CHAPTER 75: SURVIVING IN THE SNOW

The beast raised its fist again, as if it wanted to crush not just Damon, but the entire valley beneath its feet. The ground shook, the trees creaking around it, snow falling from the branches like frozen rain.

Damon didn’t wait. His eyes scanned the surrounding landscape. The forest was thick with twisted trees, tall trunks covered in ice, some as thick as walls. Jagged rocks jutted out of the snow, forming small rises and hidden ravines.

"If I can’t pierce you... I’ll use everything here to break you."

He ran, spear gripped tightly in his hands, but with no intention of attacking directly. The ape roared and came after him, clearing a path with its gigantic arms. Trees were ripped from the ground, thrown like twigs. Each step of the monster vibrated the snow, but Damon ran lighter, diving between the trunks.

The giant raised his fist and punched. Damon dodged, rolling under a fallen log. The creature’s hand slammed into a massive boulder behind him.

CRACK!

The rock split in two, shards flying like blades of ice. The monster roared in pain, pulling back its hand, bleeding slightly at the knuckle. For the first time, Damon saw something: it wasn’t much, but it was a wound.

"Hah!" he grinned, spitting blood onto the ground. "So you’re not indestructible, you just need to hit the right spot."

The enraged ape thumped its chest and lunged forward again. Damon ran, sliding across the snow, driving the creature toward a massive tree with long, ice-covered branches. He deliberately positioned himself in front of it.

The beast raised its arm and struck. Damon jumped sideways.

BOOM!

The fist slammed into the trunk with brutal force. The entire tree shook, cracks running like black veins. Snow crashed down on the beast, covering it for an instant. The weight of the tree began to give way, and with a gigantic crack, it fell straight onto the ape’s shoulder.

CRAAAAASH!

The monster roared in pain, staggering under the impact. Branches shattered as they touched its skin, but the weight knocked it off balance. Damon took advantage. He ran and drove his spear into the exact spot where the tree pressed against the creature’s shoulder, using his own weight against it.

This time, the blow penetrated a few inches. A deafening roar exploded in the air.

Damon grinned ferociously. "Finally!"

But the victory was short-lived. The beast shook its body, flinging the broken trunk away. Damon was thrown with it, the spear ripped from his hands. He flew against another rock, his body shuddering from the impact. The world spun, and the taste of iron filled his mouth.

He crawled in the snow, retrieving the weapon. The beast was coming again, maddened.

"Come on... come with me," Damon hissed, staggering.

He backed toward a rocky outcropping, where large blocks of stone were covered in ice. The ape advanced, each step like thunder. Damon ran in circles between the rocks, taunting, dodging blows that split the stones in half.

Until the moment came: the monster raised both hands and tried to smash him into the ground. Damon dodged out at the last instant.

BOOM!

The creature’s fists slammed into the boulder. The vibration echoed throughout the valley. The stone shattered, falling onto the monster’s arms in gigantic shards.

One of the pieces struck his face, drawing blood for the first time. Red against the white snow.

Damon gasped, his eyes shining with a spark of hope. "That’s right... you bleed."

The ape roared in frenzy, tearing the pieces of stone from its body and throwing them in all directions. A block passed inches from Damon, exploding on the ground and covering him in snow and ice.

He got to his feet, dizzy, but kept going. He knew the way now. It wasn’t force against force—it was the creature’s blind fury against the world itself.

Damon ran again, leading the beast to an area where fallen trees formed a heap. The ape charged forward, pounding the ground behind him. Damon slithered between the trunks, like a fox in the undergrowth.

The beast tried to follow, but its size was too much. As he pushed against the trunks with his arms, they fell back onto his head and back, cracking like wooden whips.

CRACK-CRACK-CRASH!

Damon took advantage of the imbalance. He climbed onto one of the fallen logs, ran along the monkey’s back as if scaling a wall, and tried to plunge the spear into its nape.

The blade sank a little deeper this time, and the monster roared, shaking. Damon was nearly thrown off, but he held on tightly to the handle.

For a second, he thought he could drive deeper. He gritted his teeth, grunting, and tried to push. But the beast slammed its back against a rock, crushing him.

The pain was so intense his ribs screamed. The air rushed from his lungs, and he dropped the weapon. Damon tumbled down the side of the creature, landing heavily in the snow.

His vision went black for a moment.

He gasped for air, feeling something warm seep under his clothes. Blood. He was broken inside. But he was still alive.

And so was the beast—and angrier than ever.

"Come on, big guy..." Damon muttered, spitting blood. "It’s not over yet."

He limped to his feet, holding the spear like a staff. His eyes swept the forest once more. Trees. Rocks. Cliffs hidden by snow. Every detail could be a weapon.

The ape charged. Damon ran toward a cluster of narrow rocks, a small canyon between blocks of ice. He entered it like a shadow, slipping through the gaps.

The beast tried to follow him, thrusting its hand into the gap. Damon dodged, and the claw hit the stone walls.

CRACK!

The sound echoed, rocks crashing down onto the creature’s own hand. It roared, yanking its arm back, scratched and bleeding.

Damon took advantage and ran out, climbing a snow-covered slope. From above, he looked back. The ape was emerging from the canyon, tearing up entire blocks like toys.

"That’s it, come after me..."

He ran down the slope, the beast close behind. With each step, the ground shook. Damon reached a narrow spot where a large, loose, ice-covered boulder sat high above.

He deliberately stopped in front of it.

The ape attacked. Damon rolled to the side, and the punch hit the base of the slope.

BOOOOOOM!

The boulder gave way. A gigantic block fell from the top of the hill, straight onto the monster’s shoulder.

CRAAAAASH!

The impact knocked him to his knees, snow exploding around him. Damon ran, seizing the moment, and thrust his spear into the spot where the rock still pressed against the creature’s body.

The blade sank deeper than ever. Blood ran in thick streams, staining the snow.

The beast’s roar echoed like thunder, and Damon was thrown back by the simple act of the monster rising.

He rolled in the snow, his body in tatters, but he smiled. For the first time, he had inflicted a real wound.

The ape was stained with blood. Not much, but enough to show he could be hurt.

But the fight was far from over.

The monster rose with renewed rage, blood streaming down its white fur. Its blue eyes burned like icy fire. It beat its chest, the sound reverberating like thunder.

Damon gasped, raising his spear again, even as his body screamed in pain.

"Come on, big guy... I’ll use this entire forest against you if I have to."

...

The wind blew like invisible razors, lashing Ester’s face with each gust. Her dark blue hood barely protected her freezing skin. Snow fell furiously, covering the trail almost as soon as the horse’s hooves struck it.

She hurried forward, the horse whinnying under the strain, but she didn’t slow down. The reins were tight in her hands, her eyes squinted against the storm.

"Idiot..." she muttered, almost spitting the word, as if the wind could carry her to Damon. "You’re a complete idiot."

Her chest rose and fell with her heavy breathing. Every heartbeat seemed to rip through her, not just from the run, but from the tightness she refused to acknowledge.

He had lost his way. He, with all his arrogance, his constant taunting, his obsession with thinking he could handle anything, had lost himself in the blizzard like a raw recruit.

And yet, she was the one now traversing the icy forest behind him.

"I should have paid more attention." The thought echoed in her mind like an accusation. With every snow-laden branch she passed, every indistinct shadow between the trees, she blamed herself. "I was distracted. Idiot... I’m the idiot."

The horse snorted, its hooves sinking shin-deep into the soft snow. Ester pulled on the reins and forced him forward. The cold bit her fingers, even through her gloves, but she didn’t care. The only thing that mattered was finding him.

She gritted her teeth, trying to push away the weight pressing down on her chest. But the memory returned like an insistent wave.

His warmth. His scent. The way she’d woken that morning, her body curled up against his, his arm wrapped around her waist as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Ester closed her eyes for a moment, even as she moved. Her heart raced. Her face burned, and it wasn’t the icy wind.

"Damn..." she murmured.

She had pulled away as quickly as she could that morning, feigning coolness, as she always did. But the fact was undeniable: she’d fallen asleep with Damon in her arms, and worse, she’d been the one who’d unconsciously sought him out in her sleep.

And since then, every time she looked at him, a pang of discomfort gnawed at her. Not because he provoked her—he always did. But because now she knew that part of her, a part she hated to admit, was starting to let its guard down.

And that was what had cost her. That was what distracted her.

"I was thinking about him... instead of the road."

Regret seeped in like melting ice through the cracks in armor. She shook her head, as if she could drive the thought away.

She didn’t want to call him her companion. She didn’t want to call him her friend. Much less... anything else. But the image of him alone in the snow, maybe injured, maybe freezing, made her stomach churn with fear.

"You’re just another burden, Damon..." she said aloud, almost shouting into the wind. "An annoying burden that doesn’t know when to shut up, that doesn’t know when to be still..."

But her voice trailed off.

The horse trotted quickly, dodging the tree trunks. Ester leaned forward, tightening her grip on the reins. Her eyes were moist, though the cold masked it.

She wouldn’t admit it. She would never admit it. But she was worried.

Her heart ached with every minute she didn’t see him, with every second the snow obliterated her tracks, making it impossible to follow with certainty.

The wind roared harder, shaking the branches. Her hood nearly ripped from her head. Ester swore, pulling it back.

"You’ll pay for this, Damon." Her tone was hoarse, a mixture of anger and something deeper. "I’ll drag you back by the scruff of your neck if I have to."

But deep down, all she wanted was to see him. Just confirm that he was still breathing.

The trees parted and closed around her like walls of ice. Every shadow made her heart race. At any moment, she expected to see Damon’s dark blue cape or the glint of his spear.

"You have to be alive."

The horse snorted again, its muscles vibrating with the effort. Ester stroked its mane quickly, almost automatically.

"Hold on..." she murmured. "We can’t stop now."

Time seemed to stretch, each minute heavier than the last. She fought the urge to scream his name. She didn’t want to sound desperate. She didn’t want to give that power to the wind, or to him.

But with every heartbeat, the word burned in her throat.

"Damon..."

Ester took a deep breath, swallowing the lump in her throat. She couldn’t afford to weaken. He could be in real danger, and she needed to be the cold blade, not the vulnerable woman.

Still, deep down, she knew the truth: if something had happened to him, if she’d found him lying in the snow, lifeless... there was no armor that could protect her from what she would feel.

She clenched her fists against the reins, her entire body tense.

"You’re an idiot, Damon... but if you dare die, I’ll go to hell myself just to pull you back."