Alone in the North (3)

Yuel had heard the cry for help coming from within the blizzard, but something still didn't sit right with him.

"Someone seems to be in danger, but how can we be sure it's even a real person? Why would a human come here in the first place? I don't think we should follow it."

Onur turned to him and shouted.

"You're right, but if it is a real person and we could've saved them but didn't… I don't want that on my conscience. Let's check it out. Even if it's a titan, I think we can take it down."

Aria and Shiro didn't say anything, but everyone seemed to agree with Onur. They had to find out whether the source of the voice was human—or titan.

They veered slightly off course to follow the voice through the blizzard, trudging through deep snow. All they could hear was the natural whistling of the wind and the snowflakes swirling through the air. The cold was intense and worsening by the second.

Eventually, they reached the source of the sound. What they saw was a massive, elephant-like mammoth—twice the size of a two-story building. It was a level 4 titan. Surrounding it were level 2 and 3 white polar bears. Their eyes were made of blue crystal, and they all wore saddles. On top of the mammoth and around it were numerous houses, and people rode the bears as well.

Why were there humans here?

Onur immediately spoke up.

"Hey, can you take us with you? I promise you won't regret it!"

Yuel knew this was a mistake, but he didn't have time to stop it. All the "humans" around them grinned with sinister smiles—then transformed.

Their heads were covered with the skulls of giant deer. Their bodies were hidden under black, multi-pocketed outfits. They looked entirely humanoid—if not for the skulls, they could easily be mistaken for humans.

They were the intelligent race of the North—the reason no one ever returned from expeditions there. They were the Wendigos.

Every human who'd ventured into the North and never returned had become a vessel for them.

Realizing they were enemies, Yuel immediately used a piercing whisper to weaken them. The team was ready to fight—but someone interrupted.

"Hey, humans. Of course, we're going to kill you. But doing it here would disrespect our god. Follow us. Let's fight somewhere else, more... fair. What do you say?"

Yuel suspected it was a trap, but fighting here would be worse. Even if they won, they'd lose time and energy—and would eventually face that thing that chased all northern creatures eastward: the true source of the cold, which meant certain death.

So they had no choice but to accept. Yuel used his new Fracture ability to send these thoughts directly to Onur, Shiro, and Aria. Everyone would follow the plan. They'd fight once they were far enough from the cold.

"Fine. Take us up. We'll abide by your noble teachings. But we won't give up our weapons—hope that's not a problem. After all, you've done nothing to earn our trust."

"No, no, not at all. Even with weapons, you can't hurt us. Keep them. Just follow."

And so, the Wendigos took the group aboard the giant mammoth and led them into a prison cell.

Onur was furious at the humiliation. He was a prince—what prince had ever been thrown into jail? He didn't deserve this.

"Yuel, are you sure about this? Can we really escape?"

Even without guards, they needed to be cautious. Each of the five major non-human Undergarden races had their own unique magic. The Wendigos likely used theirs to watch them. Yuel was smart—and even smarter with Null. In fact, most of the strategic ideas came from Null, and Yuel merely executed them. Null was incredibly useful.

After ensuring his whispers could only be heard by Onur, Shiro, and Aria, Yuel spoke.

"I'm using my Fracture and Whisper skills to locate mentally fragile Wendigos and convince them that the god is sending them divine messages. I've already begun forming a cult to serve our interests. Don't distract me—I'm whispering to multiple targets at once."

Aria wasn't pleased about ending up in prison either, so she urged Yuel to hurry. Shiro remained silent.

Shiro had been an experiment. He'd probably spent most of his life in cells like this—if not "home," this was at least familiar.

Several days passed. They were fed occasionally, but mostly sat idle. After a few days, they exited the blizzard, and the mammoth's path shifted from west to north. Previously, when they looked south, they could see the central region—FogBound Grave. Now, it was no longer visible.

Since the cold kept circling the lake, they had to do the same. It seemed they'd been dropped on the southwestern side of Frozen Hollows, since the only successful expedition claimed a full circuit around the river took a year. They had switched directions after only a week instead of three months.

Within that week, Yuel had secretly built a cult. He broke the minds of its members and turned them into puppets. He also gathered intel on Wendigo magic.

Wendigos excelled at shapeshifting and sound-based magic. They also used savage and empowering spells. No one was actually watching the prison—they were placed there just to create paranoia. The group was being taken to a village built near a waystone.

According to Yuel's info, the Wendigos had four major villages—north, east, south, and west. They moved in a circle around the river, stopping at each village before continuing. They were nomadic until death.

Each village was once built around a Monolith, but they had since transformed the Monoliths into portable stones through spells. That meant 4 out of 5 Monoliths—the only way out—were in Wendigo hands. The last one was likely in the center of the main lake, protected by a level 6 or 7 titan.

In other words, Monoliths were no longer a viable escape route. The Wendigos were strong, and they couldn't be stolen from. Before, only Troths were known. Now they knew of another race that could disguise itself as human—Wendigos. They had likely already reached the surface through the Monoliths.

Another thing Yuel learned from his cult was that the Wendigos were divided into 4 clans. Each clan owned more than 50 of these giant mammoth "ships." Since each clan had only one Monolith, the chance of finding a mammoth carrying one was 2%. It was clear they had to abandon the idea of using Monoliths. Their best shot was to survive for a year and find one of the Mediterranean Federation bases between Deathsea and Fogbound Grave.

Out of boredom, the group began sharing memories and their powers. Yuel's story was the most surprising—surviving the Infection and still seeking vengeance for Luo. Onur offered to help, but Yuel insisted it was personal.

He told them everything except that he would reincarnate as a Troth. He even asked Null's permission to reveal its existence—but didn't share the Observer's Book.

The others had their own secrets and powers too. Shiro talked about the experiments New Zealand had done on him. He'd managed to kill the divine being who gave him his bloodline powers, allowing him to use those powers more efficiently. He played a key role in powering mana cores for high-tech armor. Despite this, he was discarded and unpaid—until Aria recruited him.

Aria had no powers in this timeline but became strong in an alternate future. She had her own sword style. Yuel knew nothing about sword arts, but Onur and Aria often argued over whose style was better. He figured he'd learn from them later. He also needed a new staff—but that could wait.

As for Onur, he had no real secrets. Everything was clear: he had been trained in various sword arts and ended up in this icy hell with a berserk bloodline. In close combat, he was unmatched—but magic and ranged attacks could be problematic.

Ten days after their imprisonment, the cult reached ten members. Each day, they targeted one mentally weak Wendigo, and by day's end, that one had joined. Around the mammoth—called a "ship" by the Wendigos—lived 500 Wendigos.

At this rate, Yuel could convert them all in 1.5 years. Realistically, resistance would grow, and it might take 2–3 years. But they didn't have that long. In one week, the ship would reach the western village, where they'd stay a month. When the blizzard came, the ship would leave for the northern village. Other ships and clans would be there too, raising the population to over 10,000. It had to be a massive settlement.

Each day passed normally. The four were still in the same cell, and their chances of escape seemed slim. Fighting seemed like the only option. Shiro, too, had a secret plan: for days, he'd been using his Hex ability to curse the minds of Wendigos, making Yuel's job easier—and it worked.

By the 17th day, when they reached the village, the cult had grown faster than expected—22 members instead of 17. Once it passed 20 members, the cult got a name: "Disciples of the Bloody Night." That's because all members were believed to be bringers of an apocalypse. Once they hit 200 members, they would begin the Bloody Night—and use the chaos to start a rebellion.

But they had to survive the village first. With 10,000 Wendigos, escape was impossible. Their only shot was to wait until they left and numbers dropped to 500 again. For now, the cult had no visible symbol, but there were plans—maybe a special hat.

They had no plan for how to survive the village—but dying here wasn't an option. They had to think of something.

Everyone was taken off the ship upon arrival. The group was led away in shackles.

Yuel was still mute—but even so, he was one of the team's last hopes.

Aria had been feeling down. Usually, the beauty of the Undergarden gave her motivation, but for the past 17 days, she hadn't left the prison.

Shiro stared at the ground. If his face had been visible, his hopelessness would've been obvious—but even without seeing it, his body language gave it all away.

Onur was the same as always—looking for an escape, a fight, a moment to strike. Even among 10,000 Wendigos, he still believed he could get away.

Eventually, after a long walk through the village, they were taken to a massive arena made of wood. But the wood was enchanted—it wouldn't burn (Yuel had tried with his white flames).

In the center was a towering pole—a totem. On it were the skulls of every creature that had died in the arena. A symbol of savagery.

Yuel knew why.

While trying to take control of Wendigo minds, he discovered that they all worshipped a god—but not a sacred tree.

A blood-red eye.

They all knew the god wasn't real—but acted as if it were to justify their behavior. They claimed the god ordered them to act savagely, to perform rituals with Dhune corpses—but in truth, the god didn't exist. It was a construct—a way to explain away the violence and thirst for blood that they couldn't control. Everyone knew it was fake, deep down.

But they still believed in it anyway.