[EDITING] The Legend of Zelda: Goddess of Secrecy

Overworld Chapter 28 - In Snow Deep

            …as they pushed on into the snow. Vague forms of mountains loamed on the horizon as they rode through.

            Link saw Wind struggling ahead of them. Epona was having a tough time, but she was doing better than Wind. Wind refused to give though. Link worried the horse would hurt itself, which would not be good for either of them up here.

            They pressed on. Sometimes Link lost sight of Bruce for a moment as the wind picked up. He looked back down at his map, making sure they were going the right way, before the wind settled enough again that Link could see his companion again.

            The frost was biting down into them. Link felt melting snow sitting in his boots as they rode. Bitter cold was getting closer every second they were out here. But no sign of Glenwood had appeared yet. So they were forced to keep riding in hopes that it would turn up.

            It probably hadn’t even been ten minutes when the freezing cold became practically unbearable for Link. Epona was still holding out, which kept Link just warm enough to hold on. But another ten minutes, and they would both be forcing their way forward in the cold.

            There was no way to gage time. The sun couldn’t come through the thick gray clouds. Link had no idea if they had been riding for one minute or twenty. There was nothing visible to tell him where they were, and all they had was a hope for a secret town in the middle of the mountains.

            Something tackled him. Epona panicked as Link fell from the saddle. Shivering, Link reached for his sword, and began scanning the thick white haze for what had attacked him.

            Bruce pulled to a halt in front of him. He saw Link’s sword, and followed suit. Link shouted over the wind, “What’s out here?”

            A frigid howl broke through the wind, followed by several similar calls. Bruce shouted back, “White Wolfos!”

            The snow came alive. Dozens of them sprung up from the snow, racing towards them from all directions. They were trapped inside of a ring of snowy canines. If it weren’t for the gray skies, they might have been invisible. Link gripped his sword, the cold doubling through his tunic as he left Epona's side.

            There were several packs of the wolfos, and several massive alphas, who hung back to watch. Link batted back as many as he could, but the cold was wearing him out faster than he liked. Moving in the deep snow only caused additional strain on him.

            Ice bit into him. Link stabbed another wolfos as it came to close. A few more dodged his attack, but then again, Link’s attacks were becoming less and less controlled, and more and more frantic.

            The wolfos knew it too. They began to tighten their circle around them. Bruce fell from his saddle, exhausted and unconscious. Wind and Epona backed up around the knight. Link inched closer, not wanting to give any ground, but not having much of a choice in the matter.

            His sight was beginning to waver. Not just from excess snow, but from physical exhaustion and freezing temperatures. The wolfos almost seemed to be grinning as they came ever closer, knowing that the riders had no chance of escape.

            Link kept his shield up and his sword out, but he wasn’t doing much good. The weather was beating him, and fighting was about to finish him off. Stranded on the side of the mountain, and about to die, Link couldn’t believe how quickly he had failed.