Chapter 31: Heart of Winter They walked down the dark passage; the descent felt endless, spiralling deeper and deeper into the mountain’s frozen heart. After what seemed like hundreds of steps, they finally arrived at the end, where another door lay. "Again? Another mechanism to solve?" Derek said in irritation, his voice bouncing off the walls. But before anyone could respond, before Gareth could even approach it, the door simply opened. It swung inward silently, smoothly, as if it had been waiting for them. Beyond lay a chamber so dark that even with their lighting, they could barely make out its dimensions. It was large, that much was certain. The darkness seemed to swallow sound itself, creating a void that felt less like an absence of light and more like a presence. "Stay together," Gareth said quietly. They entered slowly, the group clustering closer together as they crossed the threshold. The moment the last person stepped inside, the door behind them slammed shut with a sound like thunder. Then the torches began to light. One by one, flames erupted along the walls. Each torch that ignited revealed more of the chamber, peeling back the darkness layer by layer. And with each revelation, anxiety struck deeper into Moon’s chest like a blade of ice. The chamber was circular, vast, its ceiling lost in shadow high above. The walls were covered in the same carvings they’d seen outside, but here they were larger. The procession of figures wasn’t stylised here; it was realistic, showing faces twisted in fear or ecstasy, bodies bent in submission. In the centre of the chamber stood an altar. Exactly like the ones depicted in the drawings outside. Massive, carved from black stone that seemed to drink in the torchlight. Its surface was covered in channels, grooves that all led to a central depression. And behind the altar, rising up like a monument to something that should never have existed, was the throne. Moon’s blood turned to ice. Massive, constructed from what looked like bone and ice fused together. And sitting upon that throne, exactly as depicted in every carving they’d seen, was the creature. The being they’d thought was myth. The thing that demanded sacrifices, its body was covered in an ice armour. The head was crowned with antlers made of pure ice, each branch razor-sharp and gleaming in the torchlight. It had no eyes. Just smooth ice where eyes should be. But Moon could feel its gaze anyway, boring into him, into all of them, seeing things that went deeper than flesh. The creature’s mouth moved, revealing teeth like icicles. And when it smiled, the temperature in the chamber dropped so suddenly that frost formed on their breath mid-exhale. Then words appeared, not spoken but manifesting directly in Moon’s vision, in everyone’s vision, burning with that same blue-white light as the torches: 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮 [Welcome to the Heart of Winter!] The silence that followed was absolute. They simply stood there, ten awakeners who’d thought they were entering a trial, staring at the thing that had been waiting for them. — Gareth stepped forward, then he looked up at the creature on the throne and spoke with the familiarity of someone addressing an old acquaintance. "I’ve brought more sacrifices for you. Now free me from this place." Derek’s eyes widened in confusion and shock, his face going pale as the meaning registered. "Gareth, wha—" The figure laughed, his voice filling the chamber, echoing off stone walls, burrowing into their skulls. Derek’s voice was completely masked, swallowed by that horrific laughter. When it finally subsided, the figure leaned forward on its throne, those eyeless sockets somehow focusing directly on Gareth. "I don’t see sacrifices, Gareth. Did you forget how sacrifices are meant to look like from the last time you were here?" Moon’s eyes widened as the implications crashed over him. Gareth had been here before. Not just in this realm, but in this very chamber. Standing before this very creature. He’d brought people here before, probably the group from the journal, probably others before them. And they were supposed to be the newest offerings. Many thoughts raced through Moon’s mind, but he didn’t have time to process them. Because new text appeared, burning in the air before them all: [Permanent Death Zone.] The safety net he’d relied on, the advantage that had let him take risks and survive mistakes, was gone. One death here, and it was over. Around him, he could see the others checking their own statuses, their faces draining of colour as they realised the same thing. "No," Marcus whispered. "No, no, no—" [The Heart of Winter Trial] [Survivors: 10/1] [Time: 10:00] "Once the timer ends, if there is more than one survivor left, you will all fail the trial and my beautiful companions shall feed on you." The voice erupted from the creature on the crown, as six arctic wolves emerged from behind the throne, their fangs gleaming. [Arctic Wolf] [Level:15] [Details: The strongest creatures in the realm after their lords. They are extremely vicious and command the ice element.] "Let the game...Begin!" The creature chuckled as he spread both his hands wide. Gareth immediately darted towards the nearest person, Marcus. Marcus raised his shield, but Derek was too fast, too strong. The spear broke through the shield and penetrated directly into Marcus’s chest. Cough! Marcus coughed blood, his eyes going wide with shock and pain as life fled his body. Thud. Marcus dropped dead to the ground, his eyes void of any light. "Marcus!" Derek’s scream was raw agony as he stared at his companion’s corpse, fury and grief warring on his face. Derek, Iris, and the two other members of his team immediately clustered together, weapons raised. Derek spun toward Moon, Selene, John, and Elara, desperation making his voice crack. "We need to kill him! He’s too strong! Help us!" Gareth was already charging again, his spear still dripping with Marcus’s blood. Moon and the others reacted. Elara drew her bowstring, firing three arrows in rapid succession. Only one found its mark, punching into Gareth’s shoulder. He barely flinched, casually ripping the arrow free and discarding it as he closed the distance. BOOM!