Aurelis and Vex walked towards the mountains, each step sank deeper than the last.

  The pathway began to pile up with deeper and deeper snow. The wind whirled wildly, and the vision was a blur of white.

  The temperature decreased quickly.

  Aurelis walked the cold off, yet Vex shivered rapidly, snowflakes stung his face like needles.

  His teeth clenched "H-hey, how can you be so unbothered by h-ow cold it is?"

  Aurelis exhaled, mist emitting from his breath "The boon of my habel, pretty neat."

  Vex opened his mouth "Loo-"

  He tripped over a rock, faceplanting into the snow.

  He struggled getting up, using the container as support.

  He brushed off some snow and muttered "Should've listened to Akito."

  Vex made his way to aurelis, each step leaving a mark that vanished in an instant, piling with snow.

  As they walked, Vex's limbs moved slower than normal.

  He nudged Aurelis "He-y, you.. have your robe, and you don't really freeze here, do you?"

  Aurelis rolled his eyes "Just don't start begging.."

  With a flail, he grabbed his robes and waved them off him.

  His robes fall flat on the snow, Aurelis bends to grab the robes, handing them to Vex.

  Vex put the robes on "Hey, those robes are colder than normal, aren't they..?"

  Aurelis nodded "Well, its warmer than the mountain's air. So don't whine."

  Under the robes, Aurelis wore blue tinted pants and no shirt.

  His build was fit, and on his back, a big circular scar.

  Vex blinked twice, and lifted his finger, but dismissed his thought.

  He whispered to Aurelis "We aren't the only one's climbing this, look!"

  He pointed at a group of 5 adventurers, all of them demi-humans.

  One had hands resembling claws, green eyes, and black feathers across his cheeks.

  Another had the face of a boar, his skin pink and eyes purple.

  The group wore heavy winter attire, white fur stretched across their neck. Each one carried his own weapon, some held the weapons, while the others kept them in their bags or sleeves.

  They glanced at Aurelis, passing by without saying a word.

  Vex leaned towards Aurelis "Hey, weren't they the same guys from that commotion?"

  Aurelis nodded "Looks like it."

  As the two continued walking, Vex gasped "Hey! Do you think we would even notice when we get near that blacksmith's house? I can barely see anything with all this snow.."

  He rushed to Aurelis "And how is it even so snowy?! At the sign-post it was so sunny and warm.."

  Aurelis sighed tilting his head to Vex "How should I know? I'm not the weatherman... plus, I think Akito would've told us about the house if it was hard to see. That guy's smarter than you think."

  Vex nodded, a smile stretching on his face "I guess he is, how did you even get to know that guy? neither of you don't seem so.. 'social' anyways."

  Aurelis stretched down, picking up a rock.

  He held the rock tight, freezing it and taking a look at his reflection "We have a very long past.."

  He huffed, and shattered the rock with his hand.

  The snow quickly covered the shards as they fell on the floor.

  Vex scratched his head "Long past huh..? Does it have anything to do with your brother?"

  Aurelis froze for a moment, his mouth twitching "Sort of.."

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  Amidst the snow, Vex spotted something.

  He pointed to his left "Hey look, doesn't that seem like a person to you?"

  Aurelis faced to where Vex pointed, where a corpse laid, halfway covered in snow.

  The eyes of the body were still open, his mouth frozen in a disgusting display of fear.

  Blood frozen as it made its way down from the corpse's chin.

  Vex made his way towards the body, and analyzes it.

  Aurelis stayed a few steps away, observing the body from afar.

  Vex glanced back at Aurelis, his eyes waver "The.. the person. He was.." he gasped for air "He was cut to death.. b-ut the cuts are not random. Not at all.. they targeted only non vital spots, making his death as slow as possible.."

  Vex shivered at the thought, quickly shaking his head.

  He turned to walk back to Aurelis "I a- "

  He gagged "I am gonna puke, lets get out of here.. quick."

  As Vex took a step forward.

  The snow cackled, .

  Aurelis shouted "Wait! Something's not right!"

  The sound of a click cuts through the wind.

  Vex turned back to the corpse, his body sinking lower and lower.

  The snow around the body sagged, collapsing inward. Swallowing the corpse whole.

  Vex tilted his head down, at the snow under his feet "What the-"

  Before he finished the sentence, the ground swallowed him whole.

  He plummeted, leaving no trace.

  Aurelis sighed, pinching his temples "I guess we are taking a detour.."

  He walked towards the pile of snow, and dug into it.

  His hands carve a path under the snow.

  As his hands reached the bottom of the snow, they uncovered a plate.

  Aurelis rolled his eyes "That's what he fell for, of course.."

  He pressured the plate, and the ground shook.

  Aurelis fell to the same fate as Vex, leaving behind only the loud sound of the whirling snow.

  As Aurelis fell, he braced for impact.

  He landed with a loud thump that echoed across the room.

  Aurelis opened his eyes as he got up, and all he saw was darkness.

  As Aurelis brushed off snow, the sound of a snap pierced through the air.

  A line of torches lit and revealed a vast chamber, stone pillars looming in rows.

  Vex was nowhere to be seen.

  In the middle of it, on top of a precisely sliced pillar, a figure stood, his clawed feet digging into the pillar. A smug smile spread across his face, revealing sharp teeth.

  His body was covered with green scales, shimmering in the chamber's light.

  Aurelis muttered "Huh? A lizardman? Here?"

  The scent of burnt snow filled the air.

  The figure twirled a butterfly knife lazily, while his other hand leaned on his hip.

  The knife was purple and glowed bright with reflections of the torches.

  In the middle of it carved 'SLASH'.

  The figure's golden eyes locked on Aurelis, his smile stretched "Oh..! A new plaything?"

  His smirk widened, his tail revealed behind him. A long scaled tail that hugged the pillar "Ah! where are my manners?"

  He placed his hand on his chest "Allow me to present myself. You see, I don't really.."

  He flailed his hand "Meddle with names. That said, Those who survive... the few. They often refer to me as slash."