Dawn revealed a layer of ice covering Snowcap Island. Winter had reached the island in the night: lakes lay frozen over, roads had vanished under the ice crust, and local critters no longer dared to set foot out of their homes.. The residents of the village had the day’s work cut out for them, clearing the snow as best they could, lest it claim them in Death‘s name.

The two dragons spent the morning hours helping out in the village. Victor helped with clearing the snow, while Celesta went out to hunt. After taking their time packing their bags with some assistance, they left for Mount Snowcap, a few of the locals waving them off as they made for the skies.

After a quick flight they landed at the base of the mountain.. A light mist shrouded the slopes from the middle onwards, the mist itself camouflaged by a layer of snow. Victor took a step backwards.

“I don’t know about this, Celesta.”

“It looks quite tricky, but we should be able to manage.” The lavender dragoness turned her head over her shoulder. “As long as we stick to the trail, it should be doable. But I can’t lie, I’m kind of intimidated myself.”

Victor gulped. Even her? “Hey, uhh, isn’t there another way up? I mean, what is stopping us from flying to the top?” His wings stretched to their fullest, the white membranes appearing almost transparent to the naked eye. A deep breath streamed down his throat, puffing up his chest in a warrior like fashion. Celesta couldn’t help but giggle a little.

“Aww, that’s quite the tenacity there, Vic.” Her tail gently brushed her side; for a moment, Victor thought to see a flicker of red emerge on her snout. “You’re a sight for sore eyes. But I’m afraid there’s no way around the path. All the pressure up there alone makes flying difficult. Not to mention the mist and the cold, too. Our wings wouldn’t last more than a minute.”

The red dragon lowered his head. “Oh, okay.” The blue eyes dawdled up the mountain. Alas, the road ahead didn’t get any easier, no matter how far up. It would be a long, arduous process to get up there, and Divinity alone knew what dwelled on the mountain’s slopes. Celesta breathed in and out, setting one foot upon the trail.

“Come, the faster we begin, the faster we reach the top, right?”

“Yes, I suppose,” Victor said, following after her.

Reserved and quiet, Victor followed Celesta up the trail. Thankfully, the first few steps were not so harsh. For some reason, the stone steps had been spared from the coat of frost, a fortune the rest of the island didn’t have. After being forced to endure the cold in the morning, Victor welcomed it with open arms.

After an uneventful few minutes of hiking, they reached a plateau. The first of the waystation the villagers had spoken of, as was made clear by a sign. Steam crept out of a crack in the wall, therein a puddle of clean water. Both dragons took the time to refresh themselves, before moving on. Victor looked on towards the path ahead, hopeful. We’ve already come quite far. Perhaps this will not be so bad.

But alas, it wouldn’t last. As the two ascended further, the steps became evermore sparse. Stretches of snow intersected the path, to the point vanishing entirely spare the rods poking out of the ground. What few signs of life had shown themselves earlier had vanished; a sniff of the air revealed little of anything noteworthy. Celesta slowed her pace, her legs shivering slightly.

“We need to be careful now, Victor.”

Victor peered to the slopes towering above. Nothing but rock and frost, as far as the eye could see. “What on Terris have we gotten ourselves into... ”

Celesta licked at her chops. “We’ve come to the right place. There’s something magical in the air. I swear to Divinity, I can feel it around me. Can’t you?”

The red dragon shook his head. “No, in fact I haven’t got the slightest clue what you speak of. All I’m feeling is my skin shivering.”

A shrill cry echoed in the distance. “We’re still in the weeds. Come, let’s keep moving.” A flicker of uncertainty appeared in her eye. Of course, the cold held little sympathy for those caught within its grasp, and there wasn’t anyone nearby who’d hear, let alone be able to help them. Victor almost bit his tongue. Realising he was falling behind, he hurried his way up the path, hoping Celesta hadn’t caught on.

Waystation two emerged into view after an exhausting trek. There was no snow here, thankfully. Just a long platform large enough for five dragons, another wellspring nestled in the wall halfway across. A sign hung beside it, with barely legible text pointing which way went up or down. Victor dropped himself onto the floor, splashing his claws and snout into the water, as if he’d been stuck in a desert for the last five hours.

“Oh, thank goodness, that’s just what I needed...”

“Hey, calm down Victor! Leave something for me!”

The red dragon haphazardly pulled himself out the spring, stumbling backwards over the floor, right on top of the bag tied onto his back. “Sorry...”

Celesta didn’t pay attention. She had dipped her snout into the waters, making Victor’s drinking look civilized in comparison. Half of the water ended up flowing over her scales, then quickly dissipating between tiny cracks in the ground. Victor rolled off the bag, and checked it’s contents. Sadly, the meat within had seen better days. A dragon of some two hundred kilograms falling on top tended to do that. Victor sighed, and spread himself out to rest, as Celesta continued to drink her belly round.

“Haaa… Divinity almighty cannot be thanked enough for water.”

After some time, Celesta managed to break free from the fountain’s allure, and dropped down by Victor’s side, spreading her wings. “Hey, you alright there? You look a little tired.”

Victor shook his head. “I’m cold, that’s all.”

The lavender dragoness nodded. “That’s okay. Shall we rest here for a while? I could use the warm up too.” She found the time right to try and comfort the red dragon, gently brushing his back with her wing, a lone talon vying for his attention. Victor said nothing in response.

“So… how do you feel right now, Vic? If everything goes well, you should be human again in a few hours.”

Victor had little to reply with. He’d been praying for months for this day, and yet he was hesitant. Echoes of the temple lingered. Echoes of the searing pain when the nightmare was made flesh. If the descent into the abyss was so cruel, what in the gods’ name could be in store for him at the summit of the mountain? Chills crept down his spine.

“Vic? Is something…?”

“I’m fine. It’s just… I don’t know what we’ll find up ahead. Especially not with all that mist in the way.”

Celesta licked at her lips. “That’s true. We’ll have to give it whatever we have. The summit shouldn’t be much further after we’ve gotten out of the mist.”

A gust slid over the path like a knife. Victor coiled his tail around his side, where it was soon joined by a friend. “I wonder what Will would think of all this. I’ve never had the chance to tell him anything about this before we left.” The red dragon’s gaze lingered onto the path ahead. Far beyond the eye’s reach, another shrill echo came and went.

The purple dragoness nodded. “I’m sure he would have supported you wholeheartedly. He seems very trusting of you, Vic. How did you come to know him, by the way?”

Victor sighed. “It hasn’t been more than a few months, actually. He was an Initiate at the Civil Defense in Ravens Hill, just like I was. Very shy kid, but kind once you got to know him. Eric introduced me to him when I first got there. Told us he’d take us both under his wings, since we were both newcomers. And things snowballed from there, I guess.”

Celesta let out a soft grunt. “That must’ve been nice, having your friend there to help you out. Divinity knows I could’ve used that when I joined the Front.”

“You can imagine my surprise, seeing him come down the stairs. This was after years of him telling me he wanted to go into the army, the lying bastard.” Victor chuckled, then shook his head. “Those were more pleasant times.” A whistle crept out of his nostrils. “And, what about you? When you joined the Home Front, I mean.”

The dragoness drummed her claws on the stone floor. “It was rough at first. I was still reeling from my mother’s death, and then to be thrown in with so many harsh looking brutes didn’t help matters, to put it lightly. Even though I’ve been a Draconist for as long as I can remember, it was different to actually be in the presence of one. Only my father was there to help me, and he was struggling to figure things out as well,” she said. “But thankfully, once I became a familiar face to the others, things went better.”

Victor nodded. “That’s good to hear. At least you can feel happy about this whole dragon thing.”

Celesta’s snout grew a light smirk. “It took some getting used to initially, but I have no regrets. I’ve never felt better about myself, to be honest. People take me seriously now! And oh, you should see how the children in the orphanage look up to me… They’re just the sweetest things, oh my gosh...”

Victor puffed his cheeks up as much as was possible. “Eheh, I’ve seen that, yes.” This is quite embarrassing…

“But anyway, I’m getting distracted here,” Celesta then said, “Are you feeling rested and warm enough to continue? I’m not seeing much improvement in the weather.”

“I think so. The sooner we’re at the top, the less we have to worry about it. Although, I do-” Victor’s stomach suddenly roared. “...feel a little peckish. Hey, can you? Stop that!”

Celesta had rolled onto her side, claws and tail playfully thrashing about; she could hardly breathe. “Oh, Vic, you’re a treat, you know?” she wheezed. Victor grumbled, frowning away at a nearby pile of rocks. It’s not funny… Come on, stop laughing!

Once Celesta caught her breath, they spent some time eating their fill. There was no time to cook, but that didn’t turn out to be much of a problem: Victor didn’t seem to notice what he was eating underneath the taste of salt. Their bellies filled, they headed up the slopes once again.

Thanks to the warmth sticking onto their scales, the first few steps weren’t so bad. Sure, there were rough patches still, but nothing they couldn’t handle. Stretch by stretch, slope by slope, the mist in the distance crept ever closer. All seemed okay when the gray shroud enveloped the two, leaving them beyond the gods’ sight.

Celesta led the way, tail swaying back and forth. “Here we are, Vic- !” She halted, violently sucking in breath between her teeth. “That’s quite the chill!”

Victor was hit by the same thing, spitting a lick of flame out by surprise, which missed Celesta by a hair. “Ack!”

“Watch out! You’ll burn my scales off!”

“Sorry...” grumbled the red dragon.

“It’s okay, just watch out the next time you start spitting flames. This mountain could use some more flames, if you’d ask me.”

“I’d agree with you.” If ‘some’ means enough to keep every hearth in all of Lokahn lit, that is.

Under the mist’s spectre, Victor and Celesta mostly kept to themselves. No sign of the world below, just the eerily quiet road under their feet, buried under a bed of frost. The steps were an oddity out here. The markers were difficult to spot. They were in total solitude, accompanied only by the crunching of snow, the howl of the wind, and a distant echo. It was as if they had entered another world. We’ll be out of here eventually, this mist can’t be that thick...

Yet the mist persisted. No matter how far they’d come, it was as present as ever. Every bend in the road, every ridge, upon every slope next to the path. The cold chewed on their hides. Those little steps weren’t helping much any more. The two resorted to their breath more and more to keep them warm, despite all warnings of their mentors.

“Please, for goodness sakes, let there be another platform already...” Victor muttered, ”I’m exhausted.”

The lavender dragoness ahead wasn’t faring much better. “Just keep pushing, it can’t go on forever… urk, it’s so damned cold…”

Victor hissed his breath through his teeth. It wasn’t even a matter of energy. It was the snow. Every step it was there, chilling him to the bone. His blood screamed out for warmth, warmth nowhere to be found. The wind kept howling, again and again, stinging his ears. The idea of turning back to the waystation had become far too distant. As they climbed further, they passed by a few odd, colorful lumps besides the path. Victor couldn't keep his eyes off it. What is that? I- Wait a minute... that's skin, and that's hair,and that pattern... that's the Justitian crest...

It was then that Victor lost interest in the lumps, shivering as he hurried his way forwards.

As what felt like the ten thousandth step came and went, the mountain had another card to play. Something moved on the slopes next to them, its identity shrouded by the mist. Victor’s eyes knew better though, as did his nose. “Celesta! Look, next to us!” he cried. The lavender dragoness whipped her head around, her jaw falling half open as she saw it.

“V-Victor? There’s two of them...”

A second creature prowled just behind the other. One jumped up; it appeared their prey had become aware of their presence. The creature was covered in bone white fur, it’s teeth gnashing ominously.

“I don’t think they’re here to say hello...”

Celesta lowered her stance, her wings blossoming open. “Prepare yourself, Victor!”

Both beasts ahead suddenly howled in anger, kicking up snow as they charged like arrows across the slope. Celesta answered with a bellow of her own, a sound unlike any she’d made before. A gasp freed itself from Victor’s throat. Within an eyeblink he landed in a fight for his life, one of the beasts charging straight at him. Victor threw himself upon the slope, a gust flying by his tail as his feet hit the snow crust.

The wind spat snow up against Victor’s wings. His heart pounded against his ribs: All of a sudden, he’d wound up far worse of a dilemma than he could’ve dreamed of. The attacker heaved, preparing to strike again. As nature would have it, it roared.

In a panic, Victor coughed up a drop of fire. The two legs were hit; the beast roared in pain, its raised fist falling upon the red dragon as it tumbled into the snow.

“Aaarghh!”

Victor’s chest burned with pain. He scrambled away from his attacker, the snow grappling onto his legs at every step. In desperation he looked all around, to no avail. Celesta was nowhere to be seen nor heard. Even the wind had gone missing. “Celesta!!”

The singed opponent rose from the snow like a creature from the bog. Victor’s teeth chattered. I’m not going to last long like this, okay, think, think, the training, think of the training… “nrgghhh…!”

A growl rumbled out of the red dragon’s throat. Anxiety let go of its heart; the dragon’s eyes narrowed,its teeth and claws laying in wait. The enemy went on the attack, swinging its arms around with abandon. A sear went through the dragon’s shoulder, which roared with ferocity as it struck back at the beast. One claw struck the arm. The beast shrugged it off, throwing a claw at full force.

As leaves on the wind, the dragon flew across the slope and back onto the path, coming to a stop by a ledge. A trail of smoke crept out of both nostrils, as it bit through whatever pain had been inflicted. The beast, unimpressed, charged in to finish what it had started. But to the beast’s surprise the dragon hopped aside, taking it attacker by storm. It tore a gash through the furred chest, hopping back afterwards. The beast tried to lunge, only to be sent back by a whip of the dragon’s tail.

After the failed attempt, the dragon revealed its gruesome maw. Those blue eyes, which had appeared so tender and harmless moments earlier, now stared hungrily down, not the faintest trace of mercy within. Using every ounce of strength in its body, the beast howled out into a charge, fist raised in a last stand. It tried so valiantly, but valiance meant nothing. The fist hit nothing but the thin air. The beast was slammed into the ground from behind with inhuman force, where its neck was forcibly twisted asunder.

Alas, battle lust was not so easily sated. The dragon raised its stained snout to the air, snapping onto a nearby scent. Behind a rocky outcrop, another beast had Celesta on the back foot, oblivious to the danger lurking behind. With a mighty roar, the red dragon descended upon it, tearing through fur with tooth and claw. Howls of agony shook the air, the sorry creature so desperately attempted to throw the monster off, but alas.

Celesta, seeing her chance, reeled back her head. Just as it freed itself from the red terror’s jaws, the creature was set ablaze, jowling as what little life remained fell away. The creature collapsed into the snow, where it was finished off with a bite to the throat. The dragon spread its wings wide open, and proceeded to roar at the top of its lungs, the echoes audible for miles around.

* * *

“Victor? Victor?! Are you there?”

“Nrghhhh...”

“Victor… is it still you in there?”

“...Where am I?”

Victor’s eyes opened to the sight of a snowy slope. Bruises covered parts of his body; his belly felt as if it had been slathered in slime. Something was covering his back. The wind’s scent was that of Celesta… and blood.

“Wait, no, Celesta, Celes-”

“Don’t worry about me, Victor, I’m fine!”

A glance over his shoulder revealed the dragoness beside him, appearing the same as before spare a few bruises. She also seemed a little smaller, somehow. “I was wondering about you, Victor. Is everything alright?”

“I... what happened? All I remember was those two monsters coming straight at us, and I don’t remember much after that. Where are they?”

“Well, you’re lying on top of one right now.”

Confused, Victor looked to his feet to find one of the beasts cut open, with him lying straight within. A gasp fled his throat. All the vitals were missing, as if birds of prey had been at work before his waking. The snow around was splattered red.

“Wh-what happened?!” Victor yelled, heaving in a panic. “Did you-”

“Why are you so surprised? That’s your work you’re looking at.”

A bad feeling tickled on the back of Victor’s neck. “My work? But how? I don’t remember ever… doing…” An irony taste revealed itself upon Victor’s tongue. “No.. I couldn’t have.”

Celesta shook her head, patting the red dragon on the back with one of her claws. “It’s the truth. I don’t know what happened, but you had flown into a rage. After you had gutted those beasts like fish, you just tore straight in. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.”

Victor faltered from seeing Celesta eye to eye. A hollow, nauseous feeling beat against the walls of his body. As if ghosts had come, and drained every last drop of blood out of him. The utter horror of it all was devastating; yet, there was no denying it. As the seconds passed, small glimpses of what carnage he had wrought reemerged like thieves from the shadows, stalking him like he had stalked his prey. Then, he let out a deep whine.

“What have I DONE?! Celesta, I can’t do this anymore, I can’t fight back against it anymore! Please, this curse is killing me, it has to be cured, it has to go away… before I-”

“Victor. Calm down.”

The red dragon fell silent. Celesta stroked his neck, ever so gentle. How she still had the patience to put up with him, Victor didn’t understand.

“Even if what you claim is the truth, you won’t have to suffer for much longer. The summit shouldn’t be far, and we got out of that mess intact. Shall we take the final steps?” Celesta asked, a confident smile having materialized out of thin air. Victor licked his teeth, forcing a nod out of his neck. “Good, let’s go.”

With all set and done, the two pressed on. Victor found solace in the knowledge he’d be free in a few hours time. No more scales sticking to his skin, no more uncontrollable instincts, no more of the teeth and claws that killed his best friend. Had it not been for that, gods alone would’ve known the outcome.

After much suffering, the mists cleared at last. Another waystation crept into view; Victor almost fell on his knees as he scrambled forwards, his tail sweeping into the roadmarkers with every step. Without a thought, he threw his head into the wellspring, a slice of paradise in this frozen abyss. The water spilled over the edge, onto his bloody scales, then up his nose.

“Victor, look!”

But he didn’t have long to enjoy it. As he turned his attention back to his companion, he was greeted by a gate to the unknown.