Of Heroes and Villains

The Chapter With Tons of Snow

The group traveled to the city limits via cab, not wanting to bother their driver with it. The first few hours of walking were fairly safe, with the pathway actually being well beaten in by previous hikers. They eventually came across a forest. There were several warning signs in front of it.

"My favorite's the "Certain Doom Ahead" one," commented Jordan, but none of them laughed.

"From here on, it's dangerous," said Sean.

"Guys," Dean started, "if it's really as bad as people say, we don't have to go."

Sean and Don exchanged a look. "Yeah," the boss said, "we do."

"No, really. I don't need to know that badly. I meant I want to, but not if it means risking your lives."

Don nodded, then explained his situation to all of them.

"So, yeah. Dean might not be selfish enough to ask you to do this, but I am. I don't wanna die, guys."

"Wow," replied Lan. "How selfish."

"Eat me, Li."

Jordan offered him a smile. "D'you really think we'd leave you behind after hearing something like that? Come on, people, let's go!"

She walked straight on ahead, Sean hot on her trail.

"If anyone gets hurt, we're to blame," Dean told him nervously. "Let's go."

Lan stopped in front of Don. "I once dropped a burrito in the trash, then gave it to Dean."

"Why would you tell me that?"

"Just confessing my sins now, since I might die and all."

"You won't," Don told her. "Die, I mean."

Lan very damn nearly smiled. "Let's go, dickface."

And off they went. The snow in the forest hadn't gotten too deep, for which they were grateful. However, two hours in, the flakes started to fall, and they knew it would be a tougher ride soon enough.

Eventually, they reached a part where the naturally formed pathways of the forest parted, giving them two options.

"Which one?" Lan asked.

Then they heard a wolf howling somewhere in the distance to their left.

"Not that one," Jordan replied, and the rest agreed. They took the path to their right and kept on walking. What Don hated more than the endless forest was the silence. It gave him far too much time with his own thoughts, and that was never good. The fear of death following him every step of the way, to the point where he thought he might lose his mind.

It didn't take long for the sun to set, and they agreed it was too dangerous to travel by night. They were only a third of the way there, which meant that, at the very best, they'd be there at the end of the next day.

Jordan proved herself a good survivalist by gathering the necessary firewood and starting the fire all by herself. Sean got the sleeping bags out of Dean's bag, and everyone got inside one, right next to each other.

Tired from both walking and thinking, Don let sleep consume him.

It couldn't have lasted more than an hour before he was woken up. He heard growling, and when he opened his eyes, he saw a god staring down at him.

No, not a dog.

A wolf.

Don screamed and brought his hand out of the sleeping bag, throwing it toward the animal. The rest of the group awoke just as the animal bit down on his hand.

The hand melted away before Don's very eyes, and fell away like snow.

The wolf then jumped a good distance away, using its small wings to keep itself away from the ground, and dodged the kick Sean had intended to deliver.

"Why didn't we think of leaving someone to stand guard!?" Jordan whined as she fell through the ground.

More growling could be heard around them, and a whole pack of the flying wolves started coming closer.

One of them lunged at Sean, but then Dean yelled out, "Stop!"

The beast hesitated as it got closer, allowing Sean to grab it by the neck, then snap it with a single twitch of his hand. He tossed the carcass at the other wolves, but that didn't seem to deter them.

Don was staring at his missing hand. It didn't hurt, and it didn't bleed. The stump that had been left behind was made of snow, too. Deciding not to overthink things, he stuck his hand in the snow, and it started to gather around the stump. In mere moments, his hand was back.

"Freeze!" Dean yelled as Sean ran toward one of the wolves. The animal, forced to obey the power of Dean's voice, didn't move, and Sean broke its neck just as he had done to the first one.

This time, the rest of the pack pounced on him. Their speed surprised Don. It was easy to admire animals on TV, but watching them in person was a good reminder of just how dangerous they were.

It was also an opportunity.

As the wolves got their teeth and claws into Sean's back and limbs, slowly bringing him to the ground, Don ran at them. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lan hiding behind Dean.

He threw himself unto the wolf clinging to Sean's right arm, freeing it as both he and the beast rolled away. Don made sure to touch it, then activated his vapor. Red mist left his body, and he took the most unique shape of his life.

The wolf he had turned into stared at him in confusion, so Don took the chance to pounce on it and go for its throat. The act was disgusting, as was the taste. Warm blood filled his mouth as the wolf took its dying breath.

When he turned back toward Sean, he saw another dead wolf. The others were retreating.

Turning back into himself, Don ran toward his clothes, then hurriedly put them on. The Russian winter really was a nightmare. He thought he might die in those few seconds it took him to get dressed alone.

"Is everyone ok?" Sean asked once the wolves had cleared out. His own clothes were torn apart, but a single pill was enough to get rid of his injuries.

"Not fun," Dean replied. "But we're okay." He then turned toward Don. "I saw that arm thing, by the way. What the hell was that?"

"The evolved form of Polymorph, I guess."

"We'll talk about that later," Sean told them as Jordan got out of the ground, then shivered as she got dressed. "None of you are hurt?"

They all shook their heads.

"Good. I doubt any of us will be sleeping after that, so we might as well move a bit."

After packing up their things, the group went ahead, agreeing to have someone stand guard next time.