"What we need to do is find the glacier first without getting shredded to pieces."
Norris spoke with a casual tone that didn't match the lethality of the wind. Lifeless gave a short nod and kept his legs moving. The weight of the sword strapped to his backpack felt like an anchor. He scanned the horizon through the haze of the Antarctic cold until a massive translucent mountain pierced the sky. Its jagged edges caught the light in clear shards that looked like teeth.
"Right there. That is the glacier."
Lifeless pointed toward the frozen monolith. Norris looked at the mountain and a grin spread across his face.
"Let us go. Hurry up."
Norris began to run toward the base of the ice. Lifeless trailed behind him and tried to ignore the way the air felt like needles in his lungs. They reached the foot of the glacier where the ground was littered with crushed ice and pulverized frost.
Norris looked at the debris and hummed a low note.
"This is not looking good for you."
"What do you mean not looking good for me?"
Lifeless stopped and wiped frost from his brow. His heart hammered against his ribs.
"You are the one who is going to fight the monster while I break the ice and get the water into the container."
Lifeless felt a surge of heat hit his chest that had nothing to do with the sun. His eyes widened.
"What the hell. I thought you were a strong guy. Why would I fight the monster while you play with ice?"
"I said I was going to train you. What did you think I was going to do? Demonstrate for you while you watched?"
Norris leaned back and matched the boy's glare with an argumentative stare of his own.
"Fuck you."
"Childish."
Norris turned his head back to the glacier and ignored the insult. He peered around a massive pillar of ice and spotted a nightmare. It was a mammoth but the creature was a raw mass of muscle and bone with no skin or fur to speak of.
"Hey. You might want to meet your new friend."
Before Lifeless could process the words a heavy boot hit his back. Norris kicked him directly into the path of the beast. Lifeless stumbled over the slick ground and stared up at the mountain of raw meat.
"I thought those were dead."
"Humans did not discover much of Antarctica."
Norris ignored the danger and began to chip away at the clear ice shards to fill his container. The mammoth let out a huff of freezing air. It lowered its head and slammed its tusks into Lifeless. The impact was like being hit by a runaway train. Lifeless went flying backward through the air.
"Use your current to defeat the air and land on your feet."
The coaching voice of Norris drifted over the sound of the wind. Lifeless felt the green fire in his legs scream for release. He fired a burst of current from his feet. The force was too much and he flipped unintentionally in mid air but the momentum stabilized him. He slammed back onto the ice and skidded to a halt on his boots.
His nerves were already starting to hiss with pain. He reached back and ripped his sword from its harness.
"Do you know how I fire current to a weapon?"
"Just focus on the weapon and try to fire current from your hand."
Norris sounded distracted. As he spoke he fumbled with the ice container. It slipped from his grip and shattered against the frozen floor.
"Oh come on. Not again. I have to start the whole process over."
Lifeless heard the thought but he had no time to worry about water. He gripped the hilt of his sword and tried to force the emerald energy into the metal. It wouldn't take. The current stayed stubborn and trapped beneath his skin.
He didn't wait. He launched himself at the mammoth and used a burst of current as a jump boost to clear the tusks. He swung the blade with everything he had and buried it deep into the front of the creature's neck.
Streams of hot blood erupted from the wound. The red liquid sprayed across the white ice and drenched Lifeless until his clothes were soaked through. He landed and felt the heat of the kill steaming off his own skin.
Norris stopped his work and looked at the corpse with genuine shock. The creature was not a true monster but it was as strong as any predator in this wasteland.
"I do not have to charge the weapon if the target is not as durable as a Myriad."
Lifeless took heavy breaths between his words. His lungs felt like they were filled with glass. Norris went back to his task and finished collecting the shards.
"Now we have a pretty small meal. We still have to hunt more. We need to go off a week of food."
Norris began walking away from the glacier without looking back. Lifeless wiped the blood from his eyes and followed.
"Dig in the ground."
Norris knelt down in the snow and began to claw at the frozen earth.
"What?"
"We need to find a vegetable. Normally some vegetables grow under the snow."
They dug into the permafrost for an hour. The green veins in Lifeless's hands were throbbing with a dull rhythm. Finally Norris pulled a white object from the dirt. It looked like a tiny fountain made of porcelain.
"A Night Bulb. This one has an insane nutritious value. Keep looking."
They continued to scour the ground until they had a pile large enough to last them the week. Norris stood up and wiped the dirt from his knees.
"We need to find a cave. There are normally fruits there that taste amazing. We could make a dessert."
They trekked through the white void until the snow ahead of them erupted. A monster rose from the ground like it had been buried in wait for years. It was a hulking mass of jagged limbs and hunger.
"Follow your instincts and survive. This one is a Fulminated level. It should be easy to kill."
Lifeless pulled his sword again. He tried to slash at the creature's reaching hand but the monster was too fast. It dodged the blade and clamped a massive palm over Lifeless's head. It slammed him into the frozen ground multiple times with enough force to crack the ice.
Lifeless twisted and kicked off the monster's chest to break the grip. He rolled away with blood leaking from his nose.
"Not happening again."
He launched forward. This time he didn't think. He felt the green current burning behind his eyes and used it to sharpen his reflexes. He dodged a series of powerful strikes and moved like a ghost. He swung the blade and sliced through the monster's fingers in a single blur of motion.
"YES. THAT IS GREAT."
Norris shouted with a rare flash of excitement. The monster roared and landed a heavy punch that sent Lifeless crashing into the snow. The beast lunged for the kill but Lifeless rolled back and stood his ground.
He fired a massive discharge from his legs and vaulted into the air.
He sliced through the creature's eyes to blind it. As he descended he hacked through both of its forearms. Before his feet hit the snow he twisted his body and cut the creature's legs right from the hip.
He landed safely and turned back in a final dash. He ran toward the torso and split the entire monster in half.
"How did you do that?"
Norris stood frozen in confusion. He looked at the mangled remains of a Fulminated level threat and then at the boy. Lifeless turned his head. His eyes were a flat and terrifying white. The glow lingered for a second before it faded back to black. He didn't say a word. He just stood there with the blood of the monster freezing on his blade.
The green veins in his neck were pulsing so hard they looked like they might snap.
"We found the cave."
Lifeless spoke with a voice that sounded like grinding stone. He pointed toward a dark opening in the cliffside where the faint scent of Icevines and Frostberries drifted out to meet them. He walked toward the dark and left Norris standing alone with the silence of the glacier.
Inside the cave the air was thick and sweet. Lifeless walked past the clusters of glowing Icevines and felt the heat of his own body trapped beneath his heavy clothes. Every layer of wool and hide meant to keep the cold out was now keeping the fire in. Sweat stung his eyes. The green current humming in his marrow made the heavy gear feel like a pressurized furnace.
He didn't stop until he reached the back of the cavern where the shadows were deepest. He sat down and his boots left bloody prints on the stone. The white light in his eyes had retreated but the memory of it remained like a burn on his retina. It was the same void he had felt when he killed the leader. He looked at Norris who was just now entering the cave with the heavy ice shards.
"The white eyes again."
Norris did not sound casual anymore. He set the water container down and watched the green lines throbbing in Lifeless's neck.
"I am fine."
"You are not fine. You are a circuit carrying too much voltage. If we do not find a way to bleed that current off it will bleed you."
Lifeless didn't answer. He just reached for a Frostberry and let the minty cold numb the roof of his mouth.
The gear kept him warm but the current made him a sun.
The week continued in a blur of frozen gore and emerald static. They spent their days moving from the glass-like peaks of the glacier to the hidden pockets of soil beneath the drifts. Lifeless moved like a machine. Every hunt was a repeat of the same agonizing cycle. He would spot the prey and the green current would surge before he even drew his sword. His skin felt like it was being stitched together with hot wire.
Norris watched him with a silence that grew heavier by the hour. On the fourth day they found a patch of Icevines so large it covered the entire roof of a hollowed out ice-dome. The fruit tasted like a dream of strawberry and chocolate but Lifeless could barely swallow. His jaw was tight. The green veins had climbed past his chin and were now spider-webbing across his cheekbones.
He looked at his reflection in a pool of meltwater. The green was vibrant and toxic. It pulsated with every beat of his heart.
"The current is winning."
Norris spoke from the shadows of the dome. He was sharpening a skinning knife but his eyes never left the boy's face.
"It is just energy. I can control it."
"You are not controlling it. You are holding it back. There is a difference."
Norris stood up and walked over. He placed a hand on Lifeless's shoulder. The warmth of the contact was eclipsed by the sheer heat radiating off the boy's suit.
"We have the food. We have the water. We move out at dawn."
Lifeless nodded but his eyes flickered. For a split second the black turned back to that flat and terrifying white. The Icevines above them hissed as a small arc of green electricity jumped from Lifeless's shoulder to the cave wall.
"I can't feel my fingers anymore, Norris."
"I know. Just hold on. We are not done with the hunt yet."
Lifeless gripped his sword hilt and felt the current trying to shatter the wood. He was a weapon that was starting to crack and the cold wind was the only thing keeping him from melting into the snow.