“Anyone ever see anything like this before?” Gameknight asked, pointing to the door.
“Oh no,” a high-pitched voice said. “Ice cores, yes, yes.”
Gameknight turned and found Empech staring at the door, a scared expression on his oversized, gray face.
“What?” Hunter asked. “Are these frozen spikey-things called ice cores?”
The pech shook his head, then glanced around nervously. The sound of the wind chimes grew louder, coming from south of the village. This drew the little gnome’s attention away from the door and toward the jingling sound.
“They’re coming,” Empech screeched. He shifted nervously from foot to foot as if he were standing on blazing hot coals. “Ice cores are coming. Can’t you hear them?”
The wind chimes grew even louder, as if the source was now in the village.
“You mean those bell-like sounds?” Crafter said.
“Yes, yes, ice cores,” the pech said, his deep blue eyes filled with fear. “They’re coming. We must flee.”
“Flee from what? A bunch of icicles clinking together?” Hunter asked.
Just then, a handful of razor sharp daggers of ice streaked through the air and thudded against the wall of the home, one of them striking Gameknight in the shoulder. He flashed red, taking damage.
Turning, he drew his diamond sword to face the threat. Expecting skeletons or zombies or bears; Gameknight999 was shocked at what he saw. Weaving between the buildings were creatures he’d never seen before. Their heads seemed as if they were made of packed snow and ice, a speckled blue and white texture to their faces, with black soulless eyes that stared right at Gameknight and his friends. Around the disembodied head, blue, crystalline spikes revolved, each one faceted with razor-sharp edges and pointed tips, some of the icy shafts clinking together, making the wind chime sound.
The frozen spikes began spinning faster around one of the creatures, then it leaned forward and shot them at the company. Out of instinct, Gameknight reached into his inventory and drew his shield. Holding it before him, he felt the icy shards embed themselves into the shield, some of them going all the way through and protruding out the back.
“I’m thinking we should get out of here,” Hunter said as she pulled a spike from her leg, grunting in pain.
“I think you’re right,” Gameknight replied.
The group turned to escape, but the sound of more wind chimes filled the air as another group of ice cores approached from the other side of the village. Mixed in with the floating terrors were creatures that looked like armored guards, but as they neared, Gameknight saw they had no legs; they floated across the frozen ground just like the ice cores, frozen clouds of snow streaming out from beneath their breastplates. A loud growl filled the air as a squat creature with white fur and frozen blue flesh ringing its mouth and eyes approached, a toothy snarl showing on its square face. Long, sharp teeth filled the creature’s mouth as it bellowed.
“Yeti!” Empech exclaimed, “and aurora guards. We are in trouble, yes, yes.”
They were surrounded, with their backs against the building. Gameknight knew if they tried to run through the crowd of approaching monsters, they would be doomed.
“Gameknight, what do we do?” Hunter asked, “You have any plan that doesn’t involve us being destroyed?”
But the User-that-is-not-a-user was paralyzed with fear. He couldn’t move. It felt as if he feet were frozen in the ground and the blood in his veins had turned to ice. All Gameknight999 could do was stand there and wait for their destruction to crash down upon them.
COMING SOON:
MONSTERS IN THE MIST
THE MYSTERY OF ENTITY303 BOOK TWO
Terrors of the Forest Page 24
