Snowy plain. Ahead were the outlines of an unfamiliar structure. On the left, the massive forest of ice crystals stood frozen. Lights surrounding the walls of the structure cut through the night with their glow.
The Cursed and the Ice Queen raced on horseback toward the building. The army of zombies and the generals remained behind.
The area around the building, lit by the lights, greeted them with magical force. It threw them from their saddles into the snow. The horses could go no farther.
They entered the building on foot, holding their swords at the ready. The magic filling the place was pulsing in their temples and throughout their bodies. They could feel that it could kill them at any moment, but for some reason, it still did not. Perhaps they were walking into a deadly trap. But they had no other choice.
Lights were hanging above the building and moving through the air. There were lights inside as well. On the walls and in the halls.
They came to the central hall, where, amid the lights on the walls, a large sword in its scabbard lay on a stand in the middle of the room. The Cursed and the Ice Queen studied their surroundings for some time. There were no guards or traps anywhere in sight.
The Cursed approached and took the sword. He drew it halfway from its scabbard. The blade glowed with a cold light that cut through the twilight and darkness.
"Now let's get out of here," he said.
They headed back.
"Midnight is approaching," said the Cursed.
"You don't have to worry," replied the Ice Queen with a smirk. "The Messengers of the Curse don't know the way here."
"Then who is she?"
Hardly had he said it when a long, thin limb with black claws flew out of nowhere and struck. The Cursed moved aside. The black claws slashed across the wall of the building and sent sparks flying from it. But they could not leave a single mark on the surface.
The Cursed and the Ice Queen saw a thin, light-haired girl in tight-fitting, thin armor.
"What kind of beast is that?" said the Cursed.
"I could knock her down with a stream of cold, but I won't risk using magic here," said the Queen, looking around at the dark walls with lights. "The atmosphere is too dangerous for sorcery."
"Then now is the time to test the sword."
The Cursed drew his sword, and its blade lit up in the twilight of the corridor. The beast charged forward with a piercing, hungry roar. The Cursed rushed to meet her. He struck, but just before the blade reached her, the girl jumped onto the wall, ran along it, and ended up behind the Cursed. She struck him hard with her clawed hand, and the warrior was thrown forward. The wall was rapidly approaching. He turned in the air, pushed off the wall with his feet, and landed in the corridor with the sword in his hands. The bloodthirsty beast was already striking the Ice Queen with a series of blows from her hands. The Queen flew through the air away from her. All the blows missed the target. Only once did a claw catch the Queen's arm, and blue blood welled from the wound.
The bloodthirsty beast charged at the Cursed again. He struck with his sword. But the beast suddenly appeared in several places at once. On the left, on the right, above, behind. From all sides, her hands struck the Cursed, and he slammed into the wall. Three beasts grabbed him by the throat and arms. The fourth approached with a bloodthirsty baring of her teeth, ready to tear out his throat.
Suddenly, the blade of the sword flashed, the walls of the building flashed in response, and twisting bolts of lightning came crashing down from them onto the thin figures. Their bodies were jolted, the smell of burnt flesh filled the air, and the girls' armor turned black. They collapsed and remained lying on the floor.
The Cursed got up and headed for the exit together with the Queen.
They had gone several feet when a hungry growl sounded behind them. They turned around and saw the beast following them. Her armor had turned black, her long hair stood on end. But her eyes burned with unbearable bloodlust.
But here they were without the protection of the fortress's magic.
At that moment, a tall ominous figure with a long black scythe emerged from the darkness. She was heading toward the Cursed and the Ice Queen. But suddenly, the bloodthirsty beast found herself in her path. A long swing of the black scythe, the deadly hiss of air being cut. An arm and part of the rival's body were severed. She screamed wildly. Black blood gushed onto the snow. She leaped from the spot, soared high into the air, and drove the claws of her remaining hand straight into the tall witch's eye. A muffled groan spread through the surroundings. She grabbed the demoness with her free hand and tried to tear her away, but the beast clung so tightly that it was impossible to get rid of her. And she continued, with a wild shriek, to tear the sorceress's face and throat to pieces. But now with her teeth. Together, they were spinning in a deadly, wild dance beneath the night sky of the enchanted territory.
Meanwhile, the Cursed and the Ice Queen mounted their horses and raced back. To where the army of zombies and the Black Cube stood.
Behind the ice crystals, they saw the remaining sorceresses emerging and approaching with black scythes. They were drawn by the terrible struggle and the emanations of pain radiating from their sister.
But they were still too far away.
The Black Cube was activated, and the squad was transported back.