Perhaps it was due to the shivering cold, but the lightheadedness that Damon experienced was gone now. His skin ached from the chilling cold, and his lips were already cracked as they began to descend down the path they had first appeared on.
Kitsune hid beneath his hoodie as he stumbled down the icy path. He used his tachi like a walking stick, stabbing it into the ice in an attempt not to slip and fall over the edge to his death.
'It couldn't have been a warm place?'
"It's not so bad in here," Kitsune giggled, tucking herself deep inside his hoodie.
Damon let out an annoyed sigh, directed more at the weather than the Kitsune, as he almost lost his footing for a second.
'How do you know so much about Rifts anyway-?'
Damon's question was cut short as the cliff face beside them suddenly shattered, and a large figure stepped out of it, like ice given form.
Its lower limbs looked almost as thick as a tree trunk, and its torso was almost as wide as the narrow path they stood on.
The monster let out a deafening roar that seemed to echo through the entire mountain peak. Then, as its red eyes landed on Damon, it charged forward.
There was no space to evade. For a moment, Damon considered whether he could block the monstrous creature, but hesitated.
Then, with no other option, he raised his left arm toward the monster's leg.
A sharp tug struck his abdomen as he coalesced his mana into a shard of black ice. The moment he sent the ability forward, blood escaped his lips in a rough cough.
The monster's leg shattered, enough so to send it over the edge, its body hurtling into the chasm below.
Damon, however, couldn't see any of it as his vision swayed and his body collapsed to the ground.
He grimaced at the intensifying pain in his abdomen for a little while, until a sudden notification flashed across his mind.
[You have slain a Level 15 Ice Golem.]
[New Monster Index bonus: +2 Strength, +2 Mana, +2 Vitality]
[You have reached Level 12. You have received 1 Stat Point.]
And with that, his consciousness slipped away.
***
Damon jolted awake with a sharp breath.
His vision was blurry at first until it finally steadied.
Silver-white strands drifted above him, soft as falling snow, brushing faintly against his face. Through them, a pair of crimson, feline eyes stared down at him, bright, intent, and far too focused.
"Morning…" Kitsune purred.
He blinked, disoriented for a moment too long before he noticed the warmth behind him.
His head rested on her thighs. A stark, disorienting contrast to the freezing air biting at the rest of his body.
Her fingers slowly slid through his hair, nails grazing just enough to send a faint tension down his spine.
Damon stiffened, then pushed himself up too quickly, breaking away as his eyes darted around the cavern.
'Where are we?'
"I worked hard to get you here, you know" she said, a faint pout forming on her lips.
Then, she moved toward him with slow, deliberate steps and arms raised high.
"Shouldn't I get something in return…?"
Before he could react, his balance gave out, and he fell on his back, with her following right after.
Her body landed lightly against his chest, one hand bracing beside his head, the other settling against him. Her hair spilled down around them, brushing against his face. Her presence was suddenly everywhere, her warmth, scent, it was all over him.
'How are you in this form?' he asked.
"I only get a minute…" she murmured.
Her gaze dipped, tracing his face before returning up. "So let's not waste it."
Her hand shifted against his chest, fingers pressing slightly before sliding around him, getting a little lower with each moment.
Damon's breath tightened, which she noticed instantly, and her lips curved into a smile.
"You know…There's a slit in my dress for a reason~"
Before he could process her words, she took his hand and guided it directly to it.
His hand slid along her thigh, feeling the softness of her skin and its warmth.
She navigated it higher, far higher than it should've been.
Then, she suddenly released her grip on his hand and watched as his hand stayed on her body.
"Seems like somebody is having fun~" she whispered, her voice softer now, edged with quiet satisfaction.
She wasn't wrong. No sane person could've stopped themselves in that moment.
"Now… It's my turn to have some fun~"
She leaned in.
Close enough that her hair curtained them off from the world, and close enough that her breath brushed against his lips, warm and controlled.
Her gaze dropped, lingering on his mouth for a moment before lifting back up.
The distance between them vanished.
Damon's breath caught as he felt a gentle brush against his lips for only a second before—
POOF.
Both the warmth and the weight vanished at once.
And in its place, a small fox landed squarely on his chest.
"Ughh, seriously?!" her voice snapped in his mind, sharp with frustration.
At the same time, Damon lay there frozen, his hand still half-raised to where he was holding her.
"..."
"I was just getting started," she groaned, pacing in a tight circle on his chest before flopping down dramatically.
Finally, Damon let out the breath he had been holding.
'…Did you do that on purpose?'
"What? No," she shot back instantly.
Then, after a moment of pause, her lips curved up.
"…maybe just a little."
Putting Kitsune in her fox form aside, Damon rose to his feet.
"Let's get going. We wasted enough time already."
"Wasted? Your hands would disagree," she teased back, which he ignored, already leaving the comfort of the cavern and stepping back out into the blizzard outside.
The air cleared a little, compared to what it was when they first arrived here, but it was still hard to see through the snow hurtling through the air.
For the next stretch, the path turned out a lot quieter than he would've expected. Nothing but ice and snow lingered ahead. Damon almost lost his footing a couple of times, despite using his tachi for support, but he continued ahead, and soon he came to a halt as something appeared behind the fog.
Between the two cliff edges of the twin mountain peaks was a bridge, if you could call it that. A couple of lines of ropes stretched from one path to another, with pieces of wood hanging from them below. Half of the steps were ruined, half hanging or completely missing, but the other half looked stable, at least in comparison.
"You're thinking of crossing it?"
'It would save us a lot of time,' Damon replied.
The bridge would directly lead them toward the second mountain peak, where the rift core was located. Otherwise, they would need to descend even lower, who knows for how long.
'Better than freezing to death, I guess?'
Damon slowly approached the bridge, shaking the ropes connecting to the edge to check their stability.
'Not bad,' he thought.
Then, with a hesitant step, he walked onto the first, stable piece of wood, shifting his entire weight on it.
'Hah,' he almost chuckled for a moment, standing on the bridge. 'See, it's not that bad-' he didn't get to finish the sentence as a deafening crack cut through the mountains and the side of the bridge he was on snapped off, sending it hurtling through the air.