With winter consuming all the lands around the Hollow Song Sect, no barriers could keep the cold out, no matter where one was. Snow had been falling for days now, covering the entire world in white, causing multiple disciples to start walking like penguins after a few incidents of slipping and rolling down the stone paths, ending up in the cold, still-running rivers that were getting way too close to start freezing over.

  Inside his abode, Siu was also moving around, preparing for the hunt. He didn't know how long they would be away, but he wanted to make sure the clothes he would wear would last throughout it all. The outer robe he chose was modified, with the fabric thickened more than twice and inner stitching added to it that was meant to trap his body heat without sacrificing too much of his mobility. Beneath it, he decided to wear layered, close-fitting garments, tying all the pieces to himself. There was no reason to try to wear any kind of armor this time around, because reading up on the Icecrown Stag, if it stabbed you with its antlers, you were done anyway. This time, it would be all about not getting impaled, because that would be the third time already... and probably his last.

  "Master, didn't you say we wouldn't be fighting anyway?" Arya asked, sensing his thoughts.

  "That doesn't mean we won't." He answered, checking his new legwear.

  Putting on the reinforced boots, one that went up to his shins under the robes, he tested his footing on the stone floor, shifting his weight to make sure it fit well, while checking the tiny stumps at the bottom of it, which were there for that extra grip in the snow.

  "Well, we can always run away," Arya added as she watched him from the bed, her fur now almost completely white with a very few remaining black stripes. As for Marly, she was curled up beside her, her tail wrapped around herself like a fuzzy coil, peeking at Siu from above it.

  "I hope we won't be eaten again, Master," Marly murmured, "But those stag things are not into eating meat... are they?"

  "I don't know what they eat, but I don't think so," Siu replied aloud, satisfied with how he felt after dressing up, and finally reached for the remaining bundle.

  Five, finished and ready firebombs, as that was how many Seloryn had delivered to him. He kept them in a padded case, and even inside of that, he put them into individual compartments, and wrapped them in insulating cloth for good measure. He had guessed they were dangerous from the inception of the idea, but... Holding the firebombs was unsettling in a way he didn't expect.

  Each of them was barely larger than his palm, slightly oblong in shape, while their surfaces remained smooth and faintly warm, no matter what, even if he put them down in the snow.

  "Ugh..." He grimaced when he picked one out of its resting place, and it immediately yielded to the pressure under his fingers. This... this was what made holding them a nightmare. They felt elastic and soft to the touch, like a piss-filled bladder or something. Ugh. Whenever he moved them, their surfaces flexed as the liquid inside moved, then returned to its basic shape after settling down, giving out audible sloshing sounds.

  Apparently, as per Seloryn's words, Neya's handiwork had been immaculate, and made her own craftsmanship advance a lot, a boon she didn't expect; no wonder she came back with five of them. When she handed them over, she explained that each bomb had been folded inward dozens of times, with layered membranes inside, all loaded with separated reagents that Siu had collected, held in a very delicate balance and, well, tension. Which, when broken, would be the trigger to it all. They would release the wrath of fire, as she said, giggling to herself. To facilitate that, around the narrow neck, or whatever it was, she had placed a thin cord, which she called the catalyst.

  "You don't just throw them like stones, okay?" Seloryn said to him, "First, you prime them. It's easy, just yank the string... hard. I made it so it requires a reasonable force to pull out; otherwise, it could easily blow up on you while walking around. But the moment you do, you don't have much time! Pulling it out releases the internal folds, the ingredients begin to mix, and it will burst one way or another. You have about... maybe a breath, or two, before the flask tears itself apart as it begins to expand, and the fluids make contact with the air.

  "And after that?" Siu asked, even if he knew the answer.

  "After that, you'd better not still be holding it." She answered with a flat look. "Whatever the fluids will splash on will catch on fire, and as long as they are sticking to it, they will keep burning. Good luck washing it down, water just makes it stick even more."

  Listening to her, Siu slowly rotated one in his palm, feeling the weight shift inside as the contents sloshed around, separated by a few inner folds that he could see from their opaque outer layer.

  "Brr." He shook his head, returning to the present, and began placing them in secure, individual pouches, affixing them to his belt, hidden beneath his robes. It was best if they remained hidden trump cards, ready to use when they really matter or not at all, which would be a miracle, but the best possible outcome.

  When everything was in place, Siu exhaled slowly and stood still for a moment, going over everything in his mind, taking slow breaths, letting his cultivation circulate and settle his mind, no longer worrying about parts of the upcoming hunt, those that he couldn't control. He finished it just in time because that was when a knock echoed inside his home.

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  As he stepped outside, with Arya and Marly, Nue Toah was, of course, there, standing in the snow, with a thick cloak covering her.

  "You are ready, hm? Excellent," she said with a snort, "I would have complained if I had to get you unprepared."

  "I had a feeling that," Siu replied in a flat tone, "You would come ahead of time just to berate me for not being ready."

  "Paranoid," She snorted, glancing at Arya and Marly who rode Siu's shoulders, watching her... While the squirrel had trouble gazing at her directly, that fox... Her eyes looked at her sharply, in a way that she wanted to twist her head a few times to fix that little, mingy bastard.

  "So? Are we going?"

  "Follow me." She nodded, and they didn't argue further.

  Stepping where she did, Siu kept just the right distance while following, watching her back as they silently walked to the rendezvous point, the only conversation being the crunch of snow beneath their steps. When they arrived, the rest of the group was already assembled, and apparently, they were the last to arrive. Looking around, indeed, they were twelve in total, fourteen with Arya and Marly.

  The core members of the hunt stood at the center, while around them were their helpers, chosen for... well, whatever reason they were chosen, it was hard to tell from just a look. Scanning the group, he took them in at a glance; some of them looked nervous, but most of them were excited and confident. Of course, the moment they arrived, the others did the same, their eyes settling on the fox and squirrel sitting on his shoulders like some weird ornaments.

  "Listen up!" Rinmei broke the silence before any greeting, drawing every attention to herself, "The trek to its territory will take about two hours in this weather. Ryn will take up the lead," She looked at her, making the girl nod back, then she and her helper glanced at Siu, just like Rinmei, "She will take up the front, her helper acting as the relay between us. Your familiars will scout around us, making sure to warn us if they smell another beast, because there are countless orioles in this forest... Got it?"

  "Birdies?! They are yummy!" Arya quipped, making Siu answer in a quick mental whisper.

  "She said it figuratively."

  "I don't get it..." Marly muttered, but it didn't matter because Rinmei kept talking to Siu.

  "Make sure to tell us the moment they sense anything, and then Nue or Kae'Lin will take care of it. Questions?" She asked, not waiting for Siu's confirmation, as it was not a request but an order. "No? Good. Let's go, everybody! We have stag to hunt!"

  ...

  ....

  ......

  "Everything is so... Silent," Arya muttered, her voice echoing in Siu's mind, reinforcing what he was thinking of.

  That was the first thing he also noticed once they passed beyond the snow-covered, but still familiar paths, and the group headed deeper into parts of the forest he never visited before. The entire land felt... abandoned. It was way too quiet, amplifying the sound of their steps and crunching the snow as their single-file march cut through the trees.

  Of the group, Rinmei walked in the middle, right behind Harrik and before Jarek. As for Nue, she was responsible for guarding their backs while Kae'Lin was at the front, making Siu almost the last of the group. The core members' helpers, whom they had brought along, stayed close, of course, spacing themselves around their partners. Throughout the whole trek, nobody spoke unless given an order when they stopped, surveying their position. Whenever they did, Rinmei was using some kind of handheld compass to determine where they were... or which direction they needed to take next.

  As for Ryn at the far front, she constantly disappeared from view with her partner, a lanky-looking boy. Of course, the latter returned frequently, relaying her observations as she led the group around certain patches where the snow was... Unusually packed, creating mounds in a way that wouldn't happen by just falling down from the sky. She guided them around possible nests, where who knows what type of creature was sleeping, trying to get over the cold, waiting for the snow to melt, and would probably get way too angry if humans slipped into its hole for a visit.

  Of course, she wasn't the only one doing her job.

  Arya was also dashing around the group, going back and forth in looping arcs, her nearly white fur blending so well with the snow that it almost made her invisible. Thanks to that, she sent back multiple giggling messages, commenting that not even the super-duper scout at the front noticed when she came close to her. Apparently, she was in her element all of a sudden, making Siu work extra hard not to give away her opinion with a grimace or chuckle, while listening to her giggles, proudly declaring herself to be the best scout amongst everyone else.

  As for Marly, she stayed closer than Arya, gliding from tree trunk to tree trunk, and if not, she was clinging to high branches, her eyes constantly moving, scanning the landscape below and above them, looking out for dangers that could fly.

  "Something big noticed us earlier," Arya murmured at one point. "From the north..."

  Siu relayed it at once, of course, causing the group to stop and to Nue and Kae'Lin to become alert, but whenever one of them was sent out to check, whatever looked at them had already retreated. Apparently, their numbers made those beasts who were awake think twice before committing to an attack, deciding to look for something much easier to call... lunch.

  As the hours passed, the forest finally also changed, becoming thinner enough for light to filter through the canopy. Apparently, the snowfall also stopped, and while the clouds were still there, some of them broke apart, letting sunlight shine down here and there, making the landscape look like something out of a frozen fable.

  "Stags." Ryn's report came back a moment later, and getting a bit closer, they could see them.

  Regular Ironcrown Stags, usually two to four, moving slowly, scraping through snow, shoveling it with their hooves as they searched for buried roots and shrubs to eat. Whenever they noticed the group, they froze briefly, their nostrils flaring, letting out big white clouds before vanishing between trees with a slight panic.

  "Tracks," Ryn appeared a moment later, her eyes flashing. "Deep-set hooves, larger than the others. The impressions have ice inside them... It's frozen and not just because it's cold."

  "I knew that it had already transformed," Rinmei muttered to herself at once, taking a last look at her compass, shutting it close, "Very good, because we're close, this is already within its resting place that he usually patrols."

  "So..." Harrik spoke up, turning to her, "Do we set an ambush here?"

  "We will." Rinmei nodded, looking at everyone once, "It passes by the same trails multiple times a day. Our best chance to strike is when it appears... So, everyone! Make it count."