On the summit of the ice mountain, Simón stomped firmly on the surface.
"I am completely frozen; there is no snow at all."
After that analysis, Simón felt increasingly strange.
Although it was cold, it was not enough for this immense mountain of ice to have formed.
It seemed to be an entire frozen continent: wherever he looked he could only see the same hardness as what he had under his feet.
Simón could only find two explanations for these circumstances: either this ice had formed recently, or it had been placed there by someone.
Both explanations seemed totally incredible; he could not think of a way for that to have occurred.
"Let us advance."
With Simón's order, the entire team headed toward the depths of the ice.
After advancing a few kilometers, they could only see ice around them.
Simón began to worry, but even so he insisted on the exploration.
Suddenly, one of the explorers let out a strong shout and everyone looked toward him with alertness.
"Hey, over there it seems to be a settlement."
Upon feeling everyone's gaze, he rapidly pointed in a direction and explained what he had seen.
Simón looked in that direction and certainly there seemed to be buildings in the distance.
Then he could not contain his emotion, with some hope of finding his lost father, and said:
"Let us go; let us observe what it is about. Be careful upon arriving there."
At an accelerated pace they took around ten minutes to arrive at what seemed a small city.
The team stopped outside the city to make certain that there was no danger before entering it.
"It seems an abandoned city; let us enter with caution."
That was Simón's analysis after observing for a while and seeing no movement whatsoever.
The team penetrated to explore the city, but they were surprised upon barely entering it.
All the constructions were made completely of ice: every building, every seat in the street, even garbage cans.
"How can this be possible?
This is a city completely carved in ice; it is even larger than it seems from outside.
The most surprising thing is that none of these constructions shows signs of melting."
An explorer spoke with his companion totally consternated.
"Do not lower your guard; this city has something extremely strange.
It seems that many people lived here a short time ago, because those footprints are not ours."
Simón interrupted the conversation and pointed toward the front.
There was one of the main streets of the city, and on it many pairs of footprints could be discerned, although they were not very marked.
"If that is so, what happened to the people who lived here?
Could it have something to do with that great sound we heard?"
The one who spoke was Rubén, one of the leaders of the exploration team.
"I am afraid that what Rubén said may be the truth.
Let us try to explore as much as we can before nightfall.
At once we will divide into five groups of ten persons each and begin to explore.
Before nightfall we must reunite right here; try not to get lost."
Simón gave instructions and rapidly they divided into five groups, each following a different direction.
"I had never seen a city so large and much less one made completely of ice.
I am afraid this city is twice the size of Sun City.
My lord, why do we not begin to explore the surrounding buildings?"
One of the explorers of Simón's group expressed his doubt before the latter's actions.
His group simply walked toward the front and did not review any building.
"We are heading toward that great tower that is located there."
Simón pointed to a great tower that was located about 500 m in front of the group.
This tower greatly surpassed the size of the other buildings and had an intense brilliance due to the sunlight reflected on its walls of ice.
"I see that you have vision, my lord.
If there are good things in this city, they must surely be there."
The entire group became animated after hearing where they were heading.
At first their eagerness to explore did not permit them to think with clarity, but listening to Simón's explanation it seemed that everything made sense.
Soon the group arrived in front of the great tower.
Looking at it closely, Simón was totally surprised; he could not imagine how someone would be capable of carving a construction of such height.
Looking at it carefully he was certain that it had more than 200 m of height.
"Wow, how did they manage to construct something so tall?"
One of the explorers shouted in a loud voice while looking at the tower.
"There is the entrance.
Prepare your weapons; we are going to begin the exploration."
Simón ordered and took out his revolver, advancing toward a great door at the base of the tower.
Everyone entered prudently observing the surroundings, when suddenly in front of everyone a brilliant silhouette appeared, which alarmed the group, including Simón.
"What the hell is that?"
"I believe it is a ghost."
"I am certain it must be a monster."
"But it has an appearance similar to humans."
"Keep it aimed; shoot if it makes any brusque movement."
Simón gave the order and also aimed his revolver toward the front.
His voice hesitated a little while he asked:
"Who are you or what the hell are you?"
On the other side, Rubén's group headed toward the west of the city.
Rapidly they located a building of about 30 meters, the largest of the zone, and began to explore it.
"Let us enter and we will divide into pairs.
Let us try to finish this exploration as rapidly as possible."
Rubén gave the order and the group penetrated into the building, beginning to review each room.
Meanwhile, Rubén headed toward the upper part of the building.
"My lord, that room over there seems the most luxurious and the largest of the entire building.
I believe we should begin with that one."
Rubén's companion, named José, was excited and could not wait to begin reviewing it.
"Very well, let us begin with that one. Be careful upon entering."
Rubén and José advanced and opened the door.
Upon entering the room they simply wanted to review the surroundings, but they only felt that their body was dragged and they crashed against the wall.
This fact was followed by a cold voice that arrived at their ears:
"Who are you and what is your purpose upon entering my room?
Oh, I had never seen you in Frozen City, so you must be foreigners.
How did you arrive here?"
Rubén directed his gaze toward the direction of the voice and was surprised by what his eyes saw.
A beautiful young woman with red hair, with a vibrant and shining mane that fell in soft waves to the shoulders.
Her face was marked by a cold and enigmatic expression.
Her features were fine and well-defined, with perfectly arched eyebrows that framed penetrating and deep eyes.
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