Taking a single step felt like entering a different world. Rice and Caesar were suddenly enveloped by calmness, the violent elemental forces that had been assaulting them just moments before now gone. The cold lingered, but an inexplicable sense of discomfort also began to creep into their hearts.
Lifting his head slightly, Rice's face went rigid. Caesar, whom Rice had been holding, thudded to the ground, groaning in pain, "Rice, could you be more careful? We just got away from that Snow Worm; I don't want to get killed because of your clumsiness."
"Be quiet!" Rice's words came out as a hiss between gritted teeth. "Look, it's a dragon!"
Confused, Caesar used his working arms to turn himself over and look up, muttering, "Yeah, I get it, you're dragonkin, no need for the introduction, drag---" His voice trailed off as his eyes widened in terror, and he promptly passed out.
Adam found the two adventurers in front of him particularly intriguing, especially the one with dragon-like traits. But there was no time to explore that curiosity; the Snow Worm was closing in fast.
"Kambi, watch them. Make sure they stay alive," commanded Adam. With a powerful flap of his wings, he shot into the sky. Ice elements swiftly coalesced into sharp weapons, raining down upon the earth below.
Kambi's sleeves unleashed tendrils that securely bound Rice and Caesar before quickly retracting.
Just as the barrage of ice swords was about to impact the ground, the icy terrain swelled, and the grotesque head of the Snow Worm erupted from below. It was directly hit. Caught unaware and without its energy shield, the creature's head was perforated.
A piercing, agonized screech filled the air as the Snow Worm crashed back into the icy ground.
"Is it still alive?" Adam's curiosity piqued further. Not one of the ice swords had missed; all had punctured the beast's head. Snow-white chunks of flesh and similar-hued blood were strewn about. However, Adam sensed that its life force had not substantially waned. Additionally, the scattered flesh was twitching, regrouping toward its main form.
Kambi shouted, "Master, the Snow Worm is unkillable! It will only retreat temporarily if we completely break it apart!"
Adam acknowledged with a nod, not diverting his gaze as he climbed higher into the sky, avoiding an energy blast spewed from the Snow Worm's menacing maw. Once he was gone, Kambi, Rice, and Caesar were left vulnerable to the Snow Worm. But the creature, now incensed at Adam, disregarded the easy targets in front of it. With a roar, a large section of its body erupted from the ground, lunging aggressively at Adam.
Rice, confined by the vines and unable to break free, had a complicated look in his eyes---a mix of yearning and loathing. It was hard for him to believe that he was witnessing a dragon in these icy plains, and a young one at that!
Stepping across an unseen line, Rice and Caesar abruptly found themselves surrounded by tranquility. The aggressive elemental forces that had been piercing their bodies disappeared. The chill was still there, but an undefined sense of apprehension filled them.
As Rice lifted his head a little, his face hardened. Caesar, who was cradled in his arms, toppled to the ground, griping in pain, "Rice, watch what you're doing, okay? We barely got away from that Snow Worm; I don't want to end up dead because of you."
"Quiet!" The word burst from Rice's clenched teeth. "There's a dragon!"
Caesar misheard him. Using the only two functional arms he had, he flipped himself over and mumbled, "I know you're Dragonborn; you don't need to spell it out, drag---" Terror seized him, and he fainted.
Adam was keenly observing the two adventurers in front of him, particularly intrigued by the one showing dragon-like features. But this wasn't the moment for scrutiny; the Snow Worm was barreling toward them.
"Kambi, keep tabs on them. Make sure they don't die," Adam directed his servant. With a powerful flap of his wings, he ascended into the sky. Ice spells quickly took form, transforming into modified ice-spears that plummeted like a torrent onto the space below.
Kambi's sleeves launched vines that securely entwined Rice and Caesar, before hastily retracting.
Just as the ice-spears were about to hit the earth, the frozen surface swelled up. The repulsive head of the Snow Worm emerged, taking the full brunt of the attack. Unable to activate a protective shield in time, its head was riddled with holes.
A deep, agonized wail filled the air as the creature sank back into the frozen earth.
"It's still alive?" Adam's curiosity intensified. Every single ice-spear had hit its mark, drilling into the creature's skull, yet its life force remained robust. The severed flesh was twitching, regrouping around its main body.
"Master, you can't kill the Snow Worm. You must shatter it entirely for it to temporarily retreat!" Kambi yelled.
Adam nodded, soaring higher to dodge a spray of energy from the Snow Worm's fearsome jaws. After he left, Kambi and the adventurers were vulnerable, yet the Snow Worm, now fixated on Adam, disregarded the easier targets before it to chase after him.
Bound by the vines, Rice couldn't get away. His eyes flickered with both yearning and disdain. He was in disbelief; there was a dragon in this frozen wasteland, and a young one to boot!
"When did young dragons get this powerful?" Rice mumbled, awestruck.
Smugly, Kambi retorted, "Chris Frost is no ordinary young dragon. Don't even think about escaping; if you anger him, you'll wish for death."
With luminous wings, Adam slammed the Snow Worm back into the ground and unleashed dragon breath. Elemental forces rapidly coalesced in front of him, taking the shape of a dragon over five meters tall, which let out a thunderous roar.
This spell was an advanced version of the elemental circuits used by forest elves, allowing the summoned elemental shape to fight on its own.
"Ha! Ha! Ha!"
The Snow Worm's mutilated body carbonized under a bombardment of thunderbolts, losing its regenerative abilities.
Adam wasn't in a hurry to finish off the Snow Worm; capturing it alive had greater value.
"Impossible! This is a gigantic Snow Worm!" Rice was more stunned than ever, unable to grasp the unfolding battle.
Hearing Rice's comment, Kambi realized he was still too near the combat zone and retreated several hundred meters. "Heh, Dragonborn, don't gauge my master's strength through your ignorance."
Elemental talons latched onto the Snow Worm's body, and with a powerful flap of his wings, Adam wrenched the entire beast out from its icy domain. It was a dual-headed monstrosity; its tail end also featured a head, previously concealed underground.
The Snow Worm, a full fifteen meters in length, was now completely visible.
The Snow Worm looked even angrier now that it was fully exposed. Its body moved in wave-like motions, constantly wriggling. Using this fluid movement, it managed to slip out of the Elemental Dragon's grasp while in mid-air and coiled itself tightly around the dragon.
It was actually trying to squeeze the life out of the Elemental Dragon.
"You're sealing your own fate," Adam mused, reassessing his earlier thoughts on the Snow Worm's level of intelligence. The Elemental Dragon was charged with both ice and electrical energies. Under Adam's guidance, these elemental powers were stable but strong. With just a single thought, he could make the Elemental Dragon turn into a devastating elemental bomb.
And that's exactly what happened.
"Detonate!"
The previously stable form of the Elemental Dragon started to break apart. A mixture of white and purple light filtered through the gaps in the Snow Worm's tightening grip, dispersing the ongoing blizzard. Sensing its upcoming demise, the Snow Worm hurriedly tried to unwind itself, but it was already too late.
Boom!
The massive explosion created a huge elemental void in the unstable section of the ice field. It was like the Snow Worm's body was moving in slow motion, its destruction clearly visible. Charred pieces of its flesh flew in all directions.
As natural forces began to fill the void, Adam touched down on the ground, accompanied by the crackling noise of falling fragments. He then picked up the two skulls he had been concentrating on earlier.
"This creature's will to live is incredible. It survived even that explosion. More resilient than the original Garfield ever was," a voice in Adam's head noted in awe. This being was just a regular creature, yet it could withstand an explosion of such scale.
Can it possibly be an immortal entity? Adam thought to himself.
