Will of a Prince

Jacob climbed out of his large hole that he had made and walked back towards his group. Squabee looked at Jacob hopefully.

"Any luck?"

"None at all. Even if we did melt this ice, I don’t think we’d be able to drink it. Besides, there’s nothing for us to collect the water in anyway. We have to find something else to drink."

They all looked at the wolves laying on the ground. All of their blood was already spilled out of their bodies, completely frozen. There was truly nothing for them to drink. Jacob’s heart filled with sorrow once again. They had hardly managed to survive, two of them were crippled, and now they all needed water, or they stood no chance at making it. Suddenly, Jacob had a small idea. He didn’t think it was reliable, but he it was their only chance. The snow, the same thing that was slowing them down, had to be their savior. Jacob took off his dragon armor and slid it towards Slimo.

"Do you mind if we trade armor sets? I need to use that black Iron for something."

Slimo nodded his head and pulled Jacob’s armor close to himself. Jacob first allowed long white fur to cover most of his body now that he hardly had any layers protecting him. It instantly felt like he had put on a winter jacket. He was no longer cold in the slightest. He grabbed the ends of Slimo’s armor and bent it all inwards. He repeated this process slowly as he turned the armor around until it morphed into one large metal bowl. Without wasting any time, he began to scoop up as much snow around them until the bowl was completely filled. He threw the bowl over the fire, allowing the snow to melt extremely fast, and in little time at all...

"This will have to do for now."

There was a small bit of water resting at the bottom of the steaming bowl. Jacob could only manage the slightest amount with every trip he made out in the snow, but the small amount for everyone was better than nothing at all. He had bought them just a little bit more time.

After drinking the dirty water, everyone’s souls were brimming with a new hope.

"This was amazing, Jacob. Great thinking on using Slimo’s armor."

"Thank you. However, I think now is the time to get moving. I’m not sure how long this transformation will last, and we are almost completely out of fuel. Can everyone walk?"

Lidia, along with all those around the fire nodded. Maria was still staring painfully into the ashes with a sunken expression on her face. Jacob walked over to her and rubbed her back softly again.

"Is everything okay, Maria?"

Maria’s face refused to move. She continued staring into the dimming fire, her glowing eye shaking slightly. Suddenly, she lifted a finger and pointed into the fire.

"There’s something wrong."

"With what?"

"With us."

"What? What do you mean?"

"My eye is... there’s something wrong with my eye.

"Maria, we both have the same kind of eye. Are you saying something is different with the words appearing next to people?"

Maria hesitated.

"Well, yes. But I think our runes are a bit different. Specifically, my last few."

Jacob focused his right eye on Maria to see what she was talking about. She was right. The difference was extremely subtly, but after he noticed it, it was hard not to see. The names of all her powers were slightly different, along with different explanations for each of them. Maria appeared to have been demoted, perhaps from not utilizing her powers properly before the end times. Her words now read:

[Conquered]: The harbinger has failed to utilize their ability. They are no longer fit to be a commander. Their powers have been altered.

[Sore Loser]: Every time the harbinger avoids their inevitable death, they become stronger.

[Unfair Fight]: The harbinger can only kill those stronger than themself.

[Fallen Commander]: You are no longer obligated to protect the Prince of Everything. Your position of power no longer protects you. You will be hunted relentlessly for treason against Zalo and his people.

Jacob winced seeing the last line.

’Does that mean there are more monsters coming? And there’s truly no way to escape them?’

Jacob suddenly got curious what his own words read. Was anything different for him now that the end times were here? He moved his eye into the back of skull to see. There was only one thing different about his description, and it was one of the very last lines:

[Calamitous Witness]: You are incapable of forgetting anything. No power that exists can alter or rid yourself of the memories you now hold.

Jacob moved his eye back and looked back down at Maria.

"What’s there to worry about? We can handle it. We already have."

He grabbed her face and stared deep into her verdant eyes.

"We are surviving."

Maria pushed his hand away and sat up.

"No. You are surviving."

It was clear that Maria was prodding at Jacob’s ultimate destiny to outlive everything. Jacob’s heart ached coming to a realization. Their fates were opposites of one another. Maria now held a destiny to meet a gruesome demise whereas Jacob held a destiny to live on. Perhaps, this had always been a part of her destiny. The only woman he ever loved was now doomed to fight a losing battle for as long as she breathed. Jacob couldn’t even imagine how hopeless Maria must have been feeling. He sat next to her and lowered his head.

"You aren’t going to give up, are you?"

Maria shook her head.

"I can’t."

"Good. Besides, I’m sure nothing will be that different. You’ve killed plenty of things stronger than yourself before."

Jacob grinned widely.

"And remember, we have someone in our group who has done exactly that for years before he met us."

Maria’s eyes widened and she looked at Slimo. Jacob was right. Not all hope was lost yet.

A roar screeched through the air, causing everyone around the fire to hold their ears in pain. Whatever creature was nearing them now, was immensely powerful. That was when Maria finally remembered why she was sulking in the first place.

’... that’s right.’

Sarah and Squabee frantically put out the fire. Everyone else threw on all their gear and prepared to start running.

’...there’s no such thing as hope in Hell.’

Jacob pulled Maria up and dragged her along his side.

"Come on! We have to get away from here!"

Maria allowed herself to be dragged weakly. Slimo stuck up his hand and waved them sideways, signaling them all the split up momentarily. The snow began to kick up around them. Jacob, Squabee and Maria huddled together in one group while Lidia, Slimo and Sarah stuck together in another. Loud footsteps could be heard cracking into the ice behind them. The creature roared again behind the veil of snow.

The groups continued running for three hours, occasionally meeting together to ensure they were both staying on the same path. However, whatever was chasing them was extremely persistent. It was as if it always knew exactly where they were or where they were going to be. Suddenly, Jacob had an idea. He screamed out to Slimo his short plan.

"We can’t lose him! We need to hide until whatever this thing is passes us!"

"What do you suggest?!"

"Get under the ice!"

"How the hell do we do that?!"

Jacob already started slamming down on the ice, shattering it into thousands of tiny shards.

"I don’t know, figure it out!!"

The only benefit they had to covering themselves with ice was all the snow surrounding them as well. It provided an extra layer of camouflage and hid their scent wonderfully. Jacob managed to dig a hole about three feet deep before helping Squabee and Maria in carefully. Once they were all in, he used some of Squabee’s pelts to cover up the top of the hole while shoveling as much snow on top of it as he could. The white fur blended with the snow perfectly. It was now almost impossible to find where they were.

They continued hearing the loud footsteps drawing closer. All of them huddled close to each other as the ground beneath them shook more. Through the ice, a giant black figure could be seen wandering aimlessly. Its heavy footsteps shook the walls around them the closer it got. Finally, when it was right on top of them. It stopped moving. Jacob motioned to the others to cover their mouths, just in case it could hear them breathing.

Three minutes in silence had passed. The black figure continued standing above them, refusing to move. Suddenly, it grabbed a large, twisted shaft off its back. Then, it shoved it inside the ice and twisted it carefully like a drill. The vibrations from it managed to throw everyone to the ground. After three moments, the vibrations finally stopped. The black figure seemed to have given up and turned back around before walking away. They all waited until they couldn’t hear its footsteps anymore before leaving their hole.

"Slimo?! Lidia?! Sarah?! Are you all okay?!"

A thumb stuck out of the snow far ahead of him.

"We’re okay. What the hell was that thing? What was it doing with that stick?"

"I’m not sure, but we should definitely not be here to find out."

Another round of quaking started underneath them. They all balanced themselves on the ice looking around.

"What now?! Is it back?!"

Jacob looked down at his feet. Something massive was tunneling its way up out of the ice.

"GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE! WE CAN’T STAY ON THIS ICE!"

Suddenly, a worm-like creature with green pustules on its skin, rough hide, and vastly large size broke through the ice, screaming through the air.

"It’s back...The leviathan from the mountains is back!"