The Legend of Zelda: Goddess of Secrecy

Overworld Chapter 28 - In Snow Deep

...as the snow threatened to push them off course at every turn. Vague forms of mountains loomed on the horizon as they rode on, a storm quickly finding them as they left the safety of the train station.

Link saw Wind struggling ahead of them. Epona was having a tough time herself, but she was doing better than Wind, the smaller battlehorse. But Wind refused to give up, pushing on with the determination of a warhorse. Link worried the gelding would hurt himself, which would not be good for either of them up here. For now, he held out and the snow kept coming.

And so they pressed on. Sometimes Link lost sight of Bruce for a moment as the wind picked up. He looked back down at his map, pinned to the saddle now by his legs to keep the wind from stealing, making sure they were going the right way. Then the winds settled enough again that Link could see his companion and he corrected their course while they could see each other. A compass would have helped. He was doing his best with memory.

The frost was biting down into them the longer they were riding. Link felt melting snow sitting in his boots as they rode, a process slowing as his body heat began to drop. Bitter cold was getting closer every second they were out here. But no sign of Glenwood had appeared yet. They were forced to keep riding in hopes that it would turn up before they froze.

It probably hadn't even been an hour when the freezing cold became practically unbearable for Link. Epona was still holding out, which kept Link just warm enough to hold on. But it wouldn't be long until their combined heat wasn't enough for the mountains.

There was no way to gauge time, not really. The sun couldn't come through the thick gray clouds. 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. Vague notes on an old map were not so useful though without solid landmarks.

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. It was too cold to feel where it had hit, and that concerned him too. So far, he didn't think he was bleeding.

Bruce pulled to a halt in front of him. He saw Link's sword, and followed suit as he began to scan for danger. Link shouted over the wind, "What's out here?"

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

The snow came alive. Dozens of them sprung up from the gales, racing towards them from all directions. They were trapped inside of a ring of snowy canines, waded in too deep to run. If it weren't for the gray skies, they might have been invisible. Link gripped his sword, the cold doubling through his tunic.

There were several packs of the monsters come together, too many to be normal. Link slashed 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, and Epona was too spooked to get mounted. Not to mention it would leave him exposed to another attack.

Ice bit into him. Link stabbed another wolfos as it came too close. A few more dodged his attack, but then again, Link's attacks were becoming less and less controlled, and more and more frantic. And slower. That was a danger he couldn't survive much longer.

The wolfos knew it too. They began to tighten their circle around them. Bruce fell from his saddle, exhausted and unconscious. He'd managed to defend from an attack, but not without injury himself. 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 blowing in front of him, but from physical exhaustion. The wolfos almost seemed to be grinning as they came ever closer.