[Chr24] Ice Caves

The frozen cave loomed before them, a jagged maw of ice and shadow. Pale light spilled into its entrance, reflecting off crystal-like walls that shimmered like starlight. The air was thin and biting. “Do you feel that?” Aviary whispered, his voice barely audible above the soft crunch of snow beneath their boots. He tilted his head to listen, his breath clouding the air. “It’s like the cave is… alive.”

“Alive or not, it’s dangerous,” Anubis said firmly, his eyes scanning the twisting ice corridors ahead. “Stay close. We don’t know what’s waiting for us.”

Behind them, Lyric adjusted his camera, Snaps, his gingerbread shoon floating next to him.  Lyric trailed behind the group, capturing the ethereal beauty of the ice formations. Even the shoon seemed to admire the cave, its golden eyes wondering as small bits of candy dropped to the floor. Lyric paused to snap a photo of a jagged pillar of ice, its surface refracting the dim light into a spectrum of haunting colors.

Darkk moved silently, his silhouette blending into the shifting shadows of the cavern. He was a phantom among the frost, his sharp eyes never lingering on one spot for too long.

“Do you think we’ll really find it?” Aviary asked as he stepped over a mound of snow-covered stones. “The golden polar bavee. Imagine— !” The ground beneath them suddenly gave way with a deafening crack. Before anyone could react, the ice shattered, sending them tumbling into the dark abyss below.

They landed hard, but not on jagged ice as they had feared. Instead, they found themselves cushioned by something soft, yet unsettling. Lyric was the first to notice the walls. He pointed silently, his face pale. The icy walls surrounding them were scored with deep gouges, each one larger seemingly bigger than the last. They stretched from floor to ceiling, shining faintly with an unnatural light. “What… could have made those?” Lyric whispered, his voice barely audible. Snaps floated around the icy Cavern in curiosity, before quickly moving back towards Lyric, eyes wide.

Aviary groaned as he sat up, brushing frost from his face. He reached out instinctively, his hands closing around a handful of silvery-grey feathers. “Feathers?” he muttered, his voice tinged with confusion. He glanced around. The floor was littered with them, soft and large. “Look,” he whispered, kneeling down to pick one up. “What kind of bird…?”

“Focus,” Anubis warned. But Aviary couldn’t take his eyes off the feather. He turned it over again in his hands, his mouth agape. “It’s beautiful…”

****

Hours passed as they trudged deeper into the labyrinthine cave. Snaps had fallen asleep soon after the descent and was silently floating close to Lyric. The walls seemed to pulse with an otherworldly glow as the air grew colder, each breath like shards of glass in their lungs.

The deeper they ventured into the labyrinth of icy tunnels, the more disorienting it became. The once-mysterious golden glow that had called them forward faded, replaced by the unsettling silence of the cave. The walls, now slick with layers of frost, seemed to shift and close in on them at every turn. Anubis cursed under his breath, "this isn’t right," he muttered, running his fingers through the ice-crusted rock. “We should’ve found something by now. The golden bavee—this is where the rumors said it would be…”

Lyric, his camera dangling loosely around her neck, was the next to speak. “I’m starting to think those rumors were just that—rumors.” his voice was quieter than usual as he glanced at Snaps, who was still peacefully sleeping. “We’ve been walking in circles. I haven’t seen anything resembling a bavee, golden or otherwise.”

Darkk, ever silent, nodded once, his sharp gaze scanning the darkened passageways around them. His body was tense, every muscle coiled as though ready for an attack, though there was nothing but the eerie stillness of the cavern.

“We need to find an exit,” Anubis finally said, his voice low and filled with growing frustration. “The deeper we go, the further we get from our goal.” His brow furrowed, and despite his usual calm, there was a hint of impatience in his eyes.

Aviary slumped against the wall, running a hand through his messy hair. “We came all this way for nothing?” His voice cracked with the weight of disappointment. “I just wanted to see it—the golden bavee... Why isn’t it here?” His childlike wonder had dimmed, replaced with frustration that this adventure, this grand search, had led to nothing but empty tunnels and endless dead ends.

As their frustration mounted, something darker was shifting in the shadows. It followed their every move, its glowing icy eyes tracking their every footstep. It had been watching since they entered the cave, its sharp senses attuned to the slightest tremor in the ground or disturbance in the air. Its feathers blended with its surroundings, swirling through the cavern’s deeper reaches, a ghostly presence in the dark.

Lyric paused to take a photo of another feather before tilting his head, listening intently. He lowered his camera slightly and whispered, “Do you hear that?”

The answer came in the form of a sound: a low, resonant hoot that seemed to come from all around them. It reverberated through the cavern, shaking loose shards of ice from above. Slowly, the feathers on the ground began to shift, as though moved by an unseen wind.

Lyric lifted his camera instinctively, scanning the shadows. His finger hovered over the shutter, the tension crackling like static in the air. Then he saw it.

Two light blue eyes appeared. They were unblinking, luminous, and filled with rage. “Oh… my…” Lyric whispered, lifting his camera. The shutter clicked once, the flash piercing the dark like lightning. The creature moved, then came the hoot—low, resonant, and far too deep for any bird-like creature they had ever encountered. It seemed to vibrate through the air itself, shaking loose tiny shards of ice from the cavern ceiling.

The creature stepped into the light, its talons clicking against the ice. It was a Twiwa, but not like any they had ever seen. Its wings stretched wide, and its feathers shimmered like moonlight on water.

The Twiwa tilted its head, studying them with an eerie intelligence. Then, with a screech that shattered the stillness, it launched itself into the air, its talons scraping against the ice as it took flight and soared toward them.

“Run!” Anubis roared, grabbing Aviary’s arm and yanking him back.

The group scattered, their footsteps slipping and sliding on the icy floor. The Twiwa swooped low, its talons raking the ground just inches behind them. Lyric clutched his camera tightly as he ran, the sound of his ragged breathing drowned out by the deafening flapping of wings.

But Aviary lingered, rooted to the spot. His wide eyes shimmered with awe as he watched the Twiwa in its full, terrifying glory. It was bigger than a normal twiwa, its feathers glimmering like moonlight, its talons gleaming with a sharpness that promised death. He couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe. This was no ordinary bird, a creature of the skies brought to earth "Its a Glacial Twiwa" He whispered.

“Aviary!” Darkk’s voice cut through the chaos, sharp and commanding.

“I— It’s…” Aviary stammered, his voice trembling.

Darkk grabbed him by the shoulder, snapping him out of his trance. “Move!” he hissed, shoving Aviary toward the passage.

The Twiwa screeched again, its talons raking the ground where Aviary had stood moments before. The sound of splintering ice filled the cavern as it pursued them, its wings generating gusts of wind that sent loose feathers swirling like a silver snowstorm.

Anubis ushered the group into a narrow tunnel, his voice steady despite the chaos. “Go! Keep moving!”

The walls closed in around them, forcing them to crawl as the Twiwa's furious screeches echoed behind them. Its talons scraped against the ice, as it got to the tunnel’s entrance, sending cracks splintering through the frozen stone.

The air was suffocating, heavy with the scent of ice and the sharp tang of fear. The sound of the Twiwa's furious screeches echoed down the passage, its shrill cries vibrating through the walls. The tunnel seemed to stretch on forever, the walls narrowing with each agonizing crawl. The icy stone scraped painfully against their skin, as though the very tunnel itself was trying to swallow them whole.

With a final burst of strength, they shoved forward, each of them pushing past the crushing weight of fear and fatigue. Aviary’s heart thundered in his chest as he felt the cold sting of the wind from the outside world rush against his face. He was the first to emerge, tumbling out of the tunnel and into the open air with a gasp. They collapsed in the snow, their breaths coming in ragged gasps. Aviary held the silver feather tightly in his hands, his eyes still wide with wonder. “That was…” He paused, searching for the words. “Unbelievable.”

Anubis shot him a look that was equal parts exasperation and relief. “Next time, don’t stop to admire the danger.”

Aviary grinned, his awe undiminished. “But wasn’t it magnificent?”

Darkk shook his head, already scanning the horizon, while Lyric raised his camera and snapped one last photo of the cave’s entrance.