Soulwielder Book Two: Corruption

Cold Cruelty

I opened up my eyes and sat up in my bed. Most of the other Yeti in the barracks were already up so I slid out of bed and put my two Froststone Blades in their sheaths.

It was a frigid morning, colder than average but my fur and ice-cold blood made it a non-issue. "Ay Oritz, word on the street is Xorg is getting a promotion!" Leif said.

I raised an eyebrow and put two of my hands on my hips. "Really? Makes sense with the battles we've had to fight out here as of late."

While there hadn't been any more water monster incidents, enemy attacks were frequent and getting more costly by the day. The number of Yetis deployed at the outpost had ballooned but it felt like they were more undermanned than ever.

I was worried that at some point we would be overrun and the entire nation would be at risk. My father had been injured and eventually passed trying to defend this outpost. I couldn't let it go to waste.

The new king, King Frosharth, had been trying to expand into enemy terrain similarly to Cruller and it had been driving monsters through the snowfields near the Glacial Outpost.

Leif and I walked to the mess hall and got some food. The sun shone through the thick ice of the glacier and lit up the cafe. A few Yeti stared at us as we sat down but most kept to themselves.

Ever since my incident with Avian I had been treated differently by many of the new recruits. The rest of the men were given verbal warnings while I had been written up and used as an example for following orders.

Xorg had tried defending me during my trial but it was no use. At the very least I wasn't kicked out of the army or thrown in prison. That's the last thing my father would have wanted.

"So Oritz, whatever happened to Avian?" Leif asked while we ate.

I shrugged. "No clue. He hasn't contacted me at all. I don't think he'd have forgotten so I hope he's alright."

"May just be busy," Leif suggested. "He was suspended for six months, wasn't he?"

I recalled hearing that from Xorg and nodded. "Mhm. Should be expiring soon."

"Think he'll be assigned back here?" Leif asked.

I honestly wasn't sure. Avian's Soulcasting had likely only gotten stronger and they desperately needed a Soulwielder. "No clue, hope so though."

Leif nodded. "Aye. It's almost time for patrol, let's go." We got up and made our way to the exit.

The sun seemed brighter than usual and it made the snow blinding. We trudged through the never-ending field of white until we were a ways away from the glaciers.

Must've snowed last night. I thought to myself, noticing my feet sinking into fresh snow. "Leif, I didn't hear any word about snowfall last night."

Leif looked down and furrowed his brow. "I didn't either. Strange." Leif's eyes widened. "Wait a minute!" The soldier pointed at an approaching cloud of snow. "It's a Snow Serpent!"

I pulled my two blades from their sheaths. "Shoot! Alert the outpost!" The cloud continued to approach and I could make out several mounds of snow moving in front of the cloud. That was our target.

Leif reached into his bag and fired a flare into the sky. It exploded in a brilliant red light and I faintly heard the Glacial Outpost's alarms sound.

"There's a whole pack of them!" I told Leif and he drew his sword. "We'll have to hold them off until everyone arrives!"

As one of the mounds approached I ran right at it and jammed my sword into the snow. A beast shrieked and emerged from the frosty coverage.

The monster was a tall and lean serpent with sharp teeth and a snow-white complexion. My sword fell out of its scales and the beast towered over Leif and me.