Chapter Thirty-Five: The Den

  Inside the mine, Ash found, well, exactly what one might expect: a mine. The rough-hewn tunnel opened into a cavernous space where ore veins, now abandoned by the miners, snaked along the rock walls like silvery rivers frozen in stone. Glowing crystals were embedded in the rock at irregular intervals, casting an eerie, faint light throughout the chamber. The crystals' luminescence was weak, as if the magic sustaining them was slowly fading away, their once-bright glow now reduced to a dim flicker.

  Support beams of thick timber had been strategically placed to prevent cave-ins, though several looked dangerously close to giving way, the wood warped and splintered from years of bearing the mountain's weight. Mining carts sat abandoned on broken rails, frozen forever in their final journey, and wooden crates were stacked haphazardly in the corners, with rusted pickaxes leaning against them like forgotten sentinels. The air was thick with dust and the scent of mineral-rich earth, disturbed only by Ash and Lilith's careful footsteps.

  Deep shadows pooled in the far corners of the chamber, seeming to absorb what little light the crystals provided. The darkness felt almost alive, dense and watchful, waiting for unwary travelers to draw too close.

  As Ash entered further into the space, Lilith suddenly shifted beside him. In a swirl of purple light, her human form melted away, replaced by her true dragon shape, serpentine and elegant despite her small size. Her scales ranged across all the purples found in the depths of winter, from the palest lavender to the darkest violet, catching what little light existed and reflecting it in mesmerizing patterns. Her transformation sent a small cloud of disturbed dust into the air.

  Within the deepest shadows, pairs of lupine eyes opened, glowing with a feral intelligence. Deep, rumbling growls rolled forth from the darkness, vibrating through the stale mine air like sounds pulled from the depths of nightmares.

  "Oh, those aren't shadows," Ash thought, tightening his grip around the handle of his sword until his knuckles whitened beneath his gloves.

  Four wolves padded out from the corners, their fur so black it seemed to absorb light rather than reflect it, creating the appearance of moving voids with only their eyes and teeth visible as distinct features. Those eyes fixed on Ash with unmistakable anger, pupils narrowed to slits, lips pulled back to reveal yellowed fangs that dripped with saliva.

  Lilith sent him various images through their bond, one particularly vivid picture showing a mother bear defending her den against intruders, roaring and slashing with powerful claws.

  "Yes, they are defending their territory," Ash thought back to her. "Likely, they're also being pushed by the dire wolf farther in, forced to the outer chambers." The realization didn't make their presence any less dangerous, but it suggested the dire wolf's location deeper within the mine's twisting passages.

  Ash sucked in a deep breath, feeling the cool air fill his lungs, then let it out slowly, deliberately. He allowed the familiar clarity that came when holding a sword to focus his mind, narrowing his perception until everything unnecessary fell away. His surroundings seemed to sharpen, details becoming more pronounced as he reached for the cold winter core of his elan and drew forth the icy threads of his elar, power flowing through him like a frozen river.

  He tried to keep all four wolves in his field of vision as they began to circle him, their movements synchronized as if they were parts of a single predatory organism rather than individual beasts. Their growls intensified, beginning to sound like a miniature thunderstorm that echoed throughout the chamber like rhythmic detonations, the sound bouncing off the stone walls and multiplying.

  He couldn't allow them to completely surround him. The tactical disadvantage would be too great, and they would attack simultaneously from all sides. He needed to act first, to cull one as quickly as possible and reduce their numerical advantage.

  With fluid grace, Ash flowed forward like a winter stream, his body moving into the familiar stance of falling frost dragon. The stance felt right, his muscles remembering the countless hours of practice, his body automatically finding the perfect balance.

  The wolf directly in front of him hadn't expected to be attacked; predators rarely anticipate prey turning aggressive. It tried to dodge sideways, muscles bunching beneath its midnight fur, but Lilith suddenly pushed a warning into his mind, allowing him to anticipate its movement. A slight adjustment to his trajectory was all that was needed to bring his sword squarely through the wolf's neck and chest. The blade cleaved through flesh and bone with terrifying ease, sending a spray of sanguine blood splattering into the air like water from a geyser, droplets catching the crystal light and gleaming momentarily before falling to the stone floor.

  Another warning flashed from Lilith, a mental image showing danger approaching from his left. Ash flowed with the momentum of his first kill, ducking beneath the wolf that tried to take him from the side. He could see everything in perfect detail: saliva dripping from its mouth in viscous strings, its earthy, animal scent and hot breath made incredibly vivid by his elar-enhanced senses. Time seemed to slow as the wolf lunged past him, missing its mark.

  Claws that would have ripped through his armor and teeth that would have torn into his flesh barely missed him by inches. Without losing a beat, Ash whirled around, pivoting on his right foot as he brought his blade slashing outward in a deadly arc. The sword caught the wolf along its side from tail to head, splitting its black hide like a burlap bag overfilled with grain, spilling its steaming innards onto the stone floor like scattered rice.

  Lilith pushed yet another warning into his mind, but this time, even with his enhanced speed and awareness, he couldn't react quickly enough. Though he had killed two wolves in mere moments, the third managed to slash at his back as he completed his turn. His armor absorbed some of the impact, but he still felt hot agony tear through his upper shoulder blade as the wolf's claws found purchase in his flesh, opening the skin in three parallel furrows.

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  The pain threatened to disrupt his focus, his clarity warbling like a disturbed reflection in water. With an effort of will, Ash maintained his concentration, channeling his elar outward from his back. In a spectacular display, his frost dragon wings technique exploded into existence, manifesting as massive, crystalline wings wreathed in clouds of freezing air. They shimmered with pale blue-silver-white light, veins of icy purple highlights running through them like frozen lightning.

  With a powerful beat of these ephemeral wings, waves of intense cold radiated outward. The remaining two wolves were instantly coated in layers of hoarfrost, their movements slowing as ice crystals formed on their fur and eyes. Ash kicked out with a booted foot, connecting solidly with one wolf's head. Instead of yelping in pain, the partially frozen beast shattered into chunks of meat and ice, fragments scattering across the floor with a sound like breaking glass.

  Spinning with the momentum of his kick, Ash brought his sword around in a perfect horizontal slash. With a cracking of ice and chips bursting forth in a glittering cloud, he separated the last wolf's head from its body. The frozen blood at the neck break looked like dark rubies as the head bounced once on the stone floor before coming to rest, eyes already glazing over in death.

  Ash nearly collapsed then, the pain from his shoulder wound suddenly intensifying now that the immediate danger had passed. He would have fallen if not for the sudden rush of power that flooded into him, the wolves' elar flowing into his body like a tide. The power poured into his elan, and he felt it swell slightly, growing denser and more potent.

  Briefly, he examined his elan with his mind's eye and felt not just the usual chill of winter he was accustomed to, but something new and wild added to its essence. This foreign energy felt like the forest at night, like air against bare flesh under a full moon's light, primal and untamed.

  "This must be what they meant," Ash marveled internally, understanding clicking into place. The foreign elar needed to be adapted, transformed to match his own.

  His moment of revelation was short-lived, replaced by the sharp, insistent pain from his shoulder. Wet liquid was trickling down his back beneath his armor, and Ash knew without seeing that it was blood. Its metallic scent filled his nose, and he wrinkled it in distaste, eyes briefly closing as he tried to control the pain through sheer willpower. He swallowed hard, his breathing shaky and uneven.

  He considered taking a healing potion, but hesitated, remembering that he only had two precious vials. The ingredients hadn't been cheap, and he might face much worse injuries deeper in the mine.

  Then he almost face-palmed at his own stupidity. He didn't need to drink the whole potion at once. Carefully, he uncorked a healing potion and took just a small swallow of the ruby-red liquid, ensuring most remained for later emergencies.

  A sigh of relief escaped him as the potion took effect. He felt his flesh begin to itch intensely, the familiar sensation of tissue knitting itself back together. The blood flow slowed but didn't stop entirely, squishing slightly as he reached one hand awkwardly over his shoulder to touch the partially healed wound.

  Rolling his shoulder experimentally, Ash sighed again. The pain had reduced to a dull throb. The wound wasn't fully healed, but he was functional, which was all that mattered right now.

  Now, he faced a tactical decision. He could continue forward deeper into the mine, almost certainly facing more wolves and eventually the dire wolf itself, or he could take a moment to adapt the foreign elar he had absorbed before proceeding. The latter option would make him stronger for the coming confrontations.

  Lilith sent him an amused thought, accompanied by an image of him sitting cross-legged on the mine floor in meditation while she stood vigilant nearby.

  "Oh, yeah. You can keep watch for me. Thanks, Lils," Ash said aloud, his voice echoing slightly in the chamber of death they'd created.

  She cocked her head at him, a small puff of smoke escaping from her nostrils as if to say his gratitude was unnecessary but accepted.

  Her wings seemed to shrug with casual draconic indifference, and she turned her bright green gaze toward the path leading deeper into the mine, positioning herself as a sentinel.

  Ash sat down carefully on the stone floor, mindful of his partially healed wound, and crossed his legs. He closed his eyes and focused inward, seeking the familiar cold sphere of his elan. The wild feeling of the wolfish nature was still there, hovering around his core like a storm cloud, distinct and separate from his own essence.

  Operating on what Rosalia and the others had told him earlier, he carefully pulled on the foreign elar and began to breathe slowly, establishing a steady rhythm. In and out. He didn't attempt to draw the power as he would his own elar; instinct told him that would be a terrible idea, potentially causing the foreign energy to overwhelm him.

  Instead, he used his thoughts to carefully pull the wolf elar through his elan, like filtering water through ice. As he did so, he felt a portion of it change its fundamental nature, becoming a part of his elan in truth, transforming from wild forest energy to winter ice, aligning with his core aspect.

  He repeated this process several more times, focusing his concentration despite the distractions of his surroundings and his throbbing shoulder. Some of the elar was lost in the process, dissipating like smoke, but some successfully changed, becoming one with his elan, strengthening it.

  When he had finally processed all the foreign energy, Ash snapped his eyes open, feeling subtly but definitely stronger. Lilith gave him an approving nod from her position by the passage, her serpentine tail swishing slightly across the stone floor.

  He knew he could pull a little more elar from his elan now. Not a dramatic increase, but enough to potentially make a difference in a close fight. Every advantage would count against a dire wolf.

  As he looked at Lilith, something seemed different about her. He blinked several times, wondering if his eyes were playing tricks on him.

  He pointed at her, confusion evident in his voice. "Did... are you bigger?" He would have sworn she was a little bit larger than before, her wings slightly more expansive, her body a touch longer.

  She stretched outward in response, wings extending to their full span before folding elegantly across her back. Her green eyes were suffused with a satisfied gleam, as if she had been waiting for him to notice.

  "So when I adapt like that, she grows larger," Ash considered silently. "That has implications." He knew that she likely grew alongside him due to their bond, but seeing the physical manifestation of this connection and putting together how it worked was different from theoretical knowledge. It made their bond feel even more tangible and significant.

  Stretching his stiff muscles, Ash gestured to Lilith, signaling that they should proceed deeper into the mine. She fell into step beside him, her claws clicking softly on the stone floor as they made their way down the darkened passageway.

  The tunnel gradually widened into another large room, structurally similar to the first one they had encountered. Support beams crisscrossed the ceiling, mining equipment lay abandoned, and ore veins glittered in the walls.

  But there was one significant difference: it was noticeably hotter here. Ash didn't feel the temperature change much, as extreme elements rarely bothered him due to his ice aspect, but he could see the evidence. The air visibly warped with heat ripples, and when four more wolves rose from their resting places as he entered, their paws ignited with brilliant orange-red flames that cast dancing shadows across the chamber walls.

  Recognizing the new threat immediately, Ash quickly retrieved his fire resist potion and took a small, measured swallow. Examining the vial's contents, he estimated that each potion contained enough for approximately three doses. He recorked it carefully, knowing he needed to be frugal; he had no idea how deeply he would have to venture before finding the fire dire wolf.

  He raised his sword high, muscles tensing as he prepared to move into the falling frost dragon form, a stance that had served him well so far. Lilith darted to the side, positioning herself out of the direct line of combat while keeping her keen eyes on their fiery enemies, ready to provide warnings through their bond.

  "Come on then," Ash challenged, baring his teeth in a fierce grin as the wolves charged toward him, their fiery paws leaving brief trails of flame on the stone floor, "let's see what you've got."

  The flame-wreathed wolves surged forward as one, fire roaring around their bodies like living armor, their eyes burning with primal hunger and territorial rage.