43 Adventure Awaits!

Two days pass with which Harry and Nanthisk spent their nights in igloos that the former created via magic. Their trek across the North pole wasn't as fun as Harry thought it would be... There weren't any great sights to see, no landmarks, and certainly no people.

The aurora borealis was amazing to witness, but after seeing it for hours, it got old fairly soon. Fortunately, it wasn't completely mind-numbing as there were a few creatures that actually lived around these parts. They'd encountered one polar bear, and more than a few seals, which Nanthisk heartily devoured when he got the chance.

Harry also took part, wondering what seals tasted like... Fatty, is how he'd describe it.

Halfway through the second day, the duo did finally stumble across something that looked promising.

"Massster... I sssmell... Blood. Cold, blood." Nanthisk announces after they hop over a crack in the ice which led down into blisteringly cold water. (Nanthisk being levitated as he couldn't really jump in snow effectively)

"Show me!" he orders, happy to finally have a lead.

Nanthisk slithers through the snow, coming away from the thinner portions of ice and onto what one might call the 'mainland'. They clambered up a snow ledge but Harry gets his leg snagged by something, causing him to trip over.

He rolls headfirst into the snow with a yelp hiding his slight giggle but forces his laughter down when he realises that a threat was near... Something had grabbed onto his ankle.

Nanthisk turns around and hisses at whatever was moving underneath the snow, thrusting his head into the white fluff with his fangs bared... And he connects with something fleshy!

His familiar's attack causes whatever was grabbing Harry to release, and he thrusts his hands to the ground which unleashes a shockwave that blows all the nearby snow away, clearing the area and revealing just what'd attacked them.

Harry was both happy and shocked to find a skeleton wrestling with Nanthisk, the snake's fangs having been lodged into its skull preventing him from disengaging so easily. Harry telekinetically separates them, places Nanthisk to the side while throwing the skeleton hard into the floor, its lack of flesh only making moving it easier.

To complete this, Harry melts some snow into water and then freezes it again to encase the skeleton in ice up to its neck. It clacks its jaws menacingly but isn't able to do anything anymore.

Nanthisk slithers over and inspects it by tasting the air a couple times, "Is this what you smelt?" Harry asks, but his familiar shakes its head.

"It'ssss further away... Thisss smellsss of nothing..." the snake says as it gestures at the skeleton with its head.

Harry hums, "Doesn't that mean we're close? I'd place guards around my hideout if I was a necromancer."

"Then they know we are here... Ssshould we contact the misstressss?"

Harry shakes his head, "No, we can handle it ourselves. There's no point in wasting time to grab her." he decides after analysing the skeleton for a couple seconds. He couldn't glean anything from it, none of the spells he knew was designed for this either. Harry just slams his heel into the skeleton's head, crushing its skull and destroying it. "Come on, let's go!"

Nanthisk gives a reluctant nod and continues to follow the scent.

An hour passes, and the duo are quickly closing in on the origin of the scent. Even Harry was getting hints of iron in the air now. Still, there didn't seem to be anything around. It was just a flat, icy landscape.

Still, they continue and eventually find a strange, smooth hole leading down into the depths of who knows where. There was no light coming from it, but the stench of blood was almost overwhelming in its intensity.

After shining some light down it, it looked less like a tunnel and more like a giant slide to Harry... He almost couldn't resist going down it headfirst. So, he did the next best thing.

"See you on the other side, my loyal familiar!" Harry innocently exclaims as he kicks Nanthisk into the hole.

"SSSSSSSSSsssssssssss....!!" Nanthisk hisses as he travels further and further down the hole.

"Have you reached the bottom yet?" Harry telepathically asks via their bond.

"NNOOOOO!"

...

Harry waits for another couple of seconds before asking again, "Are you there yet?"

"Y-yes... Massster..." the snake grumbles, upset at being treated so poorly. "But it'sss too dark. I can't ssseee anything."

Harry nods to himself, "Alright then. Adventure! Awaits!" he laughs as he jumps into the hole. Cackling the entire time he slid down it.

*Thud*

He lands right on top of Nanthisk, causing the snake to let out a squawked hiss. After that, he hops off of his surprisingly soft familiar and conjures a fire in his palm, illuminating the area.

Fortunately, they weren't surrounded by monsters or undead, as Harry had been expecting(Game logic). Instead, the duo found themselves standing within a large icy cavern, though, the ice was coloured an eery dark blue as if it weren't naturally formed.

There were a few noticeable holes in the walls that looked as if they led somewhere. Harry didn't want to waste time bumbling though, so he had Nanthisk follow where the stench of blood led.

"This is everything I thought a 'Demon Kings Fortress' would look like." Harry mutters as they step out of the 'cavern' and into a thin hallway that had a roof so high the light from his flames couldn't even reach it.

"M-masster..." Nanthisk suddenly says, stopping his slithering as his tongue rapidly flicks from his mouth.

"What is it?" Harry glances over his shoulder at his familiar, "Getting scared?"

The snake slowly nods, his tongue not ceasing its movement... He pauses however, his head slowly turning towards the icy wall of the hallway... Harry follows his gaze and-

*Crrrrck!*

Lights suddenly shine through the ice from the glowing blue eyes of the many corpses trapped within the walls!

"Oh... Bollocks..."