The ice arrow shot from Valerius's bow, leaving a trail of pale blue in the ashen air. The arrow didn't fly straight—it curved subtly, anticipating its prey's movement. But the black ice gargoyle was no mindless creature. With an ear-splitting shriek, it folded one of its wings, executing an impossible spin in midair, and let the arrow pass mere inches from its body before it shattered against the fortress wall.
Roaring in fury, the gargoyle beat its wings with terrible force. A rain of jagged black ice shards erupted from its wings, pelting Valerius's position in a deadly storm of projectiles.
Valerius did not retreat. He planted the bow into the snow and lifted his left hand.
"Aegis crystallina!"
The familiar hexagonal energy shield materialized before him, shimmering with power. The shards of black ice slammed against it in a rapid-fire cascade of cracks, like pebbles hurled against a frozen window. The shield quivered under the onslaught, tiny fractures spreading across its surface—but it held fast.
This won't work as a duel of projectiles, Valerius thought, feeling his magic draining quickly to maintain the barrier. His enemy was agile in the air while he was bound to the ground. He needed to change the battlefield.
As the hail of shards subsided, the gargoyle dove again, its claws of obsidian ice outstretched to rip him apart. This was the moment Valerius had been waiting for. Instead of preparing a direct strike, he pressed his palm into the snow.
"Spinae gelu, surgite!"(Frozen thorns, rise!)
The snow in the gargoyle's dive path erupted upward. Dozens of massive ice spikes shot out of the ground, forming a lethal forest of spears. The gargoyle screeched in surprise and was forced to wrench itself skyward to avoid being impaled, aborting its attack.
Now it hovered higher—and more vulnerable.
Now, Valerius whispered to himself.
He no longer focused on a single projectile. He drew energy from everything around him, feeling the cold of the earth, the dampness in the air.
"Vincula hiemis, prehende eum!"(Winter's bonds, seize him!)
No longer were they merely creeping tendrils. This time, dozens of flexible whips of radiant blue ice burst from the ground around Valerius, lashing skyward like striking serpents. The gargoyle tried to evade, wings thrashing desperately, but there were too many. Several of the icy lashes coiled around one of its wings.
Valerius's sorcery instantly hardened the ice, freezing the gargoyle's wing joints in a twisted angle. Off-balance, the creature spun wildly through the air before crashing down into the snow with a bone-jarring impact nearly fifty meters away.
It was still alive. It writhed and snarled on the ground, struggling to tear free of the frozen shackles gripping its wing. Valerius gave it no chance.
The bow in his hand dissolved, replaced by a concentrated, swirling cold in his outstretched palm. He focused all the energy he had left into one final, decisive strike.
"Hasta frigoris aeterni!"(Spear of eternal frost!)
A spear of pure ice, pulsing with raw power, formed in the air before him. It was denser, brighter than any blade or arrow he had conjured. With a thrust of his will, the spear shot forward at blinding speed.
It struck dead center in the gargoyle's chest.
There was no explosion. Instead, an eerie hush descended as the gargoyle's body began freezing from the impact point. Its black ice was swiftly swallowed by Valerius's pure blue frost. In seconds, the entire creature became a flawless, deadly statue of azure crystal. Then, with one last delicate crack, the statue shattered into a million glittering shards that drifted away on the wind.
Silence returned to the base of the fortress.
Valerius drew a long, ragged breath, the sharp fatigue nipping at the edges of his awareness. The fight had been brief, but the intensity of the magic he'd wielded left his limbs heavy.
He turned his gaze to the fortress. Something had changed. On the stone wall where the gargoyle had perched, the dark wards shimmered and receded. Slowly, faint lines began glowing across the stone surface, outlining the shape of a great door that had been invisible moments before. The ancient runes locking it dimmed and winked out one by one.
With a grinding groan of shifting stone, the hidden door cracked open, revealing a darkness so deep it seemed to swallow what little light remained. From within poured a cold far sharper than any winter wind.
It was an invitation.
Valerius walked slowly toward the threshold. He paused in the doorway, his hand unconsciously touching the small leather pouch Elara had given him—a tiny anchor of warmth amid the ocean of ice. He took a deep breath, drawing in the fetid air of the fortress.
Then, with steady steps, he crossed the threshold.
The darkness welcomed him like an old friend's embrace. Behind him, the heavy stone door groaned shut, sealing him inside the belly of the Frozen Raven Fortress.