The next morning, the pine forest gave way to rocky, snow-covered terrain. The wind howled, carrying with it a biting cold. The sun was obscured by heavy gray clouds, casting the world in a monochrome picture. The path up the mountain was a long, winding slope, covered in thick snow, making Leos and Minoros's every step slow and laborious. They tied their fur cloaks tightly, their breath steaming white in the frigid air.
Minoros carefully led Zaphurne to a sheltered spot, tying the reins to a large rock. Leos walked ahead, keeping his eye on the compass. The needle was now almost completely blue, signaling that they had only a short distance to reach their destination. The snow fell harder, and the wind blew so hard it threatened to knock them off the mountainside. But neither of them faltered. They had sworn an oath to King Kyros, to the land of Aerax, and to themselves.
They climbed the mountainside, each step sliding on the soft snow. Minoros, with his large body, carelessly slipped his hand off a cliff. For a moment, his body hung between life and death. Suddenly, a golden chain wrapped tightly around his wrist, pulling hard.
"Hold on," Leos said, his voice low but firm. He used all his strength to pull Minoros up, both of them panting in the bitter cold.
"The summit," Leos pointed ahead, where a rocky outcrop rose in the midst of the snowstorm. "We're almost there."
The wind grew fiercer, the snow blowing across like icy needles. As they neared the summit, a roar echoed through the mountain, shaking the earth. From behind a giant cliff, a creature appeared. It was a snow ape, taller than a tent, its fur mottled with milky white, its muscles rippling. Its white eyes stared at them, exuding a primitive ferocity. It slammed its hands against its chest, roared, and leaped toward them.
"I'll hold it off," Leos said, his voice calm but his eyes sharp. "You go get the Tears of Brimora."
Minoros nodded, without hesitation, following a crevice on the right, deep into the cave at the top of the mountain. Leos faced the primate, the golden chain in his hand glowing. He whipped the chain at the beast, rings of light flying through the air, wrapping around its arms and legs, pulling it tight. But the primate was too strong. It tore the chain free, knocking Leos away, rolling across the snow.
Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. Leos jumped up, his eyes unafraid. He braced himself, summoning the strength of Elion, wrapping the chain around the beast once more. But the primate roared, its body swelling, a burst of primal energy. Leos smirked, realizing the beast was in mating season, its fighting instincts mixed with intense desire.
"You have no idea what I went through in the cave of the sea monster Elion," Leos said in a low voice, removing his cloak: "To be honest, it felt quite good."
He moved closer, touching the beast's erection that was oozing clear fluid, using its instincts to distract it. A strange battle began, not just of strength but of wits.
Meanwhile, Minoros followed a narrow crevice in the rock that led to a dark cave. Inside, a stone altar covered in ice appeared. On it, a block of blue ice glowed, exuding a bone-chilling cold—the Tears of Brimora. Minoros crouched down, using his axe to strike the ice. It was harder than he had imagined; each blow of the axe resounded like thunder, but only cracked the ice bit by bit. After a long while, with sweat running down his face despite the biting cold, he finally managed to pry the ice block from the cliff. He wrapped it in a thick cloth, but the cold air still penetrated, making his hands tremble.
"Leos... Are you okay outside?" Minoros shouted, his voice echoing in the cave.
"Uhmmm... I can handle it." Leos replied with a voice full of pleasure.
Outside, Leos was "taming" the primate in a way no one expected. The beast, after a while of struggling, was exhausted and sat down, panting. Leos, staggering to his feet, put on his cloak again, his eyes quickly returning to their sharpness.
Minoros appeared, holding a tightly wrapped block of ice, shouting: "I have it! Let's retreat!"
Leos nodded, and the two turned and ran down the mountainside, leaving the primate, whose instincts had been satisfied, behind. They did not stop, running through the snow-covered slopes, until the mountain's silhouette disappeared into the distance. In Minoros's hand, the Tear of Brimora glowed faintly, eternally, and never melted.
Amid the gray sky and icy winds, Leos and Minoros looked at each other. No words were spoken, but their eyes said it all: for Aerax, they would never stop. The bone-chilling cold of this eternal ice was the only chance to save the would-be god.