Mufasa and Melisandre walked up to a fork in the path.
"Which way should we go?" Mufasa asked.
"Melisandre?"
Two long black snakes emerged from beneath the hem of Melisandre's red robe, crawling into the tunnels, one to the left and one to the right.
"Is this Shadow Magic too? It looks quite... how should I put it?" Mufasa scratched his head. He couldn't exactly say it looked disgusting.
"All magic is useful! Although some might not look very appealing." Melisandre seemed to guess Mufasa's thoughts.
Less than the time it takes an incense stick to burn, the snake from the left fork returned, burrowed back under Melisandre's feet, and then dissipated into black smoke.
"Go right! The left is a dead end! I'll lead the way," she said.
Melisandre led the way, and soon the two arrived at a spacious area that showed no signs of being artificially excavated.
However, right in the center, there was a massive ice coffin.
"It's huge! The ice coffin is actually twenty feet long?" Mufasa measured it and exclaimed.
"Could it be that the Wildlings really do have some treasure?" Mufasa rubbed his hands together.
"Beneath this ice coffin, is there perhaps some magical item?" Melisandre's burning, fiery eyes gazed at the huge ice coffin before them.
"Can we break it open by force?" Mufasa asked.
"Let's use magic instead!"
"Firebird Technique, Dance of a Thousand Birds."
Melisandre gathered a thousand sparrows burning with flame. They chirped and flew around a few times before diving straight onto the ice coffin.
White mist immediately rose from the ice coffin. This was the clash between ice and fire.
It was unclear whether Melisandre's magic would run out first, or if the ice coffin would break its seal first.
The mist grew thicker, eventually filling the entire space. Because the mist couldn't disperse quickly, it condensed into rainwater, soaking both Mufasa and Melisandre's clothes.
However, after the Firebirds vanished, a large hole finally cracked open in the ice coffin, revealing a massive skull inside.
"What a huge head. If you told me this was the ancestor of the nuthers, or even the Ancestor of the Giants, I would believe you," Mufasa said.
"Wait, no, this must be the Ancestor of the Giants! Could it be that this isn't the nuthers' ancestral tomb, but the Giants' ancestral tomb?"
Great doubt arose in Mufasa's heart.
Outside the cave, two nuthers, taking advantage of A'guda's inattention, were already planning to sneak away.
They ran barefoot across the snow, completely unafraid of freezing their feet.
By the time A'guda noticed, it was too late.
But Heraka let out a low growl, flew over, and pinned both of them to the ground, one under each claw.
"Roar!" Heraka' roar nearly burst their eardrums.
"Why are you running? Are you hiding something from us?" A'guda asked.
The two nuthers refused to speak, even unto death, which angered A'guda.
"Heraka, crush their heads! They won't talk."
Heraka pressed down slightly with both claws, and two sounds like watermelons cracking echoed.
Crimson snow flowed onto the ground.
"We need to burn them. I'll go find firewood; you guys wait for Mufasa and the others at the cave entrance," A'guda said.
Inside the cave, Mufasa had now seen the full appearance of the person in the ice coffin.
It was an enormous Giant, much larger than modern Giants. Its bones were very heavy; Mufasa even took out one of its ribs.
"It seems suitable to use Giant bones as weapons!" Mufasa waved the rib in his hand.
"Look, what is that, Mufasa?"
Melisandre pointed to a massive horn and spoke to Mufasa.
Mufasa took it out. It was enormous, significantly longer than Mufasa himself.
By measuring it, Mufasa realized the horn was eight feet long.
"What kind of ox has a horn like this? Is this horn made from an ox horn, Melisandre?" Mufasa asked.
"I don't know either, but it has ancient First Men Script on it. I can't read it, and I assume you can't either. Let's take it out first..."
Before she could finish speaking, she immediately felt a tremor.
"This is bad. There might be an avalanche outside. We need to leave quickly."
Mufasa immediately grabbed Melisandre's hand and started running frantically.
The reason for the avalanche outside was likely Heraka' extremely penetrating roar.
Tyrion saw the heavy snow rushing down the mountain like a waterfall, terrifying him until his face turned ashen.
"We're finished. We're all going to die here."
"Mufasa, hurry up and come out! Without you, Heraka won't let us ride it alone," Tyrion said.
In the distance, Podrick and A'guda had just lit the firewood, preparing to burn the two nuthers. When they saw the avalanche, their legs immediately turned to jelly, and they collapsed onto the ground.
"It's over! We can't escape an avalanche! Even the nuthers can't outrun an avalanche!" A'guda looked at the white waterfall, his eyes filled with despair.
Just then, towering flames erupted from the rock crevice. Melisandre used a huge Fireball spell to destroy the boulder, and her magic power was instantly depleted.
Mufasa carried her on his back, then grabbed Tyrion, who was at the cave entrance, and roared at Heraka, who was flying in the sky.
"Heraka, come down."
Instantly, a streak of light plummeted, smashing a large crater into the snow.
Heraka landed.
Mufasa immediately climbed onto Heraka.
"Take off! Go to A'guda and Podrick."
Immediately after Heraka took off, the heavy snow covered the area, and it was nearly buried by the snow.
"Grab those two with your claws."
Mufasa instructed Heraka.
Heraka' two forelimbs immediately revealed sharp claws.
Terrified, Podrick and A'guda immediately covered their heads.
There was no time for Heraka to grab their waists; he grabbed their heads.
When he grabbed the two of them, both had their chests and backs pierced by the sharp claws, but they managed to endure it. Heraka hadn't used his full strength.
Covered by the heavy snow, everything was transformed; it looked as if no one had ever been there before.
The snow stopped, and Heraka descended.
Mufasa checked all four of them: Melisandre's magic was depleted, Tyrion was trembling with fear, and Podrick and A'guda were injured.
"It seems there might be some conspiracy among the Wildlings. Why did those two nuthers lead us here?" Mufasa wondered.
A'guda and Podrick bandaged each other's wounds.
A'guda was a tough man; he simply rubbed snow onto his wounds, which immediately froze the cuts and stopped the bleeding. Podrick dared not do the same.
After A'guda finished treating Podrick's wounds, he walked over to Mufasa.
He saw the rib Mufasa was holding, as well as the enormous horn.
"What are these, Lord Mufasa?"
"A Giant's rib and a mysterious horn. It has some script on it that I don't recognize. Can you read it?" Mufasa asked.
A'guda looked at it, then shook his head.
"Although we Wildlings still speak the ancient Language of the First Men, we have lost the knowledge of the First Men Script. However, I think there might be people in the North who still recognize this script," A'guda said.
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