Gwenevere's Game

16

The cold chilled him to the bone the moment he stepped through the gate.

Many other things were apparent to him about this new arena as he looked around, but first and foremostly was the cold.

Nox clutched his good arm over the other in an attempt to warm himself to no avail. Snow already clung to his clothes and hair, and for a moment, that was all that he could see: snow. 

Endless whiteness all around, the chill wind blasting against him.

Yet slowly, as he stumbled forward through the blizzard, his surroundings began to take shape and the snow became less of a barrier to his vision the farther he moved from the gate.

To his relief, he was able to see the others struggling through the cold wind as well— but it wasn't long before Bleidd collapsed to his knees, and Eliza soon joined him, carefully laying Zola out before her, then rising to her feet again.

And suddenly, she had her arms thrown around his shoulders. "We made it," she said, her voice heavy with relief. He was shocked for a moment, but tentatively returned the hug. "We made it..." She repeated. Just as suddenly as it had begun, she pulled away from the embrace, looking slightly embarrassed. "We have to get shelter somewhere," the redhead said quickly, raising her voice above the wind. "I'm not going to be able to carry Zola far like this."

"I''ll look!" Nox called back, and look he did, as much as he could through the misty whiteness of the blizzard. The first thing that caught his attention was the sky. It was dark with night and splattered with the brightest stars he had ever seen. Three moons hung in the sky as well, and auroras of turquoise and crimson and emerald danced around them. Then there was the mountain: towering, rocky and covered in snow, reaching up so high into the night that he couldn't see the top of it. Yet at that point, he cared about none of his; for it was the flickering amber light in the distance towards the mountain that caught his attention.

Second, he suddenly remembered. Gwenevere had told them that they were the second to get through the gate the proper way— which meant that there were likely others out there who might have found some other way to the gate, not to mention whoever it was that got there first the proper way..

Nox turned back to the team. "There's a fire up ahead," he informed. "It probably means other competitors, but it might also mean there's a safe place to hide from the blizzard up there. It's a risk, though. Whoever's up there might not be friendly."

Bleidd's scarlet eyes shone through despite the white wind. "At this point, I'm willing to fight for someplace safe to rest," he snarled, clearly still in pain as he clutched his chest. "In my wolf form... I'll defeat whole dragons..." He fell over in the snow, continuing to mumble about how powerful he was in wolf form.

Eliza cast him a nervous glance. "He's going delirious, and Zola isn't much better. But still, the first people to get through the gate must be pretty dangerous. And probably in a lot better shape than we are," said she, stepping a little away to peer through the snow towards the flicking light in the distance.

"I'll defeat them with a CABBAGE and my CLAWS ALONE!" Bleidd declared, punching the air above him with a hand.

Nox furrowed his brow in concern. "Are you sure he didn't hit his head too?"

"Doesn't this whole place smell like CATS?" The omega continued. "CATS. CATS EVERYWHERE! And this funny other smell... Don't you smell it? It's like OVERRIPE CABBAGES!"

Nox gave a tentative sniff, though he could smell none of what the boy claimed. "Bleidd, are you okay—"

"And FLOWERY-HERBY THINGS! ASSAULTING MY NOSE! And there is SOMETHING crawling in my BACK!" Bleiddwyn suddenly yelled, rolling over. Before anything else could be said, he began shifting into a wolf again, flesh melding and fur appearing, all mostly hidden under a dull glow of light. "BARK! BARK BARK!" The wolf continued to rant as if they could understand him.

That was when Nox noticed a keen difference in the wolf.

"Um, Bleidd..." He said tentatively. "You... You've got wings now."

The wolf cocked his head curiously, then craned its neck to see his back. For there, sprouting from his shoulders, was a pair of feathery, white wings with scarlet streaks. He swished his tail, revealing scarlet feathers running down his tail that, when he flexed them, would spread out much like an eagle's.

Bleiddwyn experimented with flexing his wings, but then gave a sharp yelp of pain when he flexed his left wing too much, likely from using muscles near his ribs that connected to his new wings. The wolf whimpered and sat down with a dismayed look to his scarlet eyes.

Nox resisted the urge to go and give the wolf a sympathetic scratch behind the ears, knowing that Bleidd likely wouldn't tolerate it all that much. "I wonder if any of us have new abilities here too..." He thought aloud with a glance over his shoulder, yet to his mild disappointment he did not have any wings. "And if something like this happens every time we go through a gate?"

Eliza's gaze seemed distant. "Do you ever wonder how they do this to us? How they meld contestant's bodies into... Werewolves and vampires and... All of the others?" She murmured.

He furrowed his brow in thought. "You know, I've been wondering about all of that myself. The last I remember—"

The earth rumbled around them, cutting Nox off. He froze, and Bleidd flattened his ears and growled. Yet the rumbling didn't ease, and suddenly powerful quakes blasted through the ground, threatening to throw him off his feet. The only one who didn't seem to be feeling it was 

Eliza, who stared at them in alarm. "I think..." Nox said slowly. "that maybe we should ru—"

The ground gave way beneath him, and before he knew it, he was swallowed up by darkness.

~~~~~

Welcome to Level Two folks! I'd love to hear what you all think of this new world so far, and please remember to vote if you liked!