Freezing For Frostbite

(A good idea of what the environment looks like.)

"Son of a biscuit eater, these cuts suck."

I decided it was time to clean the wounds and change the make-shift bandages out. I needed a distraction from the anxious feeling I was getting the closer we drew to 'Macintosh Hills'. Which I guess was the name of the place considering these were more mountains then they were hills.

I could barely see an outline of a structure hanging off one of the distant mountainsides. I'm assuming that's StoneHaven, as the location on the map is around there. Its hard paying attention to the structure when giant swirling gray clouds are barreling over the mountains like a breaking tidal wave and my anxious feeling is only getting worse.

As we neared closer the weather changed and the temperature dropped a noticeable amount making the traveling atmosphere rather gloomy. Instead of light rain, it changed to light snowfall which irked me a bit considering I'm riding a giant cold-blooded animal.

Hugo didn't seem to acknowledge the change in the environment or the weather, he just kept waddling forward with all the intimidation something that size can waddle with. I guess I can ignore it if he can as well.

A few more hours of traveling and we settled down for the night. The night time was significantly more cold than the day, I had trouble sleeping in the middle of the night so I grabbed my sleeping bag and slept next to a big scaly source of warmth.

"I hate mountains, I'm filled with rage, I'm hungry, and everything sucks."

My only response was an irritated snort.

"Okay then Mr. Notaffectedbyfrostbite, not everyone is as impervious to the elements as you are."

A few hours passed

The snowfall had gotten heavier which in turn made traveling a lot harder for both of us. If that wasn't enough my cuts weren't being treated properly anymore.

Through the snowfall we managed to make it to the base of the mountains, it took us a couple of hours but we made it in one piece. At the base of the mountain, we managed upon a wooden sign.

STONE HAVEN ON THE NORTHWEST RIDGE

"J-j-just gotta keep going bud."

My hand was numb in some places, and my toes were going numb as well. I was exhausted, but we just kept trecking through the westernmost path. Which was getting harder to see due to the snowfall, and through all this Hugo didn't shown any sign of being in pain.

It got to the point where we found a small area under the cliffside and I collapsed inside. I don't remember when I came to really but I remember how. I opened my eyes and saw something beautiful. A bright and warm fire, and next to that fire was an alligator.

Needless to say, I warmed myself up next to the fire why Hugo watched from the side.

Questions, so many questions! How did the fire get here? What is it burning? How long was I out? Are we going to die?

I slapped my hands against my face and noticed something bad. Maybe it was the numbness or maybe I didn't notice because it happened so fast but my index finger was pitch black and unmoving. My other fingers were a pale white or pink but it was still noticeable.

"Shit, just i-ignore it. hey, bud, how did the flame get here?"

Hugo just huffed and leaned on his right side. His underbelly had large cracks between the scales that bled orange light and heat. The cracks went from under his neck to his stomach. He opened his maw and a large murky brown bubble covered in a thin orange film came out his mouth It started floating away. Hugo flicked his tongue sending a small amount of fire towards the bubble, causing it to explode.

"...Huh..y-you...what?"

What? Alligators are crazy in this world. So you're telling me that he, at any time, could have exploded me, bloody hell! Guess they have to have defended themselves against hydras somehow.

The storm raged outside the hole we found ourselves in, and all we could do was burn the wooden platform off the saddle to stay warm.

After some time once I was exposed to warmth for a good bit, I wrapped my hand up in the dirty bandages used for my cuts and got ready to head back out once the weather calmed down. While waiting for the storm to pass I felt that pain in my hand increase tenfold, the few hours we waited seemed to feel like forever.

Eventually, the blizzard subsided which left the entrance to our, almost literal, hole in the wall snowed in. I grabbed one of the half-burnt planks and used it as a rudimentary shovel to dig the snow out. I kept digging for a few minutes expecting to see the light of day but was instead greeted by the dark of night and gusts of bitterly cold wind.

"Maybe we should just head out during the day when It's warmer."

We fell asleep sometime later laying around the fire, though it should be mentioned that my bedroll was covered in ice.

"S-shit, ow."

Waking up was difficult, to say the least. My index finger was in extream pain and so was the rest of my right hand, my left hand was as well but not as much.

"Alright bud, we gotta keep going. We gotta get to Stone Haven."

We broke through the snow placed in front of the entrance once again and began on our way to Stone Haven.

The piercing winds felt like they went straight through me. Like every new gust of wind was physically biting me. It was like this for some time before we reached a clearing. There was no wind or any sound, it was silent.

In the middle of the clearing nearly buried half by snow was a carriage, one of the carriages I had seen day prior.

Stone family carriages.

Seems I'm not the only one who has had a bad day.

Author's Note

The gore tag has been added. 😱

Thanks fer readin'.

If ya see any errors tell me, I appreciate it.

I hope ya have a fantastic day! 👌