Hero's Journey

Chapter 3

Kagon travels carefully into the cave, the icy floor no problem for his steady gait. However, he isn't immune to cold. It seems to cling to him, seeping through his clothes and making fleshy goosebumps rise on his skin.

Despite his natural confidence he didn't feel right about this. Something is wrong, may it be his imagination or not, a sickening feeling invades his stomach.

Kagon glances behind him at the cave opening, like a lion's maw filled with sharp stalactites that hang like bared teeth.

Somewhere the girl sits outside awaiting his return. Kagon smiles, she really is a good traveling companion despite almost dying earlier. However, she is still just a girl, innocent to the dangers that lurk around her.

Kagon continues on, hand gripping tightly to the knife he'd received in the mission where he first met Delia. He hadn't had the chance to buy another sword as of yet.

Kagon nears a fork. Two icy tunnels face him, a decision he has to make.

Kagon sticks his pointer finger in his mouth and holds it up. With it he can feel a slight breeze coming from the right tunnel which most likely means it leads to outside. A good escape route but he's not trying to run away from danger instead he's going towards it.

So, Kagon saunters towards the left tunnel.

As the hero journeys through the cave the air gets visibly colder. After carefully heading down the cave for awhile it opens into a large cavern completely covered in ice.

Icicles like sharp pointed knives hang surrounding a large hole in the ceiling. Large enough for a huge being to fly or clamber out of.

In the far corner is a large snow pile dented like some creature had recently slept in it.

"I've found the beastie's nest." Kagon laughs breathily, "But where is it?"

Kagon looks around the large cavern. Sure there really are no places to hide but Kagon has learned long ago to expect the unexpected.

After a thorough search of the cavern Kagon comes up empty handed. No monster in sight, so where the hell is it?

Screeeeeeee Screeeeeeeeee Screeeeeee!

Kagon turns his head upwards. He can see a creature nearing the top entrance to the cavern. The sight of the monster nearly turns Kagon's blood to ice and his legs to slush.

The beast is humongous, as large as an inn with white almost see-through skin and glowing pure white eyes. The skin is pulled taut over him so the purple and blue coloring of his insides is visible. The only fur on it is white fuzz covering his ears that stick out of his head like horns and his long pointed snout. The thing's lumbering body is connected to eight limbs, three legs on each side, one in the front, and one long tail-like leg in the back. Each has razor sharp claws most likely used to dig through solid ice. One large chunk of ice is grasped in the creatures back tail/leg.

Kagon quickly ducks behind a small snow bank as not to be seen.

The ice being scuttles down into the cavern and sets it's prized ice chunk right in front of the snow bank Kagon is hidden behind.
The hero cautiously peers from out behind the snow pile to get a closer look at the chunk of ice.

It's rectangular in shape and just a couple inches shorter than Kagon, so human sized.
As Kagon studies the ice further he can almost glimpse a face hidden behind sheets of ice. Kagon narrows his eyes and tries to get a better look.

It is a face, a human one at that. He leans closer, intrigued by the person in the ice.

Tinted blue lips and skin from the cold, oval-like face, pert nose, and defiant eyes. Wait...Delia?

As Kagon inspects it further he sees that he's right. Delia, his own traveling companion is entombed in ice. How long can she survive like that? Kagon doesn't wish to find out.

〰〰〰〰

Kagon rubs his hands for warmth. The room had become impossibly more arctic once the creature entered it. He has no doubt that what happened to Delia can just as easily happen to him. But of course it won't.

Kagon pokes the ice entombing his scribe. Rock solid. His only chance is to thaw her but to do that he'll have to slay the beast first.

And so Kagon eyes the beast, speculating its weaknesses. Eight legs, making it clumsy. White eyes, most likely blind. Thin epidermis, easy to stab through. He can surely beat this beast and then save Delia so she may write of this epic tale and the many to come.

The creature mightily yawns, showing off its pearly whites. And then the creature saunters forward and snuffles the ice block. Kagon holds his breath as he presses himself flat against the snow bank. The thing's red nose sniffs the snow bank and then the slobbery nose is against Kagon's shoulder.

SCREEEEEEE SCREEEEEEEE SCREEEEE!

The creature's angry squeal makes it known to Kagon that the creature knows of his existence.

Kagon dives away from the monster as it blows it's icy breath at him. Quickly taking out his knife Kagon circles around the snow bank and stabs at its tail. The tail turns into a frozen nub as Kagon slices it off.

SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

The creatures wail cracks the stalactites hanging from the ceiling and they begin to fall all around them.

Kagon dodges the falling daggers and flailing limbs as he cuts off another leg, this one the leg the left one towards the back.

SCREEEEEEEEEE!

More stalactites fall, their points seeming to aim at the hero. And then the limb next to Kagon whizzes forward and cuts into his shoulder. Kagon clenches his teeth and swiftly severs the limb before doing the same to another. Four left to go.

Kagon rolls under the beastie's soft underbelly, cutting and slashing wherever he can. Another limb down, this one being one on the side. Then another.

SCREEEEEEEEEEEE!

Cold breath almost freezes Kagon's arm to his side.

Too slow, he thinks, this damn cut on my shoulder is slowing me down.

Still he goes on, slicing off the remaining limbs so the creature is just a body and an ugly, squealing head.

Kagon's wound cries blood down his arm and to his weapon, meeting with the white gore at the end of his knife so it drips pink on to the icy floor.

"Seas," Kagon curses, "So much trouble for a pathetic creature. I thought you worthy but I see I was wrong. Alas, I'll have great victory from your death."

Screeeeeeeeeeee, the monster whimpers.

"You'll die soon enough without your limbs. I'll take mercy on you beast and finish you more easily."

Kagon's hands tighten around his knife and he drives it forward just on the edge of his wanted victory. Before he can so much as make a baby cut a gust of ice wind blows from the creature's shiny lips, freezing Kagon in a block of ice. A last attempt from the snow creature that the hero didn't guess.

"One day his pride will kill him," Writer Delia had said.