Sora didn’t understand what was going on but this was the second time the pale blue skinned vampire came to his rescue. Normally, he would have stayed to thank his saviour but Sora suspected that the ice floor was too brittle to withstand an attack. Further, Sora was secretly hoping the vampire would take care of all his worries and be buried with him.

[Maybe he has discovered what a big nuisance Ai is and wants to return…] Sora suspected, or maybe because Ai is such a ticking bomb that the vampire was here to kill him for handing her to him….worse still Ai may have opened her mouth and spoke something which was bound to be misunderstood and now the vampire was here to torture him till death.

Thus, Sora was more than certain he wished his saviour and the orc dead.

Sora shivered as he watched the surrounding walls being covered in ice – this vampire was truly terrifying.

As Sora began climbing the walls of the cliff, the orc, dropped to the floor. Gara’s body shattered into hundreds of pieces of ice as it hit the floor; scattering in all directions.

“That was over rather quickly…] Sora whispered to himself.

***

It was indeed over in the blink of an eye. Toketsu’s aura was so terrifying that the orc simply froze before it could do anything. The chill released by Toketsu was so strong, that not only did it freeze the orc from the outside but inside too! What was more stunning was that Toketsu did all that in a matter of seconds. The orc didn’t even realize that his internal organs had been frozen – it all happened that fast.

All that Toketsu did after the froze the orc, was walk over to the frozen statue and push it with one finger. The goblins were terrified seeing what had happened to the orc. They would have run away but their feet was frozen to the ground as well. Tokestu’s blizzard like aura had turned everything in the vicinity into an ice crystal cave. Blue sparkling icicles were hanging from the ceiling, and the walls were covered with a sheet of white ice.

“That was rather disappointing…” Toketsu remarked as he turned his attention to Sora, who was hastily scrambling to up the wall like a cockroach.

“Where do you think you are going…” Toketsu grumbled as he leaped and within the blink of an eye appeared standing in front of Sora.

Now this position must be detailed out. Sora was climbing up a wall – he was up right like the letter “l” (vertical) and Toketsu stood in front of him like that “---“ (horizontal). It was almost as if gravity had no effect on Toketsu. However, gravity did effect the vampire, for his clothes hung downwards as he stood on the wall. Since, he was a vampire he had excellent feet grip and this was just one of the many applications of his powerful grip.

“I believe you have something of interest for me….” The vampire politely asked as he extended his hand, asking for the *mysterious* item which he believed Sora had stolen from the healer.

Sora was confused – what was this vampire talking about while extending his hand?

Sora raised out his hand and shook Toketsu’s hand.

That is what he wanted, right? A handshake?

For a moment after the handshake, both skeleton and vampire stared into each other’s eyes.

The goblins peered below (they couldn’t do anything else) and watched the handshake in much horror – what was the skeleton thinking? Even the orc had been less insulting!

Shaking hands with the vampire like that would give the impression to anyone that Sora was mocking the vampire.

Sora on the other hand didn’t understand why else did the vampire extend his hand – if not to shake hands? He already gave the vampire, Ai. He didn’t have anything else to give. No armour, no weapon, no money, no accessories – nothing. He was all bones and not an ounce of flesh – what could he possibly offer to the vampire? He had no idea what the vampire was seeking to begin with.

The goblins shuddered – this one too was going to die soon. The goblins who chased Sora to teach him a lesson were now praying for Sora’s soul out of pity.

The vampire smiled and began laughing loudly as he realized that the skeleton didn’t give him anything but merely shook his hands.

Sora also began laughing alongside the vampire – when in Rome do what the romans do!

Almost with movie like perfection, the vampire stopped laughing and wore a very grave expression. “What are you laughing at, skeleton?”

“….” Replying here would mean instant death.

“Do you have anything or not?” The vampire was boiling with fury. He had indulged in the chase on the belief that there was something worth running after. If he didn’t find anything worthwhile now he would freeze hell over.

Sora tried to smile politely and say no – unfortunately skeletons can’t smile. “No. I am all bones. Nice to meet you.”

The vampire laughed again as he realized he how stupid he had been.

Sora laughed along with the vampire again – when in Rome do what the Romans do!

See Sora laugh, the vampire began laughing even more loudly.

Since the two were still holdings hands, Sora suddenly felt an icy chill. Sora’s laughed died out as he noticed an icy layer slowly making its way from the vampire’s hand to his. It began spreading from Sora’s arm, like poison, to his shoulders, chest and legs…

Sora tried pulling away from the vampire but the vampire had an extremely strong grip. Further, Sora was nearly 75% frozen. Sora began panicking as the ice slowly made its way up his neck.

In another second it was all over. Sora stood frozen like an ice statue. He no longer moved or laughed. The light in his eye sockets which was an accurate measure of whether the skeleton was alive or dead – died out.

The ice continued to layer itself around Sora’s dead body like an ice coffin the truest sense. The vampire stopped laughing and let go of Sora’s hand. Seeing Sora terrified pleased the vampire – it was a just punishment for mocking him. Toketsu lost all interest in the skeleton after the skeleton became wrapped up in ice like a cocoon – this had been a complete waste of time.

In a blink the vampire appeared next to the goblins. Since, killing weakling’s had not completely satisfied the vampire he decided to torture the goblins whose legs were frozen to the ground. Just as the vampire was about to gouge a goblin’s eye out with an ice needle, he stopped. There was a cracking noise coming from behind the vampire – like ice cracking.

The eyes of the goblins were wide open in shock and horror - right now the goblins had a feeling their very understanding of what a superior beings would go for a toss. They weren’t afraid of the vampire which was about to torture them instead compared to him, the vampire looked rather normal.

Toketsu slowly turned around in disbelief – nothing survived his ice coffin attack.

Behind Toketsu, the ice coffin lay cracked open and the skeleton warrior hovering in front of it .

It didn't resemble anything like the skeleton warrior he had killed just moments ago. This one had two pairs of fluttering black feathered wings, its eyes were burning red and thin crimson glowing lines appeared on its bones. It wore spiky ice armour, giving the skeleton warrior a very formidable look.

"Come Toketsu, let me teach you what an ice coffin is really like." said the flying skeleton warrior.

[th_zilla2.gif]

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Author's note:

1. Thank you mrel and ArchmageNaoki! Correction has been made!