The sun shone through the light curtains, gently filling the small room with soft yellows and silvers. Blizzard stood silently by the bed, carefully putting his cloak over his shoulders with slow, steady movements. He didn't want to wake up the girl, Akira, who was still sleeping under the blanket, her breaths quiet and even. She seemed calm for the first time since he had met her, without the sadness that had darkened her face the night before.
For a second, Blizzard just looked closely at her.
He didn't feel love, just a strange and surprising thankfulness. The night had given them both a short break from their troubles, but morning meant moving forward, and moving forward meant he had to take care of things. He couldn't have anything more. Not when his whole group was stuck between life and death, caught in a situation they never wanted.
With one last look, he quietly left the room and gently shut the door behind him.
Downstairs, the bar was empty except for an old man cleaning the floors. Blizzard nodded to him, left some coins on the counter to pay for his stay, and went outside. The cold morning air stung his skin, waking him up fully. It was time to keep going on his journey. Time to follow the small bit of hope he had been given, even if that hope had come from the worried words of a wild wolf.
He started down the dirt path away from town, his boots crunching on the frosty grass. In the distance, the forest looked like a tall wall of green trees and shadows. Blizzard felt the weight of responsibility come back onto him, as heavy as always. But he walked with a purpose. If there really was a way to save his people, no matter how unlikely, it was his job to find it.
Hours went by as Blizzard walked through rough land, following the faint smells and distant sounds of nature. Birds sang above him, and the wind made the leaves whisper. But under the natural sounds, Blizzard felt something else, movement. Too many footsteps. Not organized enough to be travelers. Too spread out to be a patrol.
Wild wolves.
His muscles tightened right before they jumped out from the bushes.
A group of wolves, messy, dirty, and very hungry, attacked him with angry snarls. They had probably been following him for a while, waiting for him to be weak. Sadly for them, Blizzard wasn't weak anymore. Not after what he had seen. Not with the strong feeling burning inside him.
A fierce wolf jumped with its claws extended. Blizzard dodged and hit the wolf's ribs with his elbow. The wolf cried out and fell down. Two more came from the left side. Blizzard twisted, grabbed one by the arm, and threw him over. Training for years in different groups made him fast. He moved powerfully, hard to stop.
The third fierce wolf hesitated briefly.
Blizzard did not.
He rushed forward, knocking the wolf down, making the ground and leaves scatter. Another angry wolf jumped on Blizzard's back, scratching his shoulder, but Blizzard pushed him against a tree until he let go.
The fight seemed quick and confusing, with Blizzard's anger, fear, and hope mixing together rapidly. He didn't want to kill them, but he wouldn't let them kill him either.
After some minutes, the last angry wolf was stuck under his foot, breathing hard from fear and pain.
Blizzard took a big breath. "If you're here to steal like the others, you should have gone away sooner."
"We weren't stealing," the angry wolf said, struggling to breathe. "We thought you were a threat."
Blizzard held the angry wolf's collar tighter. "You attacked me first."
The angry wolf coughed. "We… we've seen others travel through here… dangerous people. People who are desperate. We needed to check you out."
Blizzard didn't care about reasons. "I'll give you one chance." His voice became soft and rough. "I need information. Stories. Anything about how to stop a vrytin eruption."
The three angry wolves stopped moving.
The one under his foot swallowed hard. "Why… why do you need to know that?"
"You don't need to answer that question," Blizzard said. "Just tell me what you know."
The angry wolf looked at his friends. They looked at each other, scared and unsure, then nodded. Slowly, the angry wolf under him put both hands up to surrender.
"We heard something," he said. "The same thing the others probably told you."
Blizzard's heart beat faster. "Tell me."
"There's a way to stop the freeze… but it needs a blood link." The angry wolf paused, shaking a little. "A sacrifice. Of a child. Someone from your own family."
Blizzard's mouth became tight.
He'd heard this before. It wasn't new to him. But still… hearing it again made him feel pain inside.
"And there's more," the angry wolf added quickly, noticing Blizzard's growing anger.
Blizzard looked at him closely. "More?"
"It isn't just any child," the angry wolf said. "It has to be royal blood. From the Night Walker group. Their family is closest to the moon. Their family can unlock what's frozen."
Blizzard felt cold all over his body.
That was the same story the last group of angry wolves had whispered.
Is it just a coincidence? Or could it be real?
"Where did you hear it?" Blizzard asked.
"This time… it wasn't just something made up," another untamed wolf said, taking out an old book covered in leather from his ripped bag. "We found this while trying to find something to eat in an empty house near the old papers. It had writing inside, with information, figures, and… everything."
A book.
A record that was written down.
This made it harder to ignore.
Blizzard stared at the book, confused, as his hopeful feeling turned into a feeling of pain. Two different wild wolf packs, in different places, had the same facts. A book said that it is actually true. It looked too similar to ignore it.
His heart was beating very fast inside of him.
Could this really be what he needed?
Or was this a way to destroy him completely?
The wild wolves watched him nervously, thinking that something bad was going to happen.
Blizzard took one slow step away from them.
"Give the book to me," he spoke.
And they gave the book to him, their hands shaking, their eyes very big, knowing that they had just given him something way more risky than any weapon.
Something that could change absolutely everything.