Astral Flow

Chapter 34

Ryder stood up, looking around the mansion before feeling a chill rush over him, a cold wind guiding him to the side of the staircase where he saw another path.

It led behind the stairs, revealing another set of stairs leading down below the earth into darkness, the cold air coming from there.

This was where he needed to go, he could feel it, whatever was down there was the key to ending this nightmare for good.

With a heart filled with determination he began descending into the darkness, the cold getting more and more noticeable with each step.

Frost began to form on the walls around him, on his armor even, this had to be it.

This had to be the source of the blizzard.

This had to be where the host was.

The deeper he went, the darker it got and colder it became, soon feeling as if death's icy grip had gripped ahold of him.

That was until he noticed a faint glimmer of light in the distance, just tiny enough to seem like a trick at first, however the more he focused on it the more prominent it became.

With each step it became more and more blinding until it blocked out his view entirely, his eyes having to adjust to the view.

Slowly the room came into view, ice coated the walls and floors, making everything glow with an eerie ethereal light as the magic flowed through it.

Towards the back of the room was one large ice crystal, inside was the host though she'd changed... her hair now being white instead of red and the magic supplying the blizzard seemed to be flowing from her.

This was it, this was the key to stopping the blizzard and reverting the area back to normal, he just had to set her free.

Yet he paused his approach, feeling something wrong with the area, it was too easy.

Big open room, clear enticing object, easy way to move things forward, there had to be some kind of enemy here.

However as he kept walking he didn't see anything, didn't hear anything, just felt this looming sense of danger with each step.

Then he heard it, a sound that made him freeze in place, ready to attack anything that moved.

A single step, just out of time with his, where had it come from?

It sounded close, too close, as if they were mere inches from him, yet no matter how hard he looked he saw nothing.

Everywhere around him was clear, even the area above him was clear... and then he realized the one place he hadn't checked.

Slowly and cautiously he looked down, seeing his distorted reflection gazing back at him.

In that instant the reflection's arm shoots through the ice, grabbing Ryder's leg and dragging him into the ice.

The feeling of being dragged through ice cold water washed over him, freezing him to the core as he emerged into a new area, a wide open cavern made of ice.

It was large, easily twenty feet tall and thirty feet wide at the very least.

This had to be the source of the blizzard as the cold was enough to freeze his very soul, seeping to the depths of his being as he looked around for anything.

Then he heard the sound of ice cracking, breaking apart and reforming behind him.

Quickly he whipped around, readying both sword and dagger for what may be awaiting him.