Eika and L surveyed the edge of the canyon. "I might be able to climb down here." Eika pointed to a few rocky outcroppings. "Or like, jump down." L examined the area she was pointing at. "Perhaps, but you will be going alone. I lack the same ability to jump and land that you have." Eika clearly considered going on ahead without L, she was almost hysterically worried about Luna and was just barely able to contain her nervous energy. "Right let’s keep looking!" Eika ran further ahead, searching for an easier path down. L was following orders, to try and find the other girl, however it was likely they would run into the Champion of Vermin again. L wondered if she could summon up the demonic fire that vaporized the Champion of Combat. Well, that was not entirely true. She could feel it now within her. Like fire flickering underneath the frame of a door, she need only open the door and the fire would spew forth. However, she doubted the Champion of Good would suddenly be around a second time to save her from her wounds. Perhaps she would be able to hold back some? To control this power and use it in a way that did not rip her own body apart. There was no good time to experiment with the power however. In a normal situation, the possible costs of experimentation were too high. In a situation such as the one they currently faced; it would almost certainly result in her dying in the snow after the attempt. Although, thinking about it, the cold had not bothered her the same way that it used to, ever since she had awakened her demon side.

"What about this?" Eika pointed manically at what appeared to be some sort of roughhewn path down into the canyon. It looked as if someone had chiseled out a winding path downward straight out of the rock and dirt. Although the scale and effort needed to create something like this was impressive, the actual workmanship was strange. L brushed snow off of one of the sides of the rocks the path cut through, examining the patterns. "No chisel I have ever seen could make marks like this." L ran her hand over the cold rock as Eika impatiently started taking a few steps along the pathway down. "Comon! We gotta save Luna! Stop looking at rocks we can do it later and also get V to look at rocks." Eika gestured wildly for L to follow her. After another moment, L followed her. "Keep your voice down and your ears up. I don't like this. Whatever created this path down would have made it for a reason. Perhaps there is a monster at the bottom, or perhaps a village. Either way, I think magic or some unknown tool may have created this. If we run into anyone, they might be difficult to deal with."

Eika not so carefully traveled the winding pathway down into the canyon, L continued to examine the sides of the path as they traveled, while still attentive to her surroundings. As they traveled downward, L could swear it had started snowing harder. Perhaps it was simply that the wind had picked up and was blowing the snow around? She knew that was not true, something in her could sense... something. Her fingers tingled, and the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. It was an unnatural feeling, perhaps her demon side knew something she did not. "Careful girl. Something is wrong with this place." For the first time since leaving V, Eika nodded and slowed down. "Ya... something sounds weird. It’s like the snow is... only coming down from halfway inside of the canyon... I can't explain it right." Eika's ears swiveled. "It's also very very hard to hear. I heard that when it snows, it gets quieter, but I did not think it would be this bad." As they continued the fire in L's belly continued to burn brighter. It reminded her of when she would prepare while on the eve of a great battle. Her mind and body preparing with both fear and excitement. However, as far as she could see, there was only snow and rock. Another weird thing that L had noticed, was the snow was seemingly not getting any deeper.

"Shhh!" Eika crouched low to the snow, gripping her small sword she had been training with, although her sling still hung on her belt. L stopped, placing her back to one of the rocks, if she was good for anything, the girl did tend to do a good job noticing threats. Eika scanned the area in front of them, Eika knew they must be near the bottom of the canyon by now. L had warned her that something might be at the exit of their path, and by the sound it, she was right. The snow was shifting in a noisy, unnatural way. However, it did not sound like someone was walking. As Eika strained her ears, she thought it sounded like the snow was drifting over top of something. Or something was sliding over the snow. It did not sound like footsteps, or like someone was pushing snow around. It was difficult to know how far away the sound was. The snow made it difficult for her to accurately judge. Eika slowly and with as little noise as possible, gingerly moved forward.. She could not sit around and listen all day, Luna might need their help! If there were other monsters down here, she would need their help even more! As she moved, the sound she was straining to hear suddenly disappeared. That could really only mean a few things. Eika urgently whispered, as loudly as she dared, to L "I think we are about to be ambushed by something that doesn't walk." L nodded and gripped her sword. That was both more and less information than L expected from the girl.

As the moments passed excruciatingly slowly for Eika, she retreated toward L. Once they were standing together, she closed her eyes, to try and concentrate on her hearing. The wind and the snow, some animal howled in the distance, L's measured breathing. Eika furrowed her brow, straining. Her instincts had also kicked in, she could feel that something was watching her. Like a rabbit being hunted by a cat in tall grass. L, for her part, was doing her best to observe the white and grey environment. L's sword sparkled ominously as the snow landed on it before quickly melting, the water sliding off the blade made it appear as if it was sweating in anticipation. Ten seconds, then twenty, then thirty. As time slipped by excruciatingly slowly, Eika began breathing heavily. Her instincts instilling fear and a desire for escape. She ignored them, and continued to listen. Suddenly she heard it, a sudden noise! It sounded like something was being dragged over the snow. Perhaps something was gliding over it? Eika tapped L's leg, not wanting to speak and perhaps tip off their foe.

Suddenly, faster than would ordinarily be possible in the snow, a massive grey and white form bounded toward them, and threw itself toward L, roaring when it was within sight. Eika rolled to the side as L drew her sword and struck the monster leaping toward her. It was a large humanoid creature, roughly the same in size as O. However its body was strange, it simply looked... large, rather than having obvious muscles or bone structure. Eika struggled to listen, concerned there might be more than one of these things. L's strike had connected to the right side of the being’s torso, she was clearly intending to cut it in half with her first strike. However, the blade only sunk in a few inches. The being roared and tried to swipe at L with its clawed hands. Eika noticed it was naked, and had no definable gender or... really anything extra. Its body was smooth and grey, it was also totally hairless. Clearly immune to the cold, Eika thought to herself as she observed. L tried to pull her sword out of the thing's side, while dodging the claws. Unfortunately, the weapon was apparently quite stuck. She was able to yank it out, but the being was able to use its claws and slash her across her chest. Luckily, it was not a deep cut.

However, L's ability to reason was rapidly being hindered. Her sword had, apparently, been quite upset that the being's body had the audacity to try and yank it out of L's hand, and L could almost hear it screaming for the being’s head. Normally it would urge her to seek her foe's blood, but it had become apparent after her sword was removed, that it had none. Additionally, as she was sliced across the chest, her demonic side also was clamoring for this thing’s death. L steeled her will against all the influence upon her mind. Based on the stories they heard from the merchant they saved from the slavers, this thing was probably an Ice Orc. The name was about as much as she knew, supposedly they were only spotted in the extreme north, and many people did not wander around up here. As the orc regained its bearings, it had obviously not expected its first attack to fail, L witnessed its movements. The snow was sliding around it. When it walked, it was as if the snow did not even exist. It was sliding through it effortlessly. An additional problem was that the wound she had caused, which would normally have been rather devastating, a three-inch cut into the abdomen, seemed to be having no adverse effects on it at all. Eika had also noticed this, and was trying to decide if her interference would actually be helpful, or if she would simply get in L's way if she tried to help.

The orc threw itself at L again, leading with its shoulder. Diving out of the way, L stabbed it, perhaps it would prove more vulnerable to a thrusting attack. As her sword struck the being's shoulder, it was "more effective" in the sense that the sword went deeper. On the other hand, this meant it was more stuck than before. It also caused about the same level of damage to the orc as the abdomen wound. Which was to say, none. Diving out of the way of its charge, L had to let go of her weapon. The orc kicked at L as she dove, driving its foot into her stomach, its strength was overwhelming. L coughed and sputtered and she landed in the snow. As quickly as she could, she struggled to her feet. The snow and stomach pain were making things difficult however. The ice orc was clearly about to turn and stomp L before she could properly recover. "Graaagghh!" Eika let loose a strange growling battle cry and she jumped on the orc's head, and tried to gouge out its eyes. Unfortunately, its eyes appeared as resilient as the rest of its body, the orc grabbed Eika and effortlessly threw her against one of the nearby rock faces. A small yelping noise escaped her as she collided with the stone. As waves of pain emanated from L's stomach, she felt the cold fire in her body flickering, igniting her nerves and electrifying her mind. She had to control it, if she were to pass out here, even if she killed the orc. It was probable that both her, Luna, Eika, and even V would die in the snow. She had to get her sword back, although the wounds did not seem to damage the orc in any way, they also were not healing. If she could hack its torso enough times, it would fall into two pieces, or a perhaps more achievable goal, hack its arms off. L also realized that the claws would almost certainly easily rend through bone should it make contact. Now that she had seem them, she was certain that the path they had traveled was carved out using those claws.

The orc charged her again, this time, L was ready. What she was about to do would have been impossible in her old life, maybe if she was not in snow, she could have managed it back then. L placed her right foot on one of the rocky outcroppings, to increase her leverage. Moments before colliding with the orc, she pushed off, jumping high enough to plant her left foot on the hilt of her sword, pushing off of it with as much force as she could, she achieved two things. The sword sliced through the upper part of the orc's shoulder, freeing itself, and she used the momentum to safely land on the other side of the charging orc. It seemed sort of feral in its movements so far, and L was banking on it being slow to respond to something so ridiculous. A trained combatant would have just grabbed her leg the moment she jumped and slammed her downward. As the orc crashed into the rock face that had been behind L, she quickly recovered her sword. It turned, undamaged by the collision with the rock, which now had a large crack running through it. As she stared down the orc, the flames in her body licked at her mind, begging to be released. She could no longer contain the frozen heat infusing her body. It was driving her mad, she had to control it somehow, and decided to try and use her swords lust for this being’s death as a focal point. Recklessly diving toward the orc, she drove her sword into where its sternum would have been if it had bones. Burn! Burn! Her savage thoughts focused on the weapon she was wielding, the sword also cried out in her mind for this being to burn for its insolence. A whooshing noise could be heard in the air. Eika's pained voice muttered "No... not again!" As she struggled to pull herself up out of the snow.