cutting through the air was a high - pitched whistle.
They fought back - to - back, a perfect, lethal synergy.
Lily, fueled by adrenaline and the primal rage of her wolf form, was a force of nature.
Alexander, with his centuries of experience and vampire speed, was an unstoppable killing machine.
They carved a path through the attackers, leaving a trail of broken bodies and shattered ice in their wake.
But as the last assassin fell, a strange silence descended.
Lily and Alexander stood panting, their breath clouding in the frigid air, staring at each other.
Something was… off.
The bodies of the assassins were melting.
Not in the way a normal corpse would decompose, but rapidly dissolving into pools of viscous, black liquid that sizzled and smoked on the ice.
The sound of the liquid sizzling on the ice was like the sound of water hitting a hot skillet.
John's voice, crackling with static and alarm, burst from Lily's comms unit.
"Guys! Get out of there! That's not blood! It's a highly corrosive acid! Designed to melt through anything – including flesh and bone!"
Lily reacted instantly, leaping back from the spreading pools of black goo.
The cold ice beneath her feet cracked slightly as she jumped.
She hurled a volley of ice shards, formed from the moisture in the air, at the last standing assassin, impaling him through the skull.
The sound of the ice shards hitting the assassin was a dull thud.
As he crumpled, Lily caught a glimpse of something on his neck – a tattoo, barely visible beneath the edge of his hood.
It was a crescent moon, intricately detailed, pulsing with a faint, inner light.
A Moonstone tattoo.
Alexander grabbed Lily's arm, his grip surprisingly gentle.
"We need to go. Now." As they turned to run, the wind whipped around them.