Cold Soul [Snatcher x Reader]

Chapter 10: Going Up

Days pass...

The ever-consuming frost circle continues to extend its icy grasp further into the forest, sending a chill into the air. [Y/N] busies themselves with keeping the fires in Subcon Village roaring and seeking out any subconites that manage to sneak past the fire barrier with two friends by their side.

Hat Kid, the rambunctious young girl who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere to help them out. Her strange level expertise on dealing with Snatcher is probably one of the few reasons that [Y/N]'s head is still on their shoulders.

And then there's the subconite they rescued from the frost zone, Shard. Who—ever since they were brought back to the village—followed them around and showed [Y/N] how to handle some of the bizarre situations one finds themselves in while working in Subcon.

And then somewhere, in an ancient hollow tree, a desperate shadow grasps at scattered threads of hope for his kingdom.

Books and loose pages are strewn haphazardly across the floor, evidence of the fervent research Snatcher had recently occupied himself with. Bits of poetry here and there, a few novels full of dog-eared pages, and a couple stolen arborist manuals with notes crammed in the margins. Despite being a great way to pass an evening and ignore your impending doom, the discarded books held very little useful information. The cold was closing in, and no modern book had any mention of Subcon, let alone how to thwart forbidden ice magic.

So, Snatcher had turned to his "reserve collection", a modest stack of weathered books that he had tucked away on the back corner of his shelf. The collection contains what little people record he could recover from the ruins of his kingdom. They had been left to collect dust for over a century due to his fear of dredging up painful memories, but now with so few leads, he had no choice. Cautiously and deliberately at first, he scans over each word, slowly remembering a language he had not used in years.

The first book he had picked up seemed to be a textbook on law, outlining government proceedings and practices. Although it's cover is faded, the next seems to be a collection of children's stories. Snatcher absentmindedly thumbs through the pages until he recognizes a familiar title. It was a story that he had read every night as a child and was what gave him his love of the stars. The details were fuzzy and his language was rusty, but he could still make out the important bits. Something about a young child who loved the stars of the night sky and dreamed of visiting the horizon and bringing one of them back home to his family.

As nostalgic as it is, however, it's still just a child's story. Snatcher closes the book and places it carefully to the side before continuing to dig through the stack. Skimming each from cover to cover, he finds nothing of note. A financial record from a small tavern, a few trashy romance novels, even a tattered diary, but nothing pertaining to magic in Subcon. His heart sinks as he reaches for the last book, a well-worn, unmarked, leather-bound journal. Another diary, perhaps? His eyes glaze over the pages, not even bothering to read until he notices something unusual about this one.

The writing grows increasingly messy, almost frantic, as the journal progresses. Rough illustrations begin to show up more and more, designs of interlocking shapes and hastily written labels. Intrigued, he carefully begins to dissect one of the diagrams. It's written in an old, complex dialect and was difficult to understand, but nonetheless he manages to recognize a few of the words and symbols. Names of fungi and herbs stood out alongside what one could only assume to be instructions.
And at the very top of the page, in big block print, was one word:

"BIND"

Knuckles rap against the outside of the tree. Snatcher looks up and snaps the book closed instinctively. Standing in the doorway were the usual visitors, [Y/N] and Hat Kid, both looking quizzically at the mess inside.