He was cold. So very cold.
"Spiraling towers. Caves that never end. Cities that stretch on like labyrinths. The life of an Arcane Knight has a lot to offer, doesn't it, Sieg?" Davi muttered weakly.
The snow's relentless onslaught made each step a battle. One that threatened to engulf him and his brother should he fail. Time lost all meaning beneath the unyielding grey sky, and Davi's breath fogged before him, the only warmth in the freezing blizzard that embraced him. How many days had it been since he and his brother ventured into this unforgiving realm of snow and ice? He couldn't say, and neither did he care. All he knew was the endless sea of white that he marched through.
"Hey, Sieg, come on and say something already!" Davi felt the cold air crack his lips, but he ignored the pain and did his best to shake his brother awake. Sieg rested on his back, eyes closed, and hadn't moved in over a day now.
There was so much ice and snow that it was hard to stay awake, but Davi knew that the moment he closed his eyes would be his last. The instant he drifted off to sleep, he wouldn't be able to wake back up, and then no one would be able to save him or Sieg. They would both die. That was why, no matter how much he was hurting, no matter how blue his skin was becoming, he didn't stop.
It was his fault they were in this mess in the first place. They were out somewhere in the middle of the Mordheim kingdom, surrounded by a harsh blizzard that didn't care how young they were. It raged on and on, eating away at their energy as much as it did their flesh.
"Sieg, you need to say something. I'm getting worried!" Davi shifted his brother and tried to shake the other boy awake, but Sieg still didn't respond. "Hey, Sieg, we're going to be Arcane Knights! You know, like the kind we talked about, who get to see the whole world! Spiraling towers. Caves that never end. Cities that stretch on like labyrinths. Spiraling towers. Caves that never end. Cities that stretch on like labyrinths. Spiraling towers. Caves that never end. Cities that stretch on like labyrinths—" Davi felt his foot drop through the snow and lost his balance, suddenly tumbling forward.
His grip grew weak, and his brother was flung to the ground, lying as still as the snow. Davi gasped as he sank into the knee-deep snow. It burned and stabbed into his skin, his entire body feeling as though it was going to crack and shatter. The worst of it was on his face. Blood and cracked flesh clung to the side of his head, peeling off when it rubbed across the icy ground.
Weakly, he forced his head up and stared at his brother. Sieg was face down in the snow, his skin a nasty blue color, and his fingers and toes had swollen and looked almost black now. Davi realized his own weren't any better. Now that he was on the ground, though, he just couldn't muster up any more of his strength, and even trying to crawl to his brother's side seemed like an impossible task.
It just wasn't fair to be put in a situation like this. He was only twelve, still a child, yet that didn't matter—not to Mother Nature, which had cruelly forced him and his sibling into this cursed reality.
"Someone!" Davi cried out, the tears freezing instantly upon his face. Somehow mustering all of his remaining strength, he managed to use his chin to drag himself next to his brother and placed his head on Sieg's chest. Davi's eyes widened slightly as he heard a weak beat. Sieg was still alive. "Please!" He screamed again. "Someone! Anyone! Save my brother! Get him out of this cursed world!"
His legs and lungs had been pushed to their limit, and there was still no gate in sight. They were miles out from the nearest exit to the realm. Despite that, though, he had to do something. Anything. Davi let out a scream as loud as he could. The wind, however, had other ideas. A powerful gust rose as if to mock him and swallow his pitiful cries for help—a last-ditch effort that went unnoticed by the world. His cry died down, his throat tearing, as more of his flesh cracked and broke.
Davi finally gave up.
He felt his eyes grow heavy, and he found himself listening to the beat in his brother's chest grow quieter. Soon, it would be silent. Strangely, Davi found himself feeling warm now. The cold was fading, and it became easier to drift off and go to sleep. The pain would end that way. It wouldn't hurt anymore. This journey had been impossible from the start. It had been foolish to think either of them could escape their fate.
Davi felt his eyes shut, and he lay there unmoving. That was until he heard a faint sound. It was almost impossible to hear over the howling wind, but his ears picked it up by some miracle—the sound of wings beating.
His eyes opened painfully, the ice shattering as he groaned. Davi suddenly felt a rush through his body, and his eyes widened. Something stood above him now, massive in height.
The cold was forgotten as he stared up at the thing that now stood above him. It was large and covered in thick, spiky scales. Two gigantic wings jutted out of its back, and a pair of yellow eyes narrowed as it stared down at the two boys sprawled out on the ground before it. The thing stood on four legs, each ending in jagged blades, and one of its limbs rose off the ground. Davi gasped as the claw, bigger than he was, gently pressed into him. Meanwhile, behind the great beast, a tail thundered against the ice.
A Dragon. The very same kinds of ancient beasts that one could read about in stories stood before two dying boys, whom it had spotted while it was flying about.
The entire ground seemed to rumble as it craned its head down and looked closer at one of the boys.
Davi could see his reflection in the Dragon's eye as it met his gaze. His body trembled, and he knew then that his life was now in the beast's hands.
"You asked for someone to save you?" A rumble and a guttural growl came from the creature. "Well, you're in luck, boy. I am here." Fire gently dripped out of the Dragon's maws, and steam rose as the ice melted.
And just like that, Davi Hawker was no longer cold.