The hallway which led towards the library was slowly growing darker, and it wasn't really the dark that made her uneasy.

It was the sheer lack of noise that put her on-edge, almost dead silence whirled around her, every breath she took and every light footstep seemingly amplified beyond normal volume. CryoFangs realized that, the further the she traversed down the hall, bioluminescent mushrooms were making their way out of the walls, lighting the way with a gentle green glow. She nervously glanced over her shoulder every so often, thinking that she would hear the rustle of wings behind her, or another pair of footsteps. I'm paranoid, she laughed nervously in her head, ...right?

Surely her mind was just trying to scare her into going back to Eis, right? Cryo didn't mind that, but she had her mind set on studying on how to rid Vilethorn of his little demon, once I'm done with that, I'm heading straight back, she thought, nodding to herself as she quietly took a deep breath.

As of now, it was almost pitch-black in the hallway, but the glowing mushrooms kept a little light to see, but darkness had conquered most of her vision; "raylios," she whispered forth, the ball of shimmering light appearing and sending the darkness fleeing.

Now a slight bit more comfortable within the Palace halls, she flicked her eyes about, finding a large set of doors off to her right, the hall ended here. "This must be it," she said quietly, jumping at how loud her voice seemed to sound, "hopefully, I don't experience a... repeat of last time."

CryoFangs was almost anxious about opening the doors, the vague, phantom feeling of talons closing around her neck made her shiver, but she shook herself and instead focused on now. She was capable of defending herself now, her powers she could control to an extent that proved useful, and she wouldn't be but only an hour or two.

Pushing the thick wooden doors open, she was greeted with a semi-dark, open room with towering bookshelves; a massive, majestic tree had grown up through the center of the library, beautiful golden shroomlights had sprouted from the girthy branches, giving the room a rich golden glow. CryoFangs even saw a small group of Wyrmwoods lingering in the library, the librarian quietly conversing with a larger dragon who had a small stack of books sitting on the desk.

The atmosphere wasn't at all what she was expecting, the on-edge HallowFrost let out a small sigh as she strode into the library, extinguishing her light and finding herself locking eyes with a Wyrmwood from across the room.

"Oh, greetings, outsider. Are you looking for something?" Asked the librarian gently, his golden glasses shimmering as his friendly sandy-yellow eyes looked at her, he looked intelligent, she noticed. CryoFangs approached him and was able to better see his face, his jawline was sharp and his hornless head was smooth, his verdigris-green scales almost the color of copper in the gold light.

"Do you have any books on... exorcism? Or demons?" She asked tenaciously, he blinked slowly, as if confused, but then he nodded. "I'm unsure why a lovely dragon such as yourself is in need of those books, but I won't judge. Come with me," he said, and as he walked out from behind his desk, she felt another pair of eyes upon her.

To make it worse, that dragon the librarian had been speaking with was the one staring, his jade eyes piercing hers with a cold glare.

And that black ring was around his neck, Vilethorn... she thought with a twist of her guts, why is HE here? She didn't dare engage in conversation with him as she followed the librarian behind one of the huge bookshelves, he was quietly humming to himself as he skimmed his talons over the books.

"Hmm... ah, here we are!" He smiled, pulling forth a leather-bound book with silver writing on the cover, "I suggest starting with this one, titled: "A Beginner's Guide to The Demons of Elementia." It'll at least explain whatever you may be dealing with, and, as for exorcism, you'll find those in this section as well. Whenever you're ready, I can help you check out."

She gave her thanks and skimmed through the book as he slipped off towards his desk, her talons flipping the pages as she read through a few different demons. Wraiths, Chaoticas, Fearmongers, Dreamkillers...

All of them were ferocious variants of the SchattenSeele, and, the most horrific of them all: the SchattenKönig, was found towards the end of the book.

"'The SchattenKönig is the ruler of all SchattenSeele, and who is almost always deemed the "Harbinger of Doom." The SchattenKönig can possess any or all of the SchattenSeele abilities, such as: telepathy, dream-stalking, possession, soul-snatching, Nyctokinesis, and invisibility. The SchattenKönig is an almost indestructible force of annihilation, the only possible way to destroy it is to use the Animus Assailant against it, but it has yet to be found...'" she read to the end of the description and cringed, that's... horrifying.

CryoFangs closed the book and looked through the other books on the shelves, occasionally finding one that seemed to hold the information she needed and eventually putting it back, the one other she deemed truly useful was a book called: "The LichtSeele's Guide to the Exorcism of SchattenSeeles (Edited Edition!)"

She skimmed through it, too, quietly storing away what info she skimmed by before heading to the desk up front. "I want to check these two out," she said quietly, pushing the books toward him. He gave her a smile and pulled out a scroll, "alright. All I need is your name, and I'll take it from here."

She shrugged, "alright, my name is CryoFangs." She said, silently watching as he wrote it down towards the end of the scroll, many other dragons before her having checked out a plethora of novels.

With that out of the way, he gave the books back to her and she sat at a table near the doors of the library, watching with relieved eyes as Vilethorn left the library, hissing something under his breath that she couldn't hear. She was mentally wondering just how much time had passed so far, she was certain it hadn't been very long– and, on a random note, the Wyrmwoods at the far end of the library were occasionally glancing up at her; one of them actually getting up to get a closer look at her.

"Hello there, outsider," he purred, his grayish-blue scales complimented his amber-orange eyes. "Didn't you say your name was CryoFangs?"

She wasn't sure why, but the male gave her a weird, uneasy feeling, "...yes, why?" Cryo wondered, looking up from her book with nervous sapphire eyes.

He leaned over the table and smiled a toothy grin, "I like that name. Say, CryoFangs... would I be able to calm that raging sea in your ocean eyes? I don't know about you, but–"

"Hey Poltrosh, I suggest you stop speaking to her, or I'm having you tossed back into the dungeons for harassment again!" Exclaimed the librarian with a critical yellow eye, Poltrosh growled lowly and gave him a look. "But Jadeite–"

"No. Get out of her face. The only reason you're out of your cell is because I suggested trying to change you for the better. Poltrosh... just go sit back down and leave her be, ok?"

Poltrosh stomped away and furiously turned his seat around, slumping into his seat and avoiding even looking at her as Jadeite gazed at her, "I'm terribly sorry, CryoFangs. Poltrosh is an... odd dragon, I think you should head back to what room you came from, just to be safe." He explained with a sigh, she hastily grabbed her things and nodded, thanking him before striding out the door.

Once the door was shut behind her and she was enveloped in shadows, she breathed deeply and sighed heavily, well... apart from the unruly inmate, that went a whole lot better than expected! She thought with a genuine smile, the feeling of content quickly fading as she strode down the horribly silent hallway.

A few minutes had went by before she heard someone whisper: "I can't do it..."

"But you will... you have no other choice... " hissed another voice, but it almost was inaudible with how quiet it was. She stilled and stood there in the blackness, her ears flicking about as she listened. Am I imagining things?

"I'll fight you, I won't do this... I can't–"

"Shut the hell up, you ignorant fool! Don't you realize what I'm capable of?" It hissed in a horribly cold voice, sending shivers down her spine, it sounded almost right in her ear...

I... I can't just be imagining things, can I? She wondered with a tightening chest, her heart began to pound with the anxiety and adrenaline gushing into her bloodstream, her tail spikes rose and shook, her talons clutched her books closer and tighter.

Whatever she was hearing, it was a threat, and she had to get away from it, now!

She hurriedly began a quick walk down the hall, feeling her powers manifest as her heart glowed a bit brighter, her talons burned as a flurry of feelings rushed through her. Get away get away get away! She thought in a hurry, silently hoping she wouldn't have to engage in combat, she hoped she could just escape the shadows and run back to her friends, back to Eis.

The sound of talonsteps behind her made her break into a run, but no matter how close she came to a little bit of light, it would dim and disappear, she continued to run in near blackness. Are you kidding me? She thought with fear, SchattenSeeles... WHY!?

"Because..." laughed the voice, "we need you dead and gone... goodbye CryoFangs–!"

She was tackled to the ground, smacking her face onto the floor and tasting the metallic taste of blood in her mouth as she bit her tongue. Her books scattered across the floor, the weight of a large dragon upon her crushed the air from her lungs, she felt its claws dig into her body and blood ooze from her wounds.

"G-Get off of me!" She gasped, "or I'll kill you right now!"

"Oh? I'm terrified!" He hissed, her heart was drumming wildly with fear, her breathing constricted by the weight pressing onto her upper back and pinning her wings to her sides. "How can you possibly do that when you're already dead, CryoFangs? I've got my weight on your most important organs: your lungs, and with your breathing constricted, I don't think you'll be calling up your powers without risking falling unconscious..."

Sweet Novembus... he knows about my lung issue! He planned this! Oh... oh no... she thought with tears brimming in her eyes, trying to keep as much air in her lungs as possible as she breathed slow, shallow breaths.

"Hmm... whatever shall I do with you? Suffocate you? Crush your body with sheer force alone? Ah, the possibilities..."

She hissed, "y-you sick freak! Let me go and I'll show you what I can do to you!"

"That's not possible, CryoFangs... now– do you have any last words before your inevitable doom?" He growled, lowering his snout to her ear as he smiled wickedly, she could feel his heart pounding as if he was excited about killing her.

I have only one possible thing to scream... she thought, seeing her vision blur as consciousness began slipping away from her grasp.

Please-- Holy Ruler, let this work!

"HEEEEELP!!" She screamed with what air she had in her lungs, "PLEASE! HELP!?" CryoFangs felt her voice giving out, but she screamed only for her survival, her lungs ached as she bellowed: "HEEEEEELP, SOMEBODY PLEASE! HEE–"

Her snout was abruptly forced shut as large, beefy talons gripped it, she felt as mossy bandages were wrapped hastily around her mouth and silencing her. The scent of blood hit her nostrils, the bandages were used, she realized.

She struggled under his weight as her body begged for air, her heart drumming out of her chest as her tears ran down her face, what is he... doing with me? She wondered, CryoFangs hoped that somebody had heard her distraught screams...

"Nobody heard you, little CryoFangs... you're done for– and I can't wait to put an end to that beating heart of yours!"

A ferocious pain smacked into the side of her head, and everything faded to black.

. . .

Eis and Nimbus had fallen asleep, but Eis was having a bit of trouble sleeping easy. Something bad nagged at him, like a dreadful air had settled in the room and he couldn't rid the room of it. 'But why?' He wondered to himself for the fifth time that night, 'she's only been gone for an hour and a half...'

He rolled onto his side and tried sleeping again, his mind drifting into warm thoughts of him and CryoFangs together, her dazzling eyes sparkling as he made her laugh, the purple blush that rose into her cheeks when he flustered her.

It calmed him, but the uneasiness only intensified over the next half-hour...

"...heeeeelp..." whispered a distant, faraway voice, making him sigh heavily. 'My brain won't shut up...' he grumbled, believing it was only his imagination.

It sounded again, still very distant, but a little louder and a bit more distraught: "please! Help!?"

Eis listened intently from where he lay on her bed, the darkness in the room seemed to press in closer as he furrowed his brow. 'Who's yelling?' Eis asked himself, the voice wasn't all that clear...

Suddenly, a bright flash of light burst before his eyes, and a slew of images flashed inside his head:

Purple blood, a horrible scream, the shadows closing in...

Tears fell, anger grew, and pain bloomed...

He was alarmed with what he felt, saw, and heard. He rolled out of bed and made his way to the door, quietly slipping outside as he began to ask himself: 'was that Cryo screaming?'

The memory of his dream about her dying in the HallowFrost library made him horribly anxious, and then Eis wondered if it had been predicting something else entirely...

'Dear Novembus, is she–?'

'NO! No, don't you even DARE!' He thought with fury at himself, she wasn't dead, CryoFangs wasn't dead. If anything, she was alive and breathing, she was still within the Palace, he was sure of it!

The prince felt his talons shake, there was no mistaking that he had a feeling something happened. 'I've got to find her!'

Eis rushed off down the hallway, her scent was faint in the air, but noticeable as he sniffed rapidly, his stomach just about in knots as he listened and looked for any sign of CryoFangs, his senses on alert. He felt the ache slowly growing in his heart as he searched with no results, he had found no trace of her...

But then he heard a commotion up ahead, in the semi-darkness:

"What happened here?"

"Who got attacked?"

"Is that... no, it can't be..."

His brain went into an anxious overdrive: 'attack? What happened? Is she here? Is she hurt?'

He rushed into the dark, finding Queen Sselvu, King Weeper, and another Wyrmwood gathered around something on the floor, Eis caught their attention with his footsteps approaching them.

"What's wrong?" He panted, Sselvu whipped her head towards him and widened her eyes in shock, she said not a word to the prince as she shuffled away from him. Eis wondered why he had no answer from her, "Sselvu, what happened?" His voice rose, she did not utter a word, but rather she nodded her head at the floor.

Eis felt his eyes follow her gaze, and as he gazed at the floor, his brain went blank.

Purple blood had splattered onto the wooden floor, claw marks dug into the wood and two books had fallen to the ground. Eis was empty for only a moment before the fury of a thousand storms crashed into him, he began to tremble as tears welled in his eyes.

He then spoke in a dangerously calm voice, demanding an immediate answer before he exploded before their eyes: "which one of you hurt my Snowflake?"