The demon words “That’s a death wish, my King.” echoed loudly in my ears.
For a brief moment, nobody spoke.
I looked at Cross hoping he would say something.
“Cross… what do we do?” I asked quietly.
The Snow Mountain sounded terrifying, but the sea terrified me even more.
I hated myself for it.
If Cross wanted to take the dangerous mountain because I was scared of the water, then I would follow him without complaining.
Deep down, I believed that as long as I stayed beside him, nothing could happen to me.
It wasn’t that I suddenly became brave.
I simply felt safe.
Safe enough to walk beside a devil.
I still couldn’t bring myself to step into that boat.
Just looking at the endless water made my chest tighten until it became difficult to breathe.
My heart felt like it would explode and a bitter memory surfaced before I could stop it.
Alex and I had once argued because of this exact fear.
He had spent almost an entire month’s salary booking a luxury vacation on the sea.
He had been so excited, talking about sunsets over the ocean, expensive dinners and sleeping beneath the stars.
He hadn’t asked what I wanted or even asked whether I liked the sea.
Only after everything had already been paid for did he discover I was terrified of deep water.
The disappointment on his face still haunted me.
He barely spoke to me for days.
Every conversation became cold and his silence felt like punishment.
I slowly lowered my eyes.
I honestly thought Cross would react the same way.
After all, I had just ruined his original plan.
Instead, he had calmly suggested another route without blaming me even once.
No sigh, frustration or disappointment.
He simply accepted it.
The difference between the two men confused me more than I wanted to admit.
Cross gently reached for my wrist.
His touch was warm despite the cold wind drifting from the sea.
“We can take the path to the Snow Mountain.” His voice remained calm.
“I assure you nothing would happen.”
His red eyes met mine.
There wasn’t even the slightest hesitation in them, only certainty.
Something inside me relaxed.
Whenever Cross promised something, I believed him.
I smiled without realizing it, then I nodded.
The armored demon stepped forward again.
“My King, the Snow Mountain could be safe as long as the Gogos do not wake and you don’t use your essence around them. It won’t awaken them.”
Cross gave a small nod.
“You can take the boat back to the quay.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.” The demon bowed deeply before retreating toward the dock.
Cross turned back to me.
His expression softened.
“Stay close, Imogen.” He held my hand a little tighter.
“Don’t leave my sight.”
“I won’t.” I forced a smile.
Together, we left the shoreline behind.
The crashing waves slowly faded into the distance as we walked beside the coast.
The wind became colder the farther we walked.
After several minutes, something enormous appeared beyond the mist.
I slowly lifted my head and saw a gigantic mountain towered over the horizon.
Its peak disappeared into thick white clouds while endless snow covered every inch of its surface.
Jagged cliffs rose like enormous white blades reaching toward the sky with tiny flakes of snow.
I swallowed hard.
“Is that the Snow Mountain?”
“Yes.”
I looked up again.
All this just to get back to Earth?
Cross suddenly stopped walking.
He reached into his coat and pulled out the rift compass.
The strange black needle spun wildly in circles.
It refused to settle and the faint red glow inside the compass flickered before the needle suddenly snapped toward the mountain and it stopped moving.
“This way.”
Without another word, he began walking.
I quickly followed behind him.
Soon, the open coastline disappeared behind us and massive red trees surrounded us instead.
They were unlike any forest I had ever seen.
Their trunks were wider than houses, stretching endlessly into the sky.
Their deep red leaves blocked most of the sunlight, covering the forest.
The air smelled damp and carried a faint smell of ash.
The silence that followed wasn’t peaceful.
It felt like something hidden deep inside the forest was quietly watching every step we took.
I moved closer to Cross and he remained completely calm.
The compass stayed firmly in his hand as he led the way without slowing down.
Branches scraped against my sleeves as we pushed through the thick undergrowth and one sharp branch suddenly caught my arm.
“Ow.” I winced.
A thin scratch appeared across my skin and tiny drops of blood slowly trickled down my forearm.
“It isn’t anything serious.” I muttered.
I quickly wiped the blood away with my fingers.
I noticed the scratch burned longer than it should have, but I ignored it and hurried after Cross.
There was no point worrying him over such a tiny cut.
I quietly hurried after him and few minutes after, the forest slowly disappeared behind us.
With every step forward, the air grew colder until each breath escaped my lips in soft white mist.
The ground beneath our feet changed from damp earth to frozen stone, then finally to thick layers of snow.
The wind howled through the mountains like a living creature.
Immediately, I pulled Cross’s oversized coat tighter around myself.
Only then did I realize how right he had been.
If I had insisted on wearing my own outfit, I would’ve frozen long ago.
Cross continued walking ahead, the compass steady in his hand.
He never once complained about the cold.
It was as though this weather meant nothing to him.
After several minutes, the forest opened into a vast frozen plain field and I stopped without realizing it.
“Wow.”
An enormous sheet of ice stretched before us like a mirror.
It reflected the red sky above so perfectly that it looked as though the heavens themselves had frozen.
Snow drifted lazily across its surface and beneath the thick layer of ice, I saw something huge.
At first, I thought they were rocks, then my eyes adjusted.
My breath caught in my throat.
There were bodies, hundreds of them.
Gigantic horses covered in ancient armor, weapons and shattered shields.
They looked exactly like soldiers who had been fighting only moments ago before the entire battlefield had been buried beneath winter forever.
Without thinking, I slowly stepped closer.
Cross immediately reached for my wrist and pulled me back.
“The rink is weak.Your stare or blood could awaken those demons due to your human essence.”
I stared at him.
“Demons?”
My eyes drifted back toward the frozen battlefield.
Some of the warriors still had their swords raised.
Others looked as though they had been protecting someone until their final breath.
Their expressions remained frozen in fear, pain and determination.
It was haunting.
It didn’t look like a battlefield anymor, It was like a grave.
“What happened to them?” This chapter is updated first at g.com.
Cross remained silent for several seconds before answering.
“They were once warriors of Larvana. During the war, many perished beneath the snow and years later, the snow hardened into this rink.”
“Woahh.” I whispered.
“The others who survived were fortunate enough to return to what remained of Larvana. The ones frozen down there, we call them Gogos. They are neither dead nor alive.”
I looked down again.
These weren’t monsters.
They had once been soldiers trying to protect their precious kingdom.
My chest tightened.
Cross had once ruled his kingdom and this wasn’t just another battlefield to him.
These had been his people.
No wonder he wanted the crown back so desperately.
I slowly turned toward him.
His face remained calm as always but somehow that calmness hurt more than if he had cried.
How much pain had he buried behind that expression and how many times had he walked past this place alone?
Without saying a word, I gently squeezed his hand.
Cross’s eyes lingered on the frozen warriors for only a second before he quietly looked away.
“Come on. We don’t have enough time.”
I nodded.
Together, we stepped onto the frozen rink.
The ice groaned softly beneath our weight.
Each step echoed across the frozen battlefield.
I kept my eyes straight ahead.
I didn’t want to look beneath the ice anymore.
Not because I was scared, but because every frozen face somehow made my heart heavier.
After walking for several minutes, a sharp burning sensation spread across my arm.
I frowned.
The small scratch from the forest suddenly stung much worse than before.
Without thinking, I rubbed it.
“Ow…”
The burning only became worse.
I stopped walking and Cross immediately noticed.
He turned around so quickly that the ice cracked.
“Are you okay?”
I looked down and lifted my arm, the tiny scratch wasn’t tiny anymore.
The skin around it had darkened and thin black veins slowly spread outward from the wound like roots crawling beneath my skin.
“My arm hurts really badly.” I whispered.
Cross was beside me almost instantly.
His eyes widened.
Without hesitation, he removed the coat from my shoulders.
The moment it touched the rink, it crumbled into black dust and disappeared into the wind.
I stared in shock.
“What..”
Cross wasn’t looking at the coat.
His eyes remained fixed on my arm and his expression darkened.
“Did you get hurt?”
I nodded nervously.
“Yes. I got scratched by a branch, but it wasn’t something serious.”
His eyes snapped toward mine.
“As long as you bled it is serious. Your blood is too strong Imogen. Why didn’t you tell me you got scratched?”
The moment those words left his mouth, a deep cracking sound echoed beneath our feet.
Both of us froze.
Another crack followed, then another.
The entire rink trembled beneath us.
“Cross what’s going on?”
“The Gogos are awakening.” He replied.
My heart began to pound.
A deep crack echoed beneath my feet, then, something beneath the ice slowly opened its glowing blue eyes.
The frozen hand beneath my boots twitched.