Chapter Four

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Third Person POV~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Springtime, It was at this time of year when Mt Hakobe was a major tourist attraction; people from all over Fiore would come just to catch a glimpse of the magnificent aurora that would be visible on top of the mountain for only three days. Not wanting to be anywhere near the jostling horde of eager visitors, Gray decided to spend his week of self-contemplation and intense training on the neighbouring peak, Mt Iwa.

Not many travellers venture near Mt Iwa for many reasons; it could be because of the severe blizzards or the extremely hostile creatures, however the main reason people avoided the summit was because there was a cryptic, magical presence emitting from the west side of the mountain. Gray was fully aware of the hazard that the mountain held. Good, he thought, at least the danger would be a temporary distraction from the memories. The villagers at the foot of the pinnacle believed that the powerful magical ambience on the west side of the mountain was part of a cursed angel's soul, one villager claimed that he saw it flying near the forest. Gray refused to believe in the local superstition however he could feel the strong presence.

Drops of perspiration slid off his forehead as he gradually scaled the broad mountain, grunting slightly when the jagged rocks viciously torn his pale skin. The weary ice mage hauled his lacerated body onto a flat clearing high up on the mountain, and observed his surroundings; Fir trees were scattered all around, a cold blanket of glistening snow covered the ground as well as a narrow winding river that cut through it, other than that the terrain seemed quite desolate.

A brief swish of glimmering silver flashed behind Gray, he managed to glimpse it in the corner of his eye, but when he swiftly turned around there was nothing there. Shrugging it off, he assumed the reduced air pressure was just messing with his head. He grasped the rucksack strap and tugged it off his bare shoulders. Wait, bare shoulders? A brisk glance down confirmed his suspicions. He was topless.

'Baka, that was your only shirt. Stupid habit, thanks a lot Ur, you-'

He snapped crossly and then hesitated, his azure blue eyes widened, realising what he had said.

"Master...I didn't mean it. I'm sorry." He whispered quietly, unconsciously fiddling with his silver necklace. The coniferous trees seemed to circle, loom over him, he felt so trapped and small, like a kid again. The memory was back. He could remember her protectively standing in front of him, facing Deliora; he could remember her casting iced shell, he could remember her body dissipating into ice. No matter how many times his nakama had said 'it wasn't your fault', no matter how hard they tried to comfort him, Gray knew Ur died because of him. Her last words echoed repeatedly in his head.

"I've freed you from the darkness Gray..." He sank to his knees, words tumbling out in shaky gasps. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

A single tear escaped his left eye; it slid down his cheek dropping onto the crisp snow beneath. All of his anger, guilt and his sorrow churned and bubbled within his core, all of these mixed emotions savagely clawed at his chest, desperately seeking freedom. Gray couldn't take it anymore; he hunched over, clutching his head with his calloused hands and screamed into the dreary sky. A few minutes later he slowly calmed down, taking deep breaths to steady his hitched breathing. Feeling small sharp pains in his hand, he examined it; a cross-shaped intent was set in his palm, a thin line of blood trickled down from it. He hadn't realised how hard he was gripping the silver pendant.

'Why am I so pathetic?'

The air around him changed, snow fell, harsher, thicker, the wind picked up a pace, spinning rapidly, kicking up snow and mist that blurred his vision. Gray sat up and squinted, he had to find a shelter and fast. A high-pitched howl broke through the whistling wind. He quickly looked back into the centre of the gyrating ice tempest. Towering creatures emerged from the heart of the storm; they were giant leathery winged lizards, completely covered in translucent scales as well as serrated barbs running down each wing. Gray narrowed his eyes.

'Blizzard Wyverns.'

The hideous beasts trained their amber irises on him, grinding their keen fangs together menacingly whilst they constantly prowled in his direction. Gray knew by the hungry glint in their eyes that they were poised to strike soon; he could either run or take them down, fast. Weighing down his narrow options, the raven-haired wizard chose to fight. Planting both of his feet firmly shoulder width apart, he held his left hand aloft, fingers splayed whilst his right on top, balled into a fist.

"Ice make geyser!"

A cluster of acute ice shards erupted from beneath the snow, accurately puncturing the soft underside of their necks. He watched the skewered monsters dematerialize into a shower of fresh snow. Thank God, they were dead. His long sigh of relief was interrupted by shrill screeches. How many were there!? The ice mage squinted through the endless torrents of sleet, attempting to locate the other wyverns through the thick snowstorm. The swarm of hail ruthlessly gnawed every inch of his bare skin, numbing his senses. Gray jolted when he heard the strident shriek again, only this time it was very close, too close. He only had time to register the monsters' pellucid limb before it crashed into his abdomen. Knocking him clean off his feet, winded. Lying flat on his back, dazed, he looked upwards through the shrouded mist and to his horror saw more and more wyverns advancing, imprisoning him. They pinned him down to the ground, flattening his legs with their hefty tails.

'Ice make lan-Aahhh!'

A nasty cracking sound filled the air as a wyvern vigorously slammed its talons down, crushing his left hand. Gray gasped in agony, pain seared excruciatingly throughout his wrist and fingers, he couldn't move his hand. Gritting his teeth and holding only his right fist up, he concentrated all of his magical energy to it.

'Ice make lance!'

Six, thin arrow-like spears jutted out from his raised palm, four of them hit the nearest wyvern, however inflicting minimal damage. The rest feebly shattered on contact with their scales. Deep down Gray knew that his spell wouldn't have worked, Ur had always told him how one-handed maker magic creations would fail when you needed them most. Well it was worth a try.

'This can't be it, I can't die like this.'

He murmured looking up at the snarling beasts. The largest wyvern near his head bared its pointed teeth, almost like a sly grin. Milky saliva dripped from its wide-open jaws, the other creatures slowly backed away. This one had to be the pack leader. Gray could see its golden eyes glowing hungrily in the icy tempest. He could see its neck vein twitch; he knew it was ready to kill. Gray closed his eyes when it lunged at his neck...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Gray POV~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The pointed fangs of the beast grazed my neck but then it stopped. I heard the surrounding monsters yelp in panic, panic? I snapped my eyes open and was shocked. The pack leader's severed head lay by my side, its still, glassy orbs were wide in surprise. I saw the rest of its body above me, halfway up its neck was a bleeding stump. The limp parts of the detached wyvern shuddered, a white mist encircled both bits of its body and it dispersed completely into a flurry of snowflakes. It was dead. I lifted my head off the ground and saw a graveyard; decapitated monsters were strewn all over the ice, small ruptures of snow confirmed more deaths and hacked wyvern chunks rained down from the sky. That's when I saw it, a giant eagle-like bird, swooping down on the fearful wyverns, effortlessly slicing through their brawny bodies with its agile wings. Within five minutes, half of the wyverns were annihilated, the rest that survived squawked in terror and scarpered.

I was too stunned to move. It soared downwards and landed near by my side. Silver and white feathers adorned its entire body; a fierce magical energy was pulsating from it. It turned its head towards me, fixing its keen eyes onto mine. I notice that its irises were almost brown except for the multiple silver streaks entwined inside it.

I don't know what to do, should I trust it? Does it even understand me? It did save my life, but did it mean to? This creature is extremely powerful and dangerous, but it hasn't killed me, yet. It placed it's left talons around my waist. That was the sign I needed, I attempted to roll over, away from it since my legs were still paralysed from the force of the wyvern tail however my attempt was cut short as the silver bird carefully planted it's right talons on the other side of my waist, holding me in place. It peered intently at me; it's grip and expression softened as it saw me struggling. A small surge of hope tugged at my chest, maybe it did understand. If it understands me, it could help me, maybe it is helping me after all. I ceased my struggles, allowing it to scoop me up in its firm claws. It gave one final cautious glance at me. I nodded. It crouched down, spread its gleaming wings and leapt into the darkening sky. A powerful rush of air whisked past me, cool wind raked through my hair and the distant, snow covered ground glistened far below. I contently closed my eyes whilst the feeling of flight filled my senses, this feeling; it was the definition of freedom. The winged creature let out a sharp caw and wheeled towards the left side of the mountain. I noticed that the storm had subsided on this part of the peak. There was a waterfall flowing from it, there were more trees with lusher vegetation and I could actually hear other animals chattering within the pine forests.

As we neared the rocky summit, I spotted a hollowed out section in the mountain, I guessed that's where we were heading. Sure enough that's where we landed. The bird gently set me down on the ground, which was surprisingly soft; the entire floor was made up of feathers, dry leaves, pine needles and snow, it was assembled like a nest.

My limbs painfully ached and I knew that my hand was definitely broken badly, in several places at least. I yawned wearily and lay down. The bird shuffled next to me, it unfurled one of its immaculate wings and protectively draped it over me, like a blanket. Its wing was silky and warm. Although I didn't feel the cold, it was comforting in a way; I didn't feel alone.