Chapter 257: Snow Fall

Chapter 257: Snow Fall

Despite the front she had put forward the night before, Jadis had mixed feelings about running off alone and leaving her companions and lovers to guard Stavros and his Reavers by themselves. Not that there was really all that much to worry about. With the capture of the smugglers, the soldiers had recovered most of their belongings, including their weapons and armor. Nora even had her staff back. The prisoners were also tightly secured with steel manacles and ropes that left no room for even slippery sorts like Jockel to wiggle free. Then there was the fact that Aila had put down an abundance of magic traps all around them, plus more around the camp itself. Kerr, Thea, and Bridget were all on watch and more than capable of handling themselves.

Jadis still worried. She was travelling far, far further afield than she had before, crossing a distance that would have taken the wagons another day and a half. If anything went wrong, not only would she not be nearby to help, but she also wouldn’t even be close enough to hear Sabina’s boom enchantment or see Nora’s lightning. Jadis would be utterly in the dark until she got back.

On the other side of things, she had seen the worry in Aila’s eyes when she left shortly after dawn. That worry had been mirrored in the eyes of Kerr, Eir, Thea, Sabina, and Bridget. Even Willa had looked worried about leaving. Still, Jadis had survived in this same forest for well more than a month when she was all on her own. She’d been a lot weaker than she was now, too. She knew she could handle most threats she might encounter, and she could definitely run away from anything too much for her to handle. Hopefully. Considering how classes, levels, and skills worked, there was just no knowing how powerful a seemingly weak entity actually was. Jadis had to make sure to keep that in mind if she ran into anything unknown in the woods while she traveled alone and without knowledgeable companions to fill her in.

Putting aside her concerns, Jadis focused on the road ahead of her. Running as fast as she was, she had to put a fair amount of concentration into maintaining her balance and avoiding obstructions. Big obstructions, anyway. The small obstructions weren’t much of a hinderance at all for armored bulk and steel-shod feet. She didn’t know how fast she was going, but she had the feeling there wasn’t a horse alive that could catch up to her.Gét latest novel chapters on nov(e)lbj/n(.)c/om

The day was cloudy, the wind from yesterday having brought dark gray clouds to cover the sky. As she ran along the westward road, snowflakes began to fall. It started as a slight flurry, but before she’d run for a full hour the snow was coming down steadily, turning the land and trees around her white. It didn’t look like the snow was going to stop anytime soon, either. Jadis was glad the running was helping to keep her warm, too, since the temperature seemed to drop as the day progressed. Or was it getting colder the further west she went?

The wind had indeed mostly died down, but as she thundered down the road Jadis felt as though she were running further and further into a gigantic icebox. It was as though an aura of cold was radiating outward, pushing against her. It wasn’t yet cold enough to cause her harm, but she could literally feel the difference in temperature between her front and her back.

There were more demons, too. Jadis made no attempt to stop and fight any, but she still saw more and more groups of demons making their way west as the morning continued. There were mostly small groups, but occasionally she saw larger mobs, ones closer in size to what they’d fought the day before, and bigger demons with increasing frequency. She spotted grundwyrms, nithetre, and even a giant cave spider at one point, the huge black ten-legged beast skittering through the woods amidst a pack of twisted wretches that looked like they’d stolen their corpse-bodies from things that live underground.

And then Jadis saw the mountain.

The split peaked mountain was barely visible, the dense snow clouds obscuring the view. Still, Jadis was able to make out enough to see that it was a match for what she had been looking for. The road turned more southward, passing around the high hills that extended outward from the base of the mountain. The valley that was created between the two smaller mountains flanking the taller split peak was tucked far back and away from the view of the road, stretching miles northward.

Jadis left the road, striking out into the untamed forest. Her speed was decreased as she had to move more carefully through the wilderness, but not as badly as it might have been. She still had Kerr’s Path Less Travelled skill duplicated and it aided her in her fast progress towards the mountain. She kept to the east side of the valley, following along one of the hills with the intention of climbing a high ridge once she got closer to the split peak so she could get a good view of the valley, or as good as possible considering the weather.

Its scaled body was ice blue along its back and dark gray along its chest and stomach. Huge spikes like icicles lined its back, running down the ridge all the way to the tip of a long, sinewy tail that whipped in the air behind it. A pair of massive bat-like wings stretched wide to either side of the beast, each one bigger than the creature’s body was long. Four powerful legs were tucked up against its body, giant claws tipping its curled fists. As it glided high through the air, it turned in an arc, revealing its long thick neck and viper-like head. Its mouth opened and another earsplitting screech echoed, a blast of frozen wind issuing from its mouth as it swept over the forest, the power of the freezing breath toppling trees even as it flew hundreds of feet over the treetops.

A dragon. A motherfucking dragon. Jadis gawped at the sight, her mouths hanging open as she watched the actual fucking dragon circle the valley. Intellectually, she had known dragons were real. She’d heard references to them more than a few times since coming to Oros. She’d been hoping that maybe one day she might actually see one, if she were lucky.

Well, now she was seeing one. Words could not describe how she felt in the presence of such a creature, though she struggled to find them. It wasn’t just the size, which she could tell was massive even at a great distance. It was the power the dragon radiated. This one creature was the apex predator, the ruler of its domain, the king of all it surveyed. There was nothing in this world it couldn’t dominate if it so chose to. Those were the feelings that ran through Jadis’ mind as she watched the dragon sweep across the far side of the valley.

Jadis continued to stare, mesmerized by the awe-inspiring sight. As she gawked, her weapons practically forgotten in her hands, the dragon circled the southern side of the valley, the direction she had come from, and swept up the east ridgeline. In moments she got a close look at the monstrously massive draconic beast as it flew practically level with the ridgeline she was standing on. The dragon’s head passed by, close enough to her overlook that she could see the individual scales pattered across its ice-blue face. She could see its red eyes, slit like a snake’s, all six of them. She could see the scars of old battles where great claws had torn its flesh, now healed, running down its neck.

She could see the dark wriggling tentacles of a demon protruding from a festering wound in the side of the dragon’s shoulder.

All four of her bodies were driven back as the air pressure of one flap of its wings sent the ice dragon rocketing by her. She caught her selves, steadying against each other as her mind whirled with what she had seen. The dragon had a demon burrowing into its flesh. Was it being possessed? Had it been already? Was it even possible for such a huge, powerful creature to be possessed? Shit, if it was, what would that mean for Far Felsen? She could already imagine the gigantic dragon strafing the city from the skies, blasting its defenders with its icy breath. It would be a slaughter. How would an army even begin to fight—

Wait. Four bodies?

Jadis paused, her distracted mind catching up to her surroundings, taking into account things other than the dragon. Jay stood in the middle, carrying her oversized war hammer. Dys was to the left of Jay, her huge battle axe in one hand. Syd was to the right of Jay, leaning on her lance. All three of her selves turned their heads, looking at the fourth Jadis standing to the right of Syd. She was identical to the others, wearing full cold flame steel armor, in the exact same style as Jadis, except instead of a hammer, axe, or lance, she carried a huge twohanded sword that was as tall as she was.

The fourth turned her head to look back at the other three, her face obscured under her dark helm.

“What the fuck...?” all four said at the same time.