Chapter 474: Snow?
The big question on everyone"s mind, including himself, was why Harry? Out of everyone there, there were more people that the Shadow could have tried to attack. Van for one who the Shadow was after before and held the crystal was only a few feet away from him.
Then there was also Bliss, the divine being herself. The only thing Harry could think of was that perhaps these two people weren"t an option. The beast would have been killed in attempting to take them on, but then the original question came back. Why him?
This question would just have to stay in the back of his mind as they continued their journey.
The next day the army awoke and started the travels as planned. They marched and trenched through the shadow continent, still not seeing much of anything, or signs of life. Suddenly the land, as well as the weather, took a sudden turn.
"Snow?" Martha said.
The land was completely covered in snow. A giant white field including mountains and more were covered in a land of white. It seemed like a strange phenomenon because in the one area where they stood there was no sign of snow at all, yet just a few meters up ahead, it looked like a blizzard was taking place while where they stood was completely fine.
When they reached the edge of where the land changed. Bliss used a wind spell to push some of the snow forward, and underneath the shadow continent could still be seen.
Knowing they were now at least heading in the right direction, they decided to continue forward. The footing of the snow was tough, and at times the weather would be peaceful. Making it, so the walking part was the only thing they were having trouble with.
But at random intervals a blizzard would be upon them, making their vision impaired. Not being to see the entire army at the front.
Still, the Redwing army was strong with each member knowing how to utilise their Ki. They were able to walk through the snow without any troubles, but their vision would still be affected.
"I was thinking, where are we even going, how do we know where to go?" Kyle asked. "We"re not just randomly walking in the snow looking for their fortress are we?"
"When the shadow continent took over the other kingdoms up north, they also took over their cities and castles." Bliss explained. "Although most structures were destroyed, the castles usually remained. Being slightly altered and turned into fortresses led by the Shadow guard. Not all of the castles were used, but those castles are where we will be heading."
"So there"s a good chance that they might not even be where we are heading to now?" Kyle said, almost complaining.
"I think the fact that Harry almost getting killed last night is a good sign that we are on the right track," Lenny said.
"A bit of a history lesson for you all," Bliss said. "In the northern part of the continent, before the Shadow existed. One of these kingdoms is where me and the Great Dragon Sen once fought."
If it was anyone else saying this, they would have just taken it as nonsense, but it was the Divine being that was spouting this as fact. Even the Great dragon Sen was seen as a myth, but it seemed like it was true after all.
Hearing this, reminded Harry and Martha of what Ray had told Slyvia, that he was the Great dragon Sen.
"What if it was all true and that"s why Ray dislikes Bliss?" Harry thought to himself, but then chuckled at the far fetched idea.
The group had eventually reached a bit of a problem. They had come across a frozen lake. The lake was quite large and wide, and if they were to travel around it, it might have taken a few extra days.
What worried them was if they were to take a few extra days, then maybe the reason Gary was waiting until this specific day would pa.s.s. The whole point of this was to meet Gary before the set date, to ruin his plans.
"Well, we need someone to test it first, right? And we all can"t go on at once." Kyle said. "As a test for the ice, we need our two largest people."
The heads of the others turned to two in particular, the first being Lenny. He was so tall that some believed he was half-giant. He had a body of a large warrior, but he was clumsy and a sorcerer. The second person was Jack, who was also tall, although not as tall as Lenny but he was by far the heaviest of them.
His body was made of pure muscle, and he was thick.
"If it can hold them two, it can hold any of us," Kyle said.
The two got on at the same time. They walked on the ice and went a bit further until they were more towards the centre of the lake, but there were no cracks, and it seemed solid.
"Try jumping up and down!" Martha shouted.
And at the same time, the two of them jumped up, as they landed everyone squinted expecting the ice to break, but nothing had happened. Returning to the others, they confirmed the ice was st.u.r.dy, but it looked slippery, and it went on for even further then they thought.
"Just in case there is anything wrong, the black Sash knights, which includes Kyle in this shall go up first." Sir K said. "Our soft and smooth footsteps will be able to avoid anything even if the ice starts to break, or there is something up ahead, and we will warn you.
"It will also be best to split into groups of no more than a hundred. Otherwise, the weight might get to be too much."
The plan was put into motion, and the black sash knights went ahead along with Kyle and Sir K. Then when they gave the signal the next group was to go forward, which were the Redwing leaders and beast group.
Then finally it would be Katy, as she had split up the rest of the army in groups to head forward.
Everything seemed to be fine, and there were no problems, so Harry leading the second group, went on the ice with everyone. Then, one of the sudden blizzards had appeared again.
It made it hard for them to see who exactly was up ahead. Using his hand covering over his eyebrows, Harry was trying to see what was happening.
All he could see was a man jumping up and down waving his hand, but he had no clue what that meant.
"Kyle, head back now, we will deal with this!" Sir K said.
Kyle ran back as fast as he could. The group could see a black dot getting bigger coming towards them, but above him, was a large chunk of ice being thrown through the sky. Everyone jumped out of the way, trying to avoid the block. It smashed into the ground and tore right through the icy river revealing the water beneath.
"Everyone, they have a catapult, head back until Sir K deals with it!" Kyle shouted.
But more chunks of ice were being thrown over. The message had gotten to those in the back, and they had already started to retreat based on Katy"s order. But for the second group, it was serious trouble.
The blocks of ice being hurled were so large, even if Harry cut them, it would just break more sections of the ice. Not that he was sure he even could cut them, so all they could do was avoid the parts of where the ice would go.
They were doing well until. One block of ice had hit the tail end of their group, cracking the lake, and it had taken one of their men at the back with them. That man was Lenny.
"NOOOO!" Harry shouted.
Hoping to dive in after him, but a few more blocks of ice were being thrown their way, then shortly after they stopped.
Sir K and his team had gotten rid of whatever was causing the problem. The group now no longer dealing with the onslaught of ice being hurled, went over to check where Lenny had fallen.
They waited there for a while to see if they could spot anything, to see if anyone would rise up but there was nothing.
"I"m going in!" Harry said.
"You can"t," Martha replied. "It will be freezing down there and too dark it will be impossible to find him. If he hasn"t come up now then…"
It had been too long for some to survive underwater.
"If I don"t bring him back, Ray will kill me," Harry said.
"If we don"t bring you back, Ray will kill us as well."
Harry was saddened and conflicted, at the same time, they needed to keep on moving. These small attacks form the Shadow, it was clear they were delays. For some reason, they didn"t want their group getting to the fortress before the set date.
"Lenny is one of the cleverest mages I know," Roy said. "He will live from this, I promise you that. For now, let"s concentrate on the task and not get distracted."
It was a tough decision to make, but in the end, they decided to move on.
"Lenny, meet us soon," Harry said.
******
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