Keepers of Ice

Chapter 12 - Infiltrated

"Ready?"

"I was born ready." Stacey nocked an arrow and shot it at one of the guards, missing him by a few metres on purpose. As expected, the guards suddenly looked up and gave her a smirk before they started running towards her. "I'm sorry! Don't hurt me please," she said with a mischievous grin as she led them away from the bunker. From the corner of her eye, she saw her boyfriend and the others sneak behind the guards with the cover of snowy trees. They were cautiously making their way towards the back of the bunker. Bingo.

"Come back here you brat!" one of the guards yelled.

"Okay." Stacey quickly turned around and shot an arrow that struck to the ground in front of the two guards. They were startled and slowed down for a second, which was enough. "Now!" she yelled.

Stone suddenly appeared from the nearby snow forest and two large furry creatures were charging behind him. With great precision, he swung his battle-axe and let go, causing it to fly towards the guards' legs. Stunned, the guards stood there before having a flying axe hit their legs, causing them to fall backwards and onto the snowy ground. "Argh!"

Stacey immediately froze their upper bodies to the ground and stared at the two snow golems that were heading towards them. She shivered at the sight of the beasts' blue glowing eyes and horns. With a swoop, Stone grabbed his axe and Stacey's hand and continued to run back to the bunker.

"Eeek! Don't eat me!" one of the guards squealed as the snow golems approached him and his trapped comrade.

Without looking back, Stone and Stacey laughed as they walked towards the bunker. "How did you manage to get those snow golems to follow you?" Stacey asked with a grin.

"I found two sleeping in the forest, so when I heard your call, I chucked some pebbles at them and ran as fast as I could." Stone had a proud look on his face. They soon arrived at the front of the bunker, and they took a minute to catch their breaths and rest.

Stacey could not hear anything happening inside. "We should hurry. I'm starting to get worried about them."

"Then let's do this." Stone cautiously led the way inside. There were a few guards lying around unconscious. Stacey figured there was not much of a fight and that the unconscious guards had been taken by surprise. It seemed that her friends had successfully infiltrated Order's lair and she felt relieved. Looks like I didn't need to worry about them after all. They entered the next room and were reunited with the rest of the keepers.

"David, Cody, you're all here!" Stacey exclaimed as she rushed to hug her boyfriend.

"All thanks to you and Stone," Cody hugged back with a smile.

David rested his axe and the new blue shield that had ancient Keepers of Ice markings on it on the ground. "After you distracted those guards, sneaking into the bunker and taking out the few unaware guards from behind was a piece of cake."

"Sorry to be a party pooper, but we're not done yet. There are two paths up ahead that have not been covered yet and I believe one of them will lead us to their leader," Rafael said with a frown. Stacey recognised him as one of Stone's high-ranked keepers.

"In that case, we should split up and if anyone finds anything, report back immediately," Estella suggested.

"Cody, Stacey, Rafael, you take the path on the right. Mathew, David, Estella, you come with me to the left. Good luck team," Stone said as vengeance shone in his eyes.

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