Once Upon a Time: Ever After High (Book 13)

Ch.71 Cold beasts

Walking down the road near the woods, Darling, Aidan, and Kim looked around to any upcoming attacks while holding onto their weaponry.

"You think Olivia and the gang made it to the Lost Library?" Aidan suddenly asked.

"Not sure" Darling replied, "But at the moment, I'm trying not to think of that, or think of anything else except surviving."

As they continued to walk, Aidan took glances at Kim who was holding onto a spiked bat. Remembering the issue he kept having on whether to chose Kim or Ilene, he tried to push the thought to the side and focus on staying guard and preparing for any attacks.

"Hey uh, Darling" he spoke, trying to change the subject "Sorry for asking you this but, with the whole apocalypse thing going on, don't you think now would be a good time to uh, maybe talk to Chase?"

She stopped walking as she let out a deep sigh.

"I would if I wanted to" she replied dully "But for starters, I don't know where he is and if he's still alive, and second, like I said before, I'm trying not to focus on anything else besides surviving, and you should too."

Aidan looked down with guilt "You're right, I'm sorry."

"You don't have to apologize" she sighed "I know that you're concerned about me, but I can handle things on my own."

All of a sudden, the group felt a cold chill brushing against them as they shivered.

"Why is there a sudden change in temperature?" Kim asked while rubbing her arms.

Before they could reply, they suddenly heard something from behind as they turned around to see snow swirling in front of them.

"What's going on?" Aidan questioned a bit surprised as they continued to watch as the snow began to form something.

And that something was larger, monster-like, and made entirely out of ice and snow. Everyone's eyes widen and jaws dropped by the sight of the snow monster that stood high in front of them. And as soon as it made eye contact with them, it grew out its claws and gave a loud deep roar in their faces that nearly knocked them down.

"I think that's a sign to run!" Darling screamed as they turned and took off with the snow monster already after them.

It didn't take long for the monster to catch up to them as it stomped its foot on the ground causing ice to form on the road which made them slip and slide across the street and into a car. Since it was hard for them to get back up due to the ice, they were practically stuck as the snow monster gave a growl while stomping towards them. Knowing that their weapons were useless against a monster like that, they just sat there, frozen with fear as the monster got closer.

But as they waited for the snow monster to attack, it suddenly exploded into chunks of ice that made them jump. Wondering what had happened, they waited until the smoke was clear to see a girl who had been standing behind the monster with her hand up that was covered in frost.

"You guys okay?" she asked them.

"Yeah" Aidan breathed in relief "Thanks Crystal."

Crystal Winter, daughter of the Snow Queen who had lost her winter look to blend in gave them a small smile just as a thump was heard as they turned to see another snow monster appearing from an ally followed by more.

"Seriously?!" Darling complained as a blast of snow magic hit against one of the monsters as everyone turned to see Crystal's slightly younger sister Noelle along with Jackson Frost, Crystal's boyfriend who was armed with his staff.

"You guys go ahead!" Noelle ordered, "We'll take care of them!"

As Jack kept the snow monsters at bay, the sisters went over to the group and helped them up and led them off the ice.

"Go on" Crystal offered.

"Be careful" Aidan warned them before he and the girls took off.

Now surrounded by the snow monsters, the three people with the powers of winter huddled together while getting their powers ready.

"Do you girls find it weird that we're about to go against monsters that were supposedly created by us?" Jack asked.

"Not really" Noelle shrugged "Mainly because I know we didn't create these, but we can finish them."

_________

Down an alley, Natalie and Gregg strolled through the street while gazing around for any dangers. When they got to the end of the alley, they peeked out to make sure there was nothing around as they walked out and down the sidewalk.

"See anything?" she asked.

"Just darkness and fog" he replied while clutching his sword.

"Keep looking, you don't know when anything can pop up."

They continued down the sidewalk until they came upon the 'Sweet Tooth' bakery where they noticed the smashed door and screaming coming from inside.

"What the hell?" Natalie gasped as they ran to the front entrance to see the Wendigo still trying to get through the kitchen door as Tara and the two cousins kept trying to keep it out.

"Holy crap" Gregg gasped "What is that?"

"That, my friend, is a Wendigo, and they are one of the most vicious monsters out there."

"I can see that, I mean it's trying to break through the door to get to Tara and the others."

"Not on my watch" she scowled as she blasted her magic at the monster which sent it flying into the wall.

At that point, Tara and the two cousins peeked out through the crashed door window to see what was going on as the Wendigo looked up to see Natalie and Gregg in the doorway. Already forgetting its main targets, the monster gave a loud horror scream as it charged towards the two people who quickly move out of the way, but just enough for Natalie to use the edges of her new wings to slice it at the Wendigo as it ran past her.

When it stopped in the middle of the road, everyone saw a bloody slice across the monster's chest as it cried out in pain.

"Damn" Natalie breathed amusedly "I'm already loving my new wings."

But even with a slice, that didn't stop the Wendigo from attempting to attack the fairy. But right before it could attack, a large truck suddenly slammed straight into it as it flew back and landed on the ground, motionless. Everyone stood there in shock at the scene as the window of the truck rolled down to reveal the driver.

"You guys okay?!" he asked.

"Mr. Gram?!" Tara gasped when she noticed the man beside him "Mr. Steve?!"

"Nice ride" Gregg commented.

"I knew it would come in handy" their principle smirked, "You guys want a lift?"

"Sure" Isabelle replied, still holding the extinguisher "If we crashed into some more monsters on the way, I'll be very entertained."