Chapter 46: Survival in the Snow - thankfully, his suicide note should still be in the palace...
It's the head of the Yeti.
The Yeti is actually real.
How could the Yeti be real?
Chimeras, Sphinxes, and Hydras are the children of darkness, while Cerberus is the guardian of the spirit world. They are real beings because they were all killed by the Witcher, and the former were imprisoned in the labyrinth of Edor.
The Witcher Cassandra once said that monsters seemed to be causing trouble on earth again. Now they knew why: the entrance to the Labyrinth of Edor was being slowly opened by Nox, a follower of the Dark Witch, and the mad elf Aidan.
But the Yeti...
No witcher has ever defeated a Yeti.
The Yeti has nothing to do with the labyrinth. There is no Yeti in the labyrinth; it is a terrifying folk song born in the snowfield, a legend spoken by those ignorant and savage beastmen, a bedtime story to frighten beastman children.
Lucas had studied historical records of all monsters in history class and was particularly interested in the story of the Yeti. Of all the monsters, the Yeti was unique in that it only had exquisite, design-like illustrations, without any concrete description. In the illustrations, it was enormous, like a giant gorilla, with white fur all over its body and eyes that shone like lamps.
At that moment, the history teacher snorted dismissively.
“Even the orcs don’t buy into the Yeti legend anymore,” the teacher said. “As a cultured human prince, you have even less reason to be curious about such a nonsensical monster.”
Lucas clung tightly to the white fur on the Yeti's head, and for a moment he wanted to burst into laughter.
When he returns to the palace, he can use the Yeti's hair to prove his history teacher wrong; and when he is old, he can tell his grandchildren this story: two silly children took shelter from the snow in a cave covered with a blanket, only to find that the blanket was Yeti's hair.
Then he realized that he probably wouldn't live to see the day he returned to the palace or would grow old.
As the Yeti slowly rose, Lucas crouched even lower and tighter, the biting wind whistling sharply against his cat fur.
For the first time, he wished he were a long-haired cat.
He looked down at Ashlin, who stood frozen in terror, her nose red and swollen like a strawberry. She opened her mouth, exhaling a puff of white breath, but no sound came out.
The Yeti stood up completely, and a terrible dizziness struck Lucas. His limbs went limp, and suddenly he couldn't see anything; all he could see was a vast expanse of white.
God.
It was too high. Even though he was still up there, he felt as if he had been shattered to pieces.
“Oh, right.” Ashlin seemed to have just come to her senses. “Pine tree. That’s right.”
She hurriedly raised her green fluorite staff, then seemed to remember that her forest magic didn't require a staff, so she put it down and opened her arms to the surrounding cedar trees.
The pine tree swayed as if a strong wind had blown it. Snow fell from the tree, but no more.
The Yeti walked toward her and roared; Lucas guessed it probably had a terrible temper when it woke up.
Startled by the Yeti, their two ponies neighed and charged deeper into the forest.
"Cream! Chocolate!" Ashlin called out, but the pony ran off without looking back.
Her hood was knocked into the snow by its breath, and her blonde hair flew wildly in the cold wind.
“Good heavens, Mr. Yeti. Don’t you ever brush your teeth?” She covered her nose.
Lucas clung to the yeti's horn to keep from falling. "Don't look down," he told himself, "or I'll pass out before I die from the fall."
"Are you going to give it a set of toiletries next?"
"I'm so cold and tired," Ashlin said, her voice filled with despair as she huddled up. "I can't use magic! The pine tree won't listen to me!"
She started running through the snow, and the Yeti followed closely behind, its large, white-furred feet taking long strides.
"Roar! Roar! Roar! Roar!" it roared.
“We need to change our plans!” Lucas said, trying to convince himself.
"We had a plan?!"
The Yeti stomped at Ashlin, who quickly cast a bombardment spell. It yelled and bent over, scratching its foot.
Lucas lowered his center of gravity and looked around. Apart from vast stretches of cedar trees, there was nothing there.
"Take it and rush into the woods, Ashlin!"
Ashlin did as she was told, running breathlessly into the pine forest, while Lucas still clung helplessly to its head and horns.
She currently lacks sufficient magic, so the pine trees won't grow wildly or attack the Yeti; but what if she simply moves a circle of pine trees closer to the Yeti?
They only need to trap it temporarily.
It seems to be as unintelligent as the monsters in the maze.
“Take it to the pine forest, and then have a circle of pine trees tie its feet together!” Lucas’s voice was carried away by the wind.
Ashlin ran with all her might, the Yeti's footsteps shaking the earth. Clang, clang, clang.
“What foot?” she shouted.
Clearly, she still hadn't heard clearly.
"I don't like its feet!"
The Yeti stepped into the pine forest, the pine trees only reaching its knees. The few birds in the forest also flew away in fright.
Lucas carefully jumped from its head to its shoulder, spotted the nearest treetop below, arched his back, and was about to jump again when a stench mixed with blood, rotting matter, and metal blew up from behind him.
The black cat twitched its nose. Why did the Yeti smell metallic? Had it confused the metallic scent with the smell of blood?
"Roar roar roar roar roar!"
A cat's sense of smell is twenty times more sensitive than a human's. Lucas felt dizzy and was thankful they had nothing to eat, otherwise he would definitely be vomiting right now.
Legend has it that the Yeti eats people, spirits, dwarves, and orcs; perhaps it could be renamed the Big Eater Monster.
Does it eat cats?
Lucas thought it best he didn't know the answer. He mustered his courage, leaped, and landed on top of a pine tree, kicking off a lot of snow, which landed right in Ashlin's hair.
Ashlyn opened her arms, and Lucas fell into her embrace. She was as cold as he was, but for a moment he felt warm and cozy.
Thump! The Yeti's foot slammed into their backs.
"Now!" Lucas urgently changed his plan, struggling to free his head from the witch's embrace.
Ashlin sprinted away, her boots crunching in the thick snow. The Yeti roared again. She held her breath, turned around, and with one arm around the cat, directed all the pine trees around the Yeti's hairy feet with the other.
The pine trees rustled and began to gather, as if bound by an invisible hand of wind. Ashlin made a tightening gesture with her hand, and the pine trees all wrapped around the yeti's feet, pressing firmly against them.
The Yeti roared even louder, its voice drowning out the howling wind.
“I did it!” Ashlin exclaimed in surprise.
"Not yet!" Lucas reminded him. "It only counts as done if you run away. Run!"
"map!"
She ran while rummaging through her bag, only to find a bunch of trash falling out. Lucas, unable to bear it any longer, deliberately stuck his head into the bag.
As a result, he didn't want to stick his head out anymore, because it was too warm inside the bag. He focused his attention and sniffed, smelling the parchment scent of the map, and then took it out.
Ashlin had just picked up the map when a gust of wind blew by, and the map stuck to her face like a mask. She instinctively shook the map off, and it slipped away.
"Oh no no no no..." She hurriedly and frantically tried to catch up with the map that was flying wildly through the air, but it was clear that the map was already free.
The Yeti has broken free of the pine tree trap and is coming to seek revenge.
"Can you shoot it with the Dragonbone Bow? And cast the Memory Sharing Spell again?"
Ashlin chanted the spell, but shook her head. "My magic is frozen!"
Lucas felt his mind go completely blank for the first time. He knew absolutely nothing about the Yeti, and his knowledge of snow survival was just as limited.
He had to buy her time.
Lucas wished he could stay in her arms a little longer, but he struggled and kicked her arm away.
What are you doing?
"Let me down."
Ashlin was horrified and hugged him even tighter. "Are you crazy?"
Lucas hardened his heart and bit her. Ashlin screamed and let go, and the black cat escaped in an instant.
He tumbled into the snow, the icy snowflakes melting into his fur. It was the most terrifying feeling in the world, nothing could compare. Now he completely understood why cats hated water, let alone ice and snow. The snow was too thick; he had to struggle to step on it first, and then try to run as fast as he could.
"Come on, Bigfoot!" he meowed at the Yeti. "Aren't you tired of humans already? Haven't you tried cats yet?"
The Yeti indeed changed its target.
Lucas immediately ran in the opposite direction from Ashlin. If he was lucky, he could lure it far away, hide undetected, and then sneak back to find Ashlin. Compared to humans, he was smaller and more agile, giving him a greater chance of success.
Unfortunately, he has never been particularly lucky.
He and the Yeti were indeed far from Ashlin, but the Yeti was a little too close. Just as he was about to leap onto a tree, the creature stretched out its terrifyingly large hand and grabbed him.
The Yeti lifted him high, opened its mouth, and delivered a delicious stench, along with a very novel, frizzy hairstyle.
That's terrible.
Fortunately, his will should still be in the palace.
He got closer and closer to that foul-smelling mouth...
Whoosh!
An arrow grazed Lucas's cat ear and pierced the Yeti's mouth.
The Yeti roared and released Lucas. Lucas did an emergency somersault in the air, adjusting his posture and trying his best to land on all fours in the snow.
He quickly raised his head, and a familiar feline scent filled his nostrils.
Amidst the chaotic, swaying white, the tall and striking leopard girl raised a longbow and aimed it at the Yeti once more.
She ran until her face was flushed, and her eyes were glistening, whether from snowflakes or something else, I couldn't tell.
"Stop treating me like this!" Upon seeing him, she gasped for breath, exhaling puffs of white mist.
Before she could finish speaking, the Yeti's foul breath knocked her to the ground, and her wooden bow fell off.
The monster stomped down, and when it lifted its foot, only wood chips remained.
Ashlin immediately tossed the dragonbone bow, which could be enchanted with arrows, to the leopard girl, her movements neither smooth nor precise.
A flash of light streaked across the sky, and the Dragonbone Bow lay alone between the two.
“Sorry!” Ashlind cried out.
The Yeti let out a mocking cry and turned toward the leopard girl, but changed its mind at the last second, bending down and lifting Ashlin up completely.
The witch screamed, and her staff fell to the ground. Lucas gripped Ashlin's shoulders tightly with his four claws, nearly tearing her cloak apart.
"Look here, you ugly monster!" At this moment, the leopard girl raised the dragon bone bow and aimed it at the Yeti's forehead.
With a flash of light, the Yeti finally collapsed heavily, shaking the entire snowfield. Lucas watched as the snow drew ever closer, and he meowed in fear.
Fortunately, the snow was too thick, and they didn't fall to their deaths.
In the leaden-gray sky, snowflakes rose densely and then fell in droves.
Ray Mara turned around, and the snowflakes behind her looked like the long wings of a white bird.
Author's note: Map: I'm offering it for free!
I checked the backend and it's supposed to be verified, but I've decided to wait a bit longer and make more changes... (feeling guilty)
P.S.: I can't stand my disjointed and haphazard plot anymore! I've decided to carefully revise the Elf Valley part now (tears).
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