About ten minutes ago, when I hid behind the boulder, I had felt the chill. The soul-numbing cold that sent a sense of dread down the spine. The bitter sting that announced the presence of not just one but multiple damned in the region. My body had locked up. The emotions that I still wasn’t used to wanted me to turn back, run, and hide in a deep dark corner.

  However, my rational mind and my experiences made me hold my ground. I knew that running wasn’t an option. If the damned weren’t culled, they would just spread like vermin. And when they would finish multiplying, there would be no place to hide.

  I had leaned my back against the boulder and gathered myself. I was alone. One being against many, but I had been here before. Fighting multiple foes at the same time. And unlike a day or two ago, I had a seal and a weapon.

  Oddly, it was not the thought of my new weapon, or my seal that brought me comfort. It was the sound of the hiss of snow hitting the surface around me. The hiss dulled all other noise and made the seed under my spine spin. It gathered mana from the air, and the cold focused my mind.

  I looked ahead and saw the snowfall increasing. It had started to obscure everything around me. So much so, that my black armor stood apart from the white snow everywhere. I thought about taking it off.

  Rustle chittered in my soul in annoyance. I looked inwards. There in my soul, he sat in the small hole he had dug. Noting my presence, he first squeaked in fright and buried himself in the hole. Slowly, he gathered his courage and poked his head out. And then pointed at my half-filled essence pool, and his hole.

  “You want essence?”

  Rustle squeaked and buried himself again. I let the little ferret be. I couldn’t blame him. Outside, in the world I was a man. Here in the dark waters, I was an amorphous being. And the little ferret wasn’t used to the soul of a reaper. I let the death-attuned ferret gather his courage and come to me when he was ready.

  Moreover, I had more important things to do. Like look at my foes. I moved to my soul shield and looked at the dark waters. I saw them. Reptiles swimming through the dark waters with glistening scales. Some were moving around close to me, but most were gathered together facing a large group of orbs. Souls bobbing in the dark waters.

  I could see fear and panic ripple through the souls. They knew that they were surrounded. They could sense the damned just as I could. The only thing that kept them from curling up in fright was that the damned hadn’t found a way to them.

  Those must be the women and children that my weapon had asked me to save. Or was it Gaia who had asked me to do that? I shook my head; those were questions for another time.

  I turned my attention to the damned. I spotted the one that I had injured. He was among a group. They all surrounded him as he hissed out a report next to the souls. I turned from him to the others. Some were patrolling. Others were lazing about. And one was heading straight for me. Had it sensed me? No, it must have spotted my dark armor in the snow.

  Rustle chittered. I looked down at the little ferret. It squeaked. His fur rising in fear. The ferret with wide eyes looked at me and pointed at the essence in my soul.

  I no longer had the time for my armor spirit's antics. My sister and the punishers had started talking. I could hear them even down here in the dark waters. So, I scooped some essence and poured it down Rustle’s hole.

  The ferret chittered. Protesting. Before the ferret could continue, I raised myself out of the dark waters and listened to what my sister was saying.

  “Voss?” Ilya asked.

  I remained quiet. I was tracking the damned that had been approaching me. The way that it kept its distance and retained its high ground told me that it was a mage.

  Ilya started saying something in a terse tone. Most probably threatening me with bodily harm.

  I cleared my throat and whispered, “Enemies.”

  “How many, Voss?”

  “Not many.” I wasn’t lying. I expected more. I needed more. I had a second seal to make. And these ones were barely out of their larvae stage.

  “How... Many... Dear... Brother?” Ilya stressed every word.

  “Twenty…” I started.

  “Twenty?” Ilya hissed.

  “...Five.” I finished answering her.

  Ilya was silent. That was great. I closed my eyes and tracked the mage jumping from the rocks to a tree. It was preparing to ambush me.

  “Voss… I need you to turn back.” Ilya came back and ordered.

  “No.” I closed my eyes and tracked the damned. It had started to cloak itself. But nothing hid it from me in the dark waters.

  “Voss!” Ilya hissed.

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  “Ilya, they are trying to get into a cave.” I explained, trying not to turn around and look at the damned directly. I needed it to feel safe.

  “And?” Ilya asked with gritted teeth.

  “My weapon tells me there are women and children in that cave.” I whispered back.

  “Blight! Wait, let me ask Selly about that cave.”

  “Ilya, I need to move.” I muttered and started sending mana to my lower half.

  “Why?”

  “I think they spotted me.” I saw a damned looking down at me from a tree next to the boulder I was hiding behind.

  If the damned did what I expected, this fight would be quick. Only it didn’t. It glared down at me, raised a claw and started hissing to a chain tied to its claw.

  I couldn’t have that. I turned to look straight at the damned. The creature stopped mid-hiss. I waved at it through the dense snowfall and smiled.

  “What? Are you sure?” Ilya asked.

  The damned stiffened. Its eyes widened.

  I sent mana to my legs. Every muscle fiber, tendon, and my bones pulsed with the surge of mana. I jumped at the damned. Right over the largest fireball a mage had sent towards me. My eyes widened.

  The fireball was bigger than I had expected. I tucked my legs inwards and just about dodged the red pulsating ball. Heat washed over me and in a blink evaporated all of the snow and ice that had collected over my armor, face, and hair.

  I closed my eyes and focused at it in the dark waters. The fireball landed where I had been moments before. A boom reverberated through my whole being as it exploded on the ice and snow. Steam, stones, and fire made sight impossible. But that was okay. I didn’t need my eyes to see where I was heading.

  The explosion buffeted me and made me fly higher and faster. I spun through the air like a ragdoll. It was to give the damned an illusion of victory. With my eyes closed, I stiffened my legs to gain control at the last moment.

  Dark Hunter’s Edge appeared in my right hand. I thrust it forward and down. My weapon met resistance. Scales screeched and parted. My momentum slowed. Not enough to stop me. Just enough to carry me forward. My weapon tore through flesh and scales. My legs shot up vertically.

  A branch over me slowed me further. I spun like a gymnast. Tearing a hole in the damned and came down knees first on a soft and warm body.

  I heard a wheeze. The snow and dust parted. Revealing a damned mage with Hunter’s Edge stuck in its spine. Blood trickled down from a tear from the base of its neck to its mid-spine.

  “Yes. It saw me.” I answered Ilya.

  “Voss. Run and hide. I will be there soon.” Ilya responded.

  I turned my head to look at the damned camp. They had all stopped mid-movement and looked in my direction. They did not see me. Not yet. Their sight was still obscured by the plume of snow and dust.

  I jumped off the limp damned mage and into the snow. The snow absorbed the sound of my fall and I used it to drop out of sight and move towards the camp.

  “Voss?” Ilya asked in a hurried voice.

  I looked down at the communication artifact. I should have asked Grek how to switch it off.

  “Shh… I am hunting.” I responded in a whisper.

  “Don’t you shush me.” Ilya snarled. At least she didn’t raise her voice.

  I ignored her and moved through the snow. The snow in the air was thickening. And the hissing sound was giving me the perfect opportunity to continue my hunt. Also, the cold reminded me of the dark waters. How many times had I used the darkness to hunt? This was no different.

  I smiled in satisfaction and used waves of cold to harden the snow to stop it from crunching under my feet and hide my tracks. I couldn’t meld with it and travel in a blink, but I could still use it to my advantage.

  “Voss, just tell me whether you are injured or not?”

  I scanned my surroundings. The heavy snowfall made it impossible to see anything. I turned my attention to the dark waters. The damned were abuzz. The ones patrolling had turned towards the explosion. The ones in the cave looked like a disturbed anthill.

  “Voss?” Ilya asked.

  “Shh…” I hushed Ilya. There were three damned heading towards the site of the explosion. I knelt down in the snow and started to collect snow around me to hide myself.

  “I am well, Ilya.” I finally said while covering up my dark armor in snow.

  “I see. Hold on brother.” Ilya panted. “We are coming.”

  I frowned. Ilya was coming. That was both good and bad. Having support while fighting the damned would be appreciable, but at the same time, killing the damned gave me more essence. And I needed the essence.

  My armor creaked and clinked. Rustle let out a proud squeak and his ethereal form appeared next to my half-buried body and faced me. I looked at him and down at myself. I blinked in surprise.

  My armor looked different. It was white? How? No, it was still black. Only, it was polished to a mirror shine. And now it was reflecting the snow all around me. Rustle chittered in happiness.

  I looked at my armor’s spirit and gave him an appreciative nod. Rustle chittered again. I placed a finger on my lips. Rustle nodded and jumped up to my shoulder. His head turned as we both tracked the three damned moving towards the boulder.

  They were still in human form as they passed only a few feet in front of us. One of them started, “Do you think it was that mage from the Ascari kingdom?”

  “So what if it was?” The second one asked.

  “I am just saying that it isn’t the first time he has thrown a fireball.”

  The first one chuckled. “I hear he likes burning helpless creatures alive.”

  The third one chuckled and nodded. “Yes. The last time he blew up a bird with his explosion.”

  “It was an owl. And there is too much snow for anything to fly, don’t you think?” The first one asked while scanning his surroundings.

  “You are right.” The second one nodded. “But what if it was a rodent or something else?”

  “Then we report it and move on.” The first one stated and squinted in the snow. “Stay on guard. I think I see something.”

  The damned moved on to the boulder. He was so confident that he didn’t even hear the muffled thud of the third damned’s head hitting the snow or the swish of the death dart entering the chest of the second damned.

  “Keep your eyes open, I don’t see the Ascari mage anywhere.”

  The first one moved to the boulder and looked around. He looked at the scarred ground and bent down to touch the blackened spots. “I see traces of fire magic but not anything else. Do you see anything?”

  The damned stood up and looked to his people. “Blight and curses. Where are you boys…”

  The damned mage choked on a sword blade jutting out from his throat from behind. Hunter’s Edge flashed green and I pulled my blade out of the damned’s throat.

  I sprinted back to the second damned and spun Hunter's Edge. With a swish, I slashed down the scythe blade through the damned's neck. Red blood splattered on the white snow and sizzled as the head parted from the body.

  The damned blinked one last time at me. Its facial expression locked in shock, and I released a wave of cold to freeze the blood and bodies.

  Rustle opened his mouth and gulped. Death mana streamed into both my armor spirit and me.

  I looked at the little ferret and asked, “Shall we go hunt some more, little ferret?”

  Rustle nodded and turned his head towards the nearest patrol.

  I smiled and sprinted towards the next four damned stumbling on snow-covered rocks.