It was amazing to Vim how, no matter where they went, be it night or day, the level of light in the castle was always exactly the same. The purple glow pulsing from the runes may have varied from place to place, but there were never any places that he could see actual sunlight, save for the front gates, which were still being constantly pounded by ice.
Lannel walked ahead of him through the unexplored halls with a silent gait. Ever since they had reached the Gardens, his friend and former colleague had a dark tint to his eyes. Each and every member of the expedition had it to some extent. Of course, the castle wasn't the brightest of places, but Lannel had it much, much worse than anyone else. Just what had he seen since Vim quit?
“I think, Vim,” Lannel said, dusty voice betraying his lack of sleep, “I have an idea where the Crystal Rose could be.”
“You do?” Vim had to stop from pouncing on his friend. “How? Where?”
“You remember the blue light we saw, from both the airship and in the Glacierwind?”
Vim nodded.
“Do you see anything blue around here?” Lannel made a small wave. Vim paused for a moment, grasping what Lannel was getting at.
“So what you're saying is that the Roses, being the only blue thing around here, have to be somewhere that we can see from the outside.”
“You've seen how these ice walls are,” Lannel said. “The runes do something to the light, stopping it from getting through, somehow. If we could see the light from the outside, then that would only mean one thing.”
“It would have to be somewhere on the outside of the walls, or at least exposed to open air.” Vim ran his fingers over the sling on his arm, the one thing keeping his shoulder intact. “There would have to be at least one way to it that isn't blocked by a locked door.”
“Exactly.” Lannel looked at the walls, then sighed. “If only this accursed storm wasn't blowing, we could be able to find it with ease, but...”
But there was a storm blowing. Even if it took a hundred, or even a thousand times more effort, Vim would still give everything he had. Ashe was waiting for him on that hospital bed. Ashe was waiting for him, inches away from her deathbed. “So what do you think we should—“
A high-pitched cry cut him off. Vim whirled to see an ape-like creature, with blue-gray fur and makeshift leather clothes standing before him. It was about the size of a monkey.
The child yeti let out a cry, waving one hand to him, then one more to Lannel. Lannel looked stunned as he met eyes with the creature. “Is this the one from before?”
“Yes,” Vim said and turned back to the creature. He was halfway through making a hand sign when the yeti pointed at him with gray fingers, then pointed back towards the way it came. It gave a quick wave and leaped off.
“Come on, it seems to know where it's going,” Vim said. Lannel opened his mouth to say something, then closed it and nodded.
The yeti moved through the castle with grace, pausing at corners for Vim to catch up. He hobbled the fastest he could with his battered body, aching arm pounding all the way. It took a long while, but eventually, the yeti stopped.
“What's it waiting for?” Lannel asked.
“I think we've arrived,” Vim said. As if on cue, the child yeti lifted a finger, pointing towards a door. He frowned. It looked the same as all the other ones, glassy, vaguely transparent, and covered with—
Vim froze. The runes inscribed on the door weren't glowing. They weren't pulsing. It was as if they had been just...turned off somehow. A quick glimpse of the broken chunk of the pillar, back in the cellar, flashed through his mind. These runes had the same burnt-out look.
Lannel leaned over his shoulder. “So was this thing the culprit? It could easily have fit in one of those tunnels leading down.”
“Yeah, I think so.” To go through all the trouble of heading down into the cellar, just to take a chunk of obsidian out? Of course this was why.
Vim gave the yeti a thumbs up sign. It let out a pleased cry and opened one hand towards the door. If it didn't understand at the start, it sure did now. He gave a nod and placed his palm against the ice. Ice. It was funny to think that way, considering it wasn't cold or melting, but somehow, he could just tell.
With a deep breath, he gave the slightest amount of force. The door swung wide open, revealing an open expanse of white. Freezing air blew in through the new opening, causing Vim to clench his teeth together against the cold. They had the wrong idea all along. The so-called doors weren't doors at all. They were windows!
“Vim,” Lannel said, pointing out. “Look.”
A patch of snow was glowing with a blue light. They were on the second floor. If the garden was supposed to be on the first floor, then... Vim felt his arm tremble. “How much snow you do reckon that is?”
Lannel made silent calculations with his hands. “It's been snowing nonstop for at least three days now. I can't get any specific numbers without knowing the original depth, but it's likely...“
“Is it enough to step on?” Vim held his head out the window. It was cold.
“I'm not sure. Look, we really should be—“
The yeti leaped out the window with a cry, leaving a line in the snow as it landed in a roll. It stood up with no difficulty, as if the ground underneath was solid earth. Vim stepped out, the snow supporting his weight perfectly. If he didn't know the layout beforehand, he would've thought it wasn't snow at all.
“Wait, don't be so hasty!” Lannel called out from the window. “Those roses are underneath at least twenty feet of snow. How are you going to get to them?”
This was Ashe's life at stake here. He would dig them out with his bare hands if it came down to it. Or bare hand, in his case. Vim patted the sling. That being said, it would take way too much time like that. He wasn't sure how long he could last out in this cold.
A high-pitched cry cut off his thoughts. The yeti waved to him from the far end of the courtyard. Giving Lannel a quick nod, Vim trudged through the falling snow, trying hard to ignore the crashing sounds that rang out all around the castle.
The edge of the courtyard ended in a sharp landslide, short traces of ice being visible at the bottom. There were several glowing roses, a magnificent blue light brighter than any he had ever seen before, scattered throughout the bottom. Vim glanced upward. There was an overhang blocking the snow from above. The yeti pointed at the roses, than pointed to itself. It would go get it for him.
Vim felt his eyes water. He wanted to tell it how thankful he was, how much of a help it had been. Still, he wasn't sure words could do justice, even if it did understand. Wiping his eyes, he gave the yeti a simple nod. It seemed to understand.
The snow shifted as the yeti began climbing down. Vim frowned. There was something wrong. Something missing.
The wind had stopped.
“Look up!”
Vim snapped his eyes up in time to see the behemoth of a boulder crash into the tower. The runes rippled with unseen forces, absorbing the impact. Everything stopped for a moment, as the boulder remained in the air, all forward momentum gone. Cracking, shattering sounds rung through the courtyard.
Then everything went white as the tons of ice came hurtling down.
He couldn't die here. Not when his daughter needed him. Not when he was so close.
Daddy, come on, let's play!
Vim ripped himself out of the snow, the world around him a clean sheet of white. He gasped and wheezed for air. Where were the roses? Where was everything?
Dragging himself onto his feet with one arm broken and the other arm frozen in place was no easy task. Still, guiding himself with nothing but the slight tinges of feeling in his toes, and what little he could make out with his eyes, Vim managed to heave his entire body onto the surface. Drowning in snow would have been an interesting way to die, but not one he could afford.
The storm raged and tore above him. Far off in the distance, Vim could see even bigger boulders get hurled against the walls. Showers of debris went flying in all directions. There wasn't any time to waste. Blue. Where was the blue?
The overhang stood to the right of him, so low that he could jump onto it if he wanted to. The debris had managed to fill the courtyard with almost an entire story of ice. Vim whirled to his right, bounding across the snow—and just barely stopping himself from falling off the edge.
There was a sharp drop to the bottom. The majority of the debris was redirected off the overhang and into the middle of the courtyard. At the very bottom, Vim could make out vague flickers of blue. All the way down.
Vim pounded his fist against the snow. How was he supposed to get down there now? It was impossible with two hands, let alone one. The only way to the bottom, as he saw it, was jumping.
He drew in a breath. If he landed just right, at just the perfect angle, he might get off with just the lower half of his body getting broken. Depending on how fast the Rose worked, it might have been possible to swallow one, heal his wounds, and then drag himself back to the top with both arms.
It was morbid, but it was the only way he could think of. Vim inched towards the edge. He would do anything for his daughter, anything. If there was even the smallest chance that he could save her—
A flicker of movement in the corner of his eye cut off his thoughts. To his side, just barely sticking out of the snow, was a gray, leathery finger.
Vim's eyes went wide. The yeti. How could he forget? He all but leaped towards the hand, digging and punching at the snow with his right hand. Blood dribbled down from a cut on his wrist, steam rising up as it hit the ice.
As soon as he got a small hole cleared around the yeti's head, Vim gripped onto the fingers with all he had and began pulling. Veins popped on his arm, every nerve screaming in pain. He had gotten the entire arm and shoulder out of the snow when he realized that there was a blue glow rising up from the ice. His breath caught in his throat.
Clasped around the yeti's other hand, somehow held steady through everything, was an ice-blue rose, glowing with the most beautiful light he had ever seen. Vim glanced at the yeti's strained breaths. He would get it out alive, or die trying.
“Vim!” Lannel came running through the snow. “Are you alright?”
“I'm fine.” Vim grimaced at the daggers of pain in his arm. “More than him, anyways.”
“Oh,” Lannel said, registering the gray form half-buried in the ice. “Oh gods. What should we do?”
“Did you clear the snow from the window?”
“Yeah, I had to use some makeshift tools, but I managed it.” Lannel held out a hand-shovel and began tearing at the snow. It was gone in seconds. He blinked when he saw the Rose. “Did it hold that thing all the way?”
Vim gave a nod. “Take its arms for me. I'll grab one leg, and we'll pull it over to the hall.”
“Got it.” Vim wrapped his arm around the yeti's leg as Lannel held its arms up, taking extra care not to let its head dangle. They let out a silent grunt of acknowledgment, and began stepping over the snow in the direction they came from. He could make out the faint purple light coming from the hall.
The wind stopped. Vim grit his teeth. “Hurry!”
Lannel nodded. They had gotten more than three-quarters of the way there when a shadow passed over them. A boulder twice larger than the last came whirling out of the storm and crashed against the wall. Purple lightning flashed out from the runes as they struggled against the impact. For a moment, the boulder remained in place, floating in the air.
Then it began to fall.
They all but scrambled the last few feet towards the exit. The window was only steps away when the ice crashed into them. Vim let out a roar as he threw himself into the hall, dragging the yeti in with him. Lannel hit the floor in a roll.
Sweat rolled down his brow. Vim grunted, half out of pain and half out of relief. He opened his mouth to speak. “The yeti...is it...”
Lannel held two fingers to its neck. He shook his head. “I don't know, Vim, all I can tell is with humans. If Sira were here, she could probably tell you more but...”
Vim staggered up to his feet and pushed Lannel out of the way, holding his hand to the animal's chest. He couldn't feel anything, not even a faint movement of air. If it was still alive, it wouldn't be like that for long. He tightened his fist.
“How long would it take to call Sira here?” Vim said.
“At least ten minutes, go and come.” Lannel let out a sigh. “I don't think it can even spare one, if it’s still alive, that is.”
This couldn't be happening. Why had it fought so hard for him? Why had it risked its life for a girl it didn't even know? It was of a completely different species!
“Look, Vim,” Lannel said. “I'm sorry, but it's not going to make it, but at least we can make sure its sacrifice wasn't in vain.”
Its sacrifice. Vim took in a breath. “Do you have it?”
Lannel nodded, and pulled the rose out of his pocket. It glowed with an otherworldly blue. “What do you plan on—“
“Give it to me.”
“What?” Lannel stared at him.
“I said give it to me!” Vim snapped. Lannel hesitated for a moment, then handed the miracle cure into his hand. It tingled of cool ice.
Vim closed his eyes. Ashe was waiting for him at home. She was dying this very instant Was he really willing to squander everything after coming this far?
His arm trembled. They wouldn't have come this far if not for the yeti. He would've died—they all would've died—several times over if not for its help. It had gone out of its way to help them. Wasn't it time for him to return the favor?
“Lannel,” Vim said. “Tell me I'm doing something stupid. Tell me to stop.”
His friend met his eyes, then looked away. “I can't make this decision for you, Vim. This is something you have to decide.”
Ashe was waiting. Ashe was dying.
But she loved animals above all else. She wouldn't have wanted to live if it meant another dying. If she were here, she would've given the rose to the yeti in a heartbeat. Still, she wasn't here. This was something he had to decide. This was something he could decide.
“I'm sorry,” Vim said, tucking the rose into his coat. The pocket vibrated with the thrum of energy. “I can't do it.”
Lannel nodded, ice letting out a squeak as he turned on his heel, walking off into the darkness. Before Vim could do the same, however, a faint growl rung out through the hall. He felt the hairs stand on the back of his neck.
A beast built like a freight train stomped through the hall, its snow-blue fur appearing gray in the purple light. Vim held his breath. Forget one head; it was at least four heads taller than him. It walked up to the fallen form of its child—he could tell—and brushed its forehead, a soft sob escaping its lips.
The adult yeti met his eyes. Its two gray eyes seemed to pierce into his soul. For a moment, Vim thought it would crush him like a tin can and take the Rose away by force. It's what he would've done.
It didn’t though. Instead, a flicker of emotion passed through its gaze. Sympathy. It turned back to its child and lifted it up in both arms. Letting out one last wail, it turned around and began moving off into the castle.
“Wait,” Vim said. He didn't know if it would understand. He didn't especially care. “Are you just going to leave like that? I have the Rose, all you have to do is take it!”
The yeti turned its head, looking at him with tired eyes, and then shook its head. It pointed to its child, and made a clenched gesture. Somehow, Vim understood. Its child sacrificed itself for him, so it couldn’t undermine the sacrifice by taking the rose back.
Vim’s knuckles went white, the world spinning around him. It was going to let its child die. It was going to let its child die to respect its wishes . It was going to let its own die, so that another could live.
“Hold on,” Vim said through clenched teeth. His right hand trembled as he held out the Rose. “Take it.”
The yeti looked at him. Then, without words, it lifted the flower in its massive fingers, and held it to its child's mouth. Vim watched as the smaller yeti drank the Rose, the blue light pouring into the weak lips. Already, he could see the cuts and bruises knitting before his eyes. A breath had returned to its chest.
Without another word, the mother turned, disappearing into the halls of the Ice Gardens of Eihon. Vim realized he was all alone in the castle.
The Glacierwind stopped later that night.
