The Heavens Shall Fall

The snow was crashing high into the air, mixed with her blood as Rinmei's body hit the ground after being flung away by the Icecrown Stag. She didn't scream at all because the impact knocked the air out of her lungs, but at least the icepick-like antlers didn't rupture her lungs or heart, thanks to Siu's last moment intervention. However, that didn't mean she was lucky, because the coldness running through her body now was invading her veins and muscles, making it hard to stay awake... or move.

"Fall back—!" someone shouted, "Retreat! RETREAT!" another echoed, already running, but Rinmei could not even identify the voices or pinpoint their location.

But... it was over before it could begin.

The moment the Icecrown Stag straightened and lifted its head, the truth was undeniable, watching as the beast stood tall and proud in the depression, frosted blood covering its antlers and hooves. It was clear that the creature was overlooking the others, issuing its own challenge, as it watched Harrik struggle to rise, apparently with one of his arms just hanging there uselessly.

It was then that the stag tilted its head back, letting out a loud, rumbling sound, not exactly a roar but more of a call, echoing through the air, making Siu feel like his eardrums were vibrating on a very painful frequency.

"Run!" Arya yelled in his mind, "Master, we MUST RUN!"

By then, Siu was already moving, because all around the group, between the trees, dozens of shapes emerged, listening to the call as Ironcrow Stags were overcoming their simple nature and, instead of skittishly fleeing, were now following the orders of their evolved brethren. Dozens of hooves began churning and throwing the snow around as they poured in from every direction. Although they weren't crashing into the fleeing disciples at first, they were cutting off paths, spreading wide around them, forming a living net as the Icecrown Stag singled out its next target.

"THIS WAY!" Arya screamed into Siu's mind, running ahead of him a few dozen meters, trusting her own nose and senses, trying to escape the closing net enveloping the group. "Left! Left-left-left! Don't stop!"

Leaving it all up to her, Siu didn't think about directions; he just ran, following his companions' orders. Seeing him getting close to escape, there was a sudden cry coming from his right as snow got thrown into the air, and from next to him, an Ironcrown charged in, rushing past him just missing his body by a hair's breadth. That alone told him that it seemed he was the next target... which didn't bode well.

"Up at the left branch, Master!" Marly cried out in terror, jumping from tree to tree, using the flaps connecting her limbs, gliding like a bird.

Siu leapt up without question, grabbing a low-hanging branch, swinging hard, missing another stag rushing by, this time, going right under him. Swinging, he heard as Arya shrieked at him, causing his fingers to immediately let go.

"Down! Roll!"

He hit the snow shoulder-first, rolled two times, and came up coughing up snow but already sprinting again as hooves thundered past where he'd landed, while the tree he used got crashed into, splintering and being knocked to the ground.

"They're not trying to kill us!" Marly yelled, gasping for air, watching the chaos, "They're pushing! They're pushing us, Master, they're pushing us into something!"

"No, no, no, no! We are trapped!" Arya whimpered as she suddenly couldn't find any other way that didn't smell like a deer, knowing that they were surrounded.

"I know!" Siu grunted aloud, his lungs burning, his ears picking up noises, or more like screams coming from somewhere inside the forest.

Probably, somewhere, along the herd of Ironcrowns, a helper had tripped and screamed once before being trampled into a paste, cutting his cry short.

"Master! Behind you!" Arya howled suddenly, skidding to a halt, snapping her head back towards him.

He twisted instinctively and struck out with the Crane's counter as his fingers went into an Ironcrown's neck like a sword. It's warm, red blood sprayed hot and dark against the snow as the beast shrieked once and fell, but there was nothing to celebrate because he could see that three more took its place almost immediately.

"Too many!" Marly sobbed, "Too many, too many, too many!"

"Focus!" Siu yelled out to stop her panic, but his own teeth were clenched together, "We are not dead yet!"

As he said that, a sudden clearing opened ahead, which felt way too open... and convenient.

"Trap!" Arya screamed the same way Siu's senses did the moment he saw it.

Skidding on the snow and ice, he veered hard at the last second, diving into where thicker trees were growing, just as a pair of antlers crashed together behind him, two Ironcrown bodies colliding in their rush, not realizing he didn't fall for their trap. Still, on this new route, the ground was thick with gnarly roots all over the place, hiding under the snow and tripping him. He stumbled, but then caught himself, only to realize they had gotten near a sharp slope.

"Drop down, Master!" Marly yelled, and because she could see the land better from her vantage point, Siu obeyed without question, throwing himself down the slope just as another pair of antlers swept through the space he occupied a moment before. As he slid down, splitting the snow apart, he was blinded by it, splashing into his face before he slammed into a tree hard enough to rattle his teeth, finally stopping his momentum.

Looking back up, he could already tell that the last pair of antlers were different, as it made his back chill. As his eyes refocused, he could see the Icecrown Stag step into view above him, framed by the falling snow that was coming down the trees, looking back down at him. Shaking its body, he let out a loud neigh-like breath, fogging the air, still only watching him.

Grunting, Siu pushed himself up, feeling a bit of blood in his mouth, his hand slipping toward his belt where the firebombs were hidden, getting ready... Especially after he watched the Icecrown look at the slope... and then just step forward, sliding down after him on all fours.

"Fuck..." He smiled, taking multiple steps back, readying himself, knowing that turning his back towards the beast would be akin to suicide, "Come you big bastard... Let's dance...!"

His heart was pounding, but he ignored it, using the sped-up flow of blood to his advantage, letting it wash over every part of his body. The moment the creature landed at the bottom, it pushed itself forward with its hooves, jumping into the air, almost as if it were flying, surprising Siu, but also... giving him the perfect opportunity.

"Master! NOW!" Arya screamed at him.

"THROW!" Marly followed suit, realizing it was indeed the best moment, because while in the air, the creature couldn't dodge.

Siu's hand was already in motion the moment the Icecrown landed at the bottom. By then, his fingers slipped beneath his robe, finding the hidden pouch as the firebomb came free into his palm. Before it even came out into the cold, Siu had already yanked the string, and he could sense that there was a sharp snap as the catalyst tore free inside it. It was followed instantly by a sensation like the thing in his palm had come alive. The bomb swelled twice its size, its previously malleable, sloshing surface tightening as the inner folds collapsed and the separated reagents began to react.

There was not much to think about, only to throw it at the beast. The firebomb struck the stag high on the chest, and for the briefest instant, nothing happened... not until the membrane ruptured and the liquid inside splashed across its fur.

The explosion wasn't loud nor was it violent; it was simple, really. The moment air was introduced into the formula, a somewhat greenish-orange flame burst outward in a bloom, the liquid catching fire, splashing, and clinging to its fur in big patches. Its heat was nothing to scoff at, as snow beneath the stag vaporized instantly, hissing into steam as the orange and green light emanating from it consumed the stag's front half.

This time, the Icecrown Stag actually screamed, and it was a furious one, one that was also filled with pain. It landed hard, crumbling and crashing into the snow, rolling in it, trying to extinguish the flame that was sticking to its body, but no matter what it did, the fire kept burning, refusing to go out. Hearing it scream, the rest of the Ironcrown Stags scattered at once, panicked now, their formation breaking as their leader kept screaming.

"Now!" Nue's voice cut through the cries, making Siu flinch.

He was so focused on the now that he missed their presence. Drawn back to the moment, quickly scanning his surroundings, apparently the other were also here, watching and waiting. He could tell they had time to set themselves up because they came in from the perfect angle, attacking the Icecrown Stag. They used him... as bait? Waiting for the perfect time to strike?

The answer was already in the way Nue landed. She came in low from the stag's right flank, her eyes locked onto the beast as she used the struggling creature's panic to try to break its legs, immobilizing it. Next, Kae'Lin was already airborne by that moment as she hit the beast from the side, her hands looking as if they were heated up, her skin way too red to be normal, injuring the stag, finally making it bleed.

"JAREK! NOW!" Harrik's voice echoed weakly from somewhere behind, injured but present.

The man's response was simply a roar as he charged straight through the snow and trees, an animalistic-like power bursting out of him as he slammed into the stag's side like a living battering ram. The impact drove the beast down once again, fracturing its bones in an audible crack as he kept pummeling it and even... biting into its fur with a foaming mouth.

The flames still clinging to the stag's chest kept burning stubbornly, with multiple people right on its body, close to killing it... But the beast ignored them. It was all or nothing, so the stag's gaze never wavered as it pushed itself upright, its still massive muscles obeying its will as the stag stamped once, its antlers lighting up in a blinding, iridescent flash. The next moment, frost exploded outward from its body, forcing Nue and Kae'Lin back, causing even the crazed Jarek to let go, snapping him out of its trance.

The sudden burst of coldness even snuffed out the flames, finally solidifying it into ice that fell from its body like a crust, revealing a badly burnt, almost blackened patch of flash beneath it... But it was still standing... gathering power as its antlers kept glowing brighter and brighter.

Siu felt the change of essence in the air, making him inhale sharply, his hand moving for the second firebomb, right before Arya's voice interrupted him.

"NO!" She screamed in his mind, "MASTER! UP! UP! THE COLD IS TOO STRONG!"

Marly was already moving, abandoning the branch she hovered on and scrambling even higher, followed by Arya, who shot upward like a white blur, bounding from trunk to trunk, skidding to a stop beside her friend, gasping for air, watching the light in the antlers becoming almost blinding. Siu didn't question them; already on his way, he began yelling at the others, who were blinded not by the light in the antlers but by pure greed.

"EVERYONE! GET BACK! GET OFF THE GROUND, NOW!"

"Kill it before it attacks again!" Nue yelled, ignoring Siu's warning as the group hammered the stag, making its legs buckle again and bringing it to its knees for the third time.

To Nue, to Jarek, to Harrik, all of this just looked like desperation, and they weren't wrong. When a beast was cornered and wounded, it always attacked one last time, but they already saw what it could do. Release cold from its body? They can deal with that. What else? That breath-like attack coming from the antlers? It could only go in a cone before its head; they only had to keep free of that. They will be fine, and the hunt will be over.

"IT'S CHARGING A FIELD!" Siu screamed at them, trying one last time, already up on the tree Arya and Marly were on, his fingers scraping the bark as he hauled himself upward with everything he had.

Only Kae'Lin hesitated, but just for a heartbeat, because she saw it then, how the stag didn't even try to move its head to aim at the group.

"SHIT! HE'S RIGHT!"

She broke off instantly, kicking backward, abandoning her attack without hesitation as she vaulted toward the trees, climbing them up as fast as she could, but the others didn't follow.

Jarek, already lost in his rage, just roared as blood was still frothing at his mouth, attacking, while Nue was trying to cripple the stag's legs again. Even Harrik was there, holding it down, not wanting to get told he didn't put in enough and getting swindled out of his portion of the rewards...

Then the antlers flashed... and all the heat around them was sucked out of the air. It wasn't an explosion, there wasn't any spreading shockwave or anything that could be seen by the eyes... it was simply... cold. Extremely cold. The snow they kicked up around the group in their struggle had crystallized mid-fall, while the closest trees suddenly creaked, then shattered from the base up as all the moisture inside them was instantly frozen, causing them to expand.

Of course, by then, the rest of them had also noticed the issue and were trying to escape. But... Too late.

Jarek didn't even have time to scream because his legs froze first, locked solid in a blink, then his torso, his arms, his face, as ice crawled over his eyes last, sealing them wide open, turning him into a statue.

Harrik only made it two steps farther. His yell was cut off with a wet, cracking sound as frost rushed from his feet upward, flash-freezing his muscles, then his blood, until his body seized, then fractured, exploding apart under its own momentum into reddish frost shards.

As for Nue, she escaped second, abandoning her post when she noticed Kae'Lin was running... But she knew she wasn't fast enough to escape the cold, unless...

With a jump and a yell, she reached up, arms stretched high, watching as Siu hung upside down from the branch he was on, reaching down his hand to grab hers. Siu knew that Kae'Lin was watching from her position, seeing him try... and that was all he wanted. A witness.

This was a disaster. Not only was he roped into something idiotic, without a chance to back out of it, but all of the members of this hunt were also fools. Worse, they even used the others like tools, and he was sure that they wouldn't bother saving him. Where were the helpers? Weren't they the first to run? And those that didn't run, died... Everything about this hunt was doomed to fail from the start. Great fucking job! And Nue? She warned him enough times what she wanted to do to him... so, he would make sure no more idiots would threaten his life or his beasts' lives.

This ends now, and he won't let himself get into the same position in the future either.

Using the Fox Form's movement, his hand was reaching out, swinging perfectly, almost grabbing Nue... But... Only almost. In reality, it was made sure to miss, and when their fingers almost touched, that was when Siu's hand slipped past hers. Nue looked at him with shock, fear, and honest surprise... But what she could see was only a cold gaze, Siu's blue eyes almost like how the Icecrown looked at the group a moment prior. She almost heard him say something, but he just watched as she fell down into the cold air, turned to ice, and shattered into pieces the moment she landed.

"Hmph!" Arya snorted, biting Siu's robes, pulling him back up with Marly's help, her tiny claws grabbing his clothes in fear, "Serves her right! Serves all of them right!"

"Pretty much..." Siu agreed, watching as the stag stood up again, scarred, bleeding from multiple wounds, looking around and gazing at the survivors now perched atop their trees.

"Siu! Do you have anymore of those bombs?!" Kae'Lin suddenly yelled at him, just as he was about to reach for one of them, still watching the stag.

Apparently, the creature was aware that if he answered yes, it would be done for... So... It just stood there, breathing heavily, gasping for air, only watching Siu and his hand, trying to see where it would move.

"No..." Siu answered back, then repeated it with a yell, "No! I don't! That was my trump card!"

As he lowered his hand, the stag finally blinked, bobbing its head a few times, as if acknowledging Siu before... it began walking away, trodding the spreading cold air that had no effect on it. A moment later, it disappeared amongst the woods, leaving them trapped up on the branches, having nothing else to do just to... wait. Wait until the cold dissipates...