Meet The Cave Daemon

The cave started with an ascending tunnel few dozen yards in length. It was just wide enough to let a single snow yeti in and out. Rolf prowled along the narrow stretch of the slope with his back pressed against the left wall, trying to be as stealthy as he could. He was not very far from the entrance just yet, so moonlight still found its way to his feet. However, Rolf noticed that the cave was turning darker as he inched further and very soon, Rolf found himself climbing in complete darkness. He conceded that he was ill prepared as he should have brought a crystal firefly jar with him.

"Listen well, little rat! Hunting rule number one: always be prepared!" Kram's condescending voice boomed in Rolf's mind. The chieftain had always talked to him as if he was a child in front of his band brothers. Role shook his head, trying to shake away the image of Kram.

In the darkness, the air started to smell like rotten meat and eggs, but Rolf didn't mind it and remained focused on his ascending. The smell meant that the air was flowing against him and it was a good sign. A few moments later, Rolf felt the tunnel took a sharp turn, and the cave opened up in front him.

"Yetis are the smartest of all giants."Kram used to say in his authoritative voice," they are small, but whatever they lacked in size, they made it up with their wits." Although unwillingly, Rolf agreed with Kram. The layout of the yeti's cave was ingenious: the entrance was narrow and sloped up which made a natural barrier for larger foes while the sudden turn at the end of the tunnel would also be able to significantly slow down either invading enemies from outside or fleeing preys from within.

The ceiling of the opened cave curved like a dome and at its center where moonlight passed through, was a few openings among a dozen down-pointing stalactites. The moonlight had offered Rolf enough light to study the cave in front of him. It was about ten yards in radius. At the center of the cave, right underneath the opening, was a pool of water held by a stone bowl that was formed naturally from a circle of protruding stalactites. The placid water reflected the bright moonlight back onto the surrounding walls where gnarly trees trunks and fist-sized vines came in and out of the layers of rocks and dirt. Ferns and mudrooms grew wherever they could find the space on the ground, among which were a dozen night caps shone with an eerie and almost insubstantial iridescence light. The smell of the cave was horrendous; even the coldness wouldn't be able to stagnate the flow of putrid death.

Dried blood, frozen into bright streaks under the moonlight was painted all over the ground and the wall. The blood marks seemed to converge behind the stalactites basin, where the stone columns had created long stretchy shadows. Half concealed by the shadows was a hill of bones. Most bones that were exposed to the moonlight were at the bottom of the hill. Rolf could clearly discern a dozen severed, and half chewed up human limbs tossed around at the bottom of the hill. Rolf registered that the hill of white bones rose about ten feet above ground, its mid and upper section were either hidden inside the shadow or was blocked by the protruding stalactites.

Rolf tiptoed a step into the lair and shifted his weight slowly to reduce the crunchy sound from the ice under his boots. His eyes darted left and right, scanning the surroundings and he strained his ears to listen to any hint of moments. Kram had taught him all the necessary skills to stalk and hunt down a prey like a Yeti, and it was the time to use them. Despite the horrible smell of decaying death, Rolf drew a large gulp of air into his mouth and tasted it carefully.

"Giants smells like wet piss on a piece of oak bark," Rolf recalled one of Kram's lessons. He also remembered that after the lesson, Kram had made him smell his own urine on a piece of white oak bark while Yara, the most beautiful camp girl happened to pass by. He had resented Kram for that ever since, but right then the same taste in his mouth had somehow made Rolf felt lucky to have learned that lesson. (Although he still hated Kram for choosing the most inconvenient time to practice what he had learned.)

The Yeti was close; Rolf was sure of it as he had tasted the distinctive sourness in his mouth.

Eyes glinting in the darkness, back hunching over into a defense posture, Rolf narrowed his eyes as he searched the cavern with all the concentration he could muster. His hand tightened the grip on the battle-ax as he inched forward.

In a few moments, Rolf had made his way to the stalactites basin. From there he studied the hill of bones behind the protruding stone formation. The moonlight reflected off the pale bones and made them looked almost scintillating. A human hand mockingly stuck out from the top of the hill as if a drawing man was calling out for help. As the sour smell get stronger; Rolf was convinced that he was getting closer to the monster.

Suddenly, at the corner of his eyes, he caught something shining in the pool of placid water. Rolf turned around, carefully leaned forward over the rime of the stone basin and then he saw it in the reflection of the water.

A wide mouth with thick lips that were permanently tainted by the crimson color of the blood set in a large and pale fury face, its eyes were dark as ebony, and they glinted in the darkness with perverse intent. Two slightly curved fangs protruded out from the corner of its red lips, making it look like constantly smirking.

The creature had been hidden among the hanging stalactites and had been watching Rolf all the while. When Rolf's eyes locked onto the monster's shining ebony eyes in the reflection, the Yeti hissed, revealing a row of filed teeth.

Rolf looked up, and before he had any time to react, the giant monster swooped down at him and pinned him down on the ground. Rolf felt its sharp claws digging into his shoulders as blood seep out under the claw tips. He bashed the yeti's belly with his knee, trying to knock it off of him, but the monster's stomach was lined with thick muscles that were hard as rocks, so Rolf's knee bash had done nothing.

Sitting on top of Rolf, the Yeti rose one limb and was about to dig its three-inch long claw into Rolf's neck, but in the process, it had freed Rolf's hand holding the battle-ax. Rolf tightened his grip on the handle and hacked with all the force he could gather in one arm at the Yeti.

Rolf heard a howl and felt the monster finally released its hold on him. He immediately sprang to his feet and started to search for his enemy. He didn't need to look too long as he found the Yeti stood on top of the pile of bones, eyes burning with hatred. Yeti was a humanoid creature, and therefore it stood on its two feet instead of on four. Compared to an average human, the Yeti had was of an impressive build, ranging from 7 feet to 8 feet tall. However, it was the smallest of all breeds of giants living on the tundra.

It had a barrel chest and a slightly hunched back. Its limbs were long and lean, and the creature was covered entirely in snow white fur tinted with dirt and blood.

Standing at the top of the bone hill, the yeti panted heavily, its eyes locked onto the intruder. Rolf noticed a streak of blood that ran from its armpit to its hips— his strike was true, and the magical battle ax was able to cut through the yeti hide.

Kram had taught Rolf many lessons about fighting all kinds of creatures on the Tundra: fire against the goblins, the blunt weapon against the snow falcon, ranged arrow against frost boars... However, with the legendary battle-ax in his hands, Rolf didn't care to remember the best method of fighting the Yeti. A euphoria shot through his body as he felt the battle ax had lent him strength and confidence. It was evident to him that the only method to do away with the giant monster in front of him was to use the awesome power of the ax.