The sun was descending upon the horizon, though it was difficult to see due to the dark clouds. Once nighttime began, snow fell quickly, accompanied by strong gusts of wind. Joanne's group was dining inside the temple on the ground floor. Despite her efforts to lighten the mood, there was an air of uncertainty around the room.

Tomas and Eila reclined on Ari as they showed off the photos taken during the day. Most were of them posing with children who lived on temple grounds. The majority had bowl cut hair and wore simple blue or green tunics and sandals, contrasting with the twins' thick parkas, gloves, and snow boots. Mr. Diderot sat close to Tomas, putting an arm around him as he leaned over to see Eila's photos.

With a look of interest, he said, "You know, Eila, I think you'd be a great photographer if you practice some more! I mean, look at this! Why I could just print that out and frame it up on a wall!"

Mr. Diderot's hearty laugh lifted the twins' nervous moods, with Tomas smiling and giggling a little.

Eila blushed and sheepishly raised a hand up to the side of her head, "Eh-heh. Well, I don't think they're that good, dad."

While Mr. Diderot praised Eila's photographing skills, Tomas thought about his own.

"What am I good at? I just read and spout trivia about dragons and bugs... Is bug-catching even a skill?"

He put a finger to his chin, thinking, "Hmm, I guess it is. Swinging a net to get one is tough, especially those tiny beetles. They're so quick, I barely even see them fly by..."

Ari growled softly, turning her long neck to face Tomas. She placed her head on the floor next to him, her emerald eyes looked as if begging for a little attention.

Tomas snapped back to reality, chuckled, and slowly stroked her head, from her fine snout to her frills. Her keeled scales seem sharp from a distance, yet they felt as smooth as satin. The larger scales on her face were like armor pieces, but warm to the touch. Her eyes became droopy as Tomas pet her, letting out a low purr.

"Aww, you're just a big ol' kitty, aren't you, girl?" Said Mr. Diderot while patting Ari.

The Diderot family spent dinner having casual conversations, even as the gusts of wind banged on the windows and doors. They were joined by Zippy and his owners, and had a brief discussion with Mr. Diderot and Tomas about the rising popularity of mini dragons as pets. There are concerns about their destructive habits if not trained properly, or not given enough space to move about, but Mr. Diderot argued that having a special license to own one as a requirement should minimize that issue somewhat. Having breeders recommend specific types of dragons fit for the person's lifestyle and home size also helps.

Later that night, Joanne walked up to the second floor alongside four other hikers, leaving the rest of the group to prepare for sleep. The twins chose to sleep close to Ari, while their parents set up their sleeping bags a few feet from them.

With Ari curled up next to them, the twins slowly drifted off to sleep as the wind outside howled. The lanterns attached to wires swayed with the gusts, as snow covered the temple grounds, replacing the various colors with a layer of white.

Meanwhile, in a secluded cliff far away from the temple, a tall man in green clothes put out his campfire. As the man wrapped a ragged brown cloak over his shoulders, bringing his long, dark green hair over it, he gave a sigh.

"I have spent far too long on these frigid, desolate mountains. I fear tonight may be the worst snowstorm I will live through. But I must continue my search..."

He looked down at a small satchel wrapped around his waist, and took out half of a crystal sphere, which shone in all colors of the rainbow. He frowned while looking at it, remembering all the suffering he had endured. He would need a long amount of time and traveling to recover the missing shards, something which exasperated him.

Taking a deep breath, the man looked over the landscape. He told himself to remember that finding the missing pieces is only one of his objectives.

He had to arrive at the temple and warn the oracle somehow, for he had found his attackers' camp giving off that unmistakable scarlet smoke. And he knew, they likely planned to attack Larya's temple, just as they did his more than a year ago. He assumed that they also held one of the gem's shards, so encountering them was a must, despite the danger.

The jewel was the only evidence of the temple's existence now, apart from himself. Recalling the events of the ruthless attack gave him the determination to leave his camp, and head towards the mountain temple.

Visibility decreased as snowfall intensified, making it difficult to tell where he was walking. He could faintly see the lanterns hanging around the temple. With every step his legs would sink into the ground up to his shins.

The wyvern's large and distinctive silhouette hovered close to the clouds, circling Mt. Reilu's peak. Khiboreas howled and roared, attempting to deter the unknown figures approaching the temple.

"I must hurry..." Groaned the man as he picked up the pace.

A few hours into the night, Tomas and Eila were awakened by Ari hissing. She was staring intently at the door, her frills flaring as she held her mouth open, showing her large fangs. Zippy remained quiet, but the tip of his tail shook very fast.

Tomas was the first to get up, tiptoeing to the doors. Eila followed him quietly, and both opened one of the doors ever so slightly and peeked out. The central plaza was dimly lit up by the lanterns, covered by a layer of snow. Save for the howling winds, it was chillingly quiet.

Just as they thought it was just a false alarm, two humanoid shadows appeared from the dark corners of the houses, slumbering towards the temple. Two more figures showed up behind the bonfire, dragging their legs in the snow.

They lurched forward with their bandaged arms bent slightly at the elbows, showing their skinny hands with long, skeletal fingers. They wore tattered brown and black clothes, which hid their morbidly thin bodies, and from under their hoods only small glowing white dots could be seen. If they had a nose or mouth, they were covered by long scarves. The only noise they emitted was a harmonious low hum, as if singing in a choir.

Eila gasped, staring wide-eyed at the creatures. They could not possibly be human, not with those freakishly thin fingers and glowing eyes. And they moved ever so slowly, like zombies in horror movies Tomas would watch in the middle of the night.

Tomas was the first to back away, scared and confused. He wanted to wake his parents up, or alert Joanne, but felt frozen in place.

"W-What are those...things?" Stuttered Tomas as he tried walking towards Eila, who remained motionless at the door.

Suddenly, Ari pushed the door open with her snout while Eila still held it, knocking her to the floor. Zippy scrambled to the stairs, looking for his owners on the second floor. Without thinking, Tomas ran after Ari, while Eila processed what happened.

She soon got up and followed her brother out, yelling, "Tommy, Ari, stop!"

As Ari fled down the stairs to the plaza, the creatures stopped dead in their tracks. Tomas and Eila caught up to her, clinging to her body to hold her in place.

"Ari, c'mon! You can't fight them!" Shouted Tomas as he frantically tried pushing Ari back by holding on to her neck and chest. However, her claws were firmly grabbing onto the tile floor, even through the snow.

The cloaked creatures remained still, seemingly not noticing Ari and the twins looking at them. They were looking up towards Mt. Reilu's peak, where Khiboreas stood, glaring down at them with glowing blue eyes. The creatures, spotted by the guardian, began making a strange clicking noise and ran off towards the giant doors guarding the grounds.

Ari began chasing them, while the twins were still clinging to her. They jumped up to her back as she pushed off the ground with a single, vigorous flap of her wings.

"Ari, stop! I'm ordering you to- No, no, no! Don't start flying now!"

Tomas and Eila shouted at Ari, begging her to stop her pursuit, but she seemed beyond listening to them.

She was on a hunt. And she fully intended to catch her targets.

All the twins could do now was hold on to Ari, too scared to jump off her as she rose over the temple walls. Hail pelted at their backs, making small tears in their pajamas. The freezing air stung their eyes, making it difficult to see where Ari was flying to.

The cloaked creatures were undeterred by the snow, running at blinding speeds though the mountain. No matter how much Ari swooped at them, she could not catch up to them. By luck she managed to grab and tear off part of a creature's hood, revealing skin that looked severely burned and diseased.

Tomas, who had shifted his body to sit on the front of Ari, felt nauseous after catching a glimpse of its exposed skin. Eila sat behind him, clinging to his back.

"A-are you o-ok? Don't f-fall off her n-now..." Said Eila through chattering teeth. She rubbed her sleeves trying to warm up, but Ari's spontaneous turns and descents made it difficult to focus on much else, other than balancing on her back.

Back at the temple, the commotion caused by the twins yelling and Zippy shrieking at his owners woke up the hiking group. Joanne ran down the stairs as Mr. and Mrs. Diderot came out of their sleepy stupor. Their faces grew pale as they realized their children and Ari were missing, looking at the open temple doors in sheer horror.

Both scrambled towards the central plaza, finding a cluster of small human footprints, some claw marks belonging to Ari, and larger, unidentifiable prints.

"Please, oh please, be ok, my sweet kids," murmured Mrs. Diderot, biting her thumb and anxiously looking around.

Mr. Diderot wrapped his arms around her waist, trying to comfort her. A part of him hoped that they would be protected with Ari by their side, at least. Still, his heart felt heavy, and was too tight-jawed to say much.

Joanne and Zippy's owners exited the temple next, as Zippy skittered around the spot where Ari and the twins stood.

"What the nether's goin' on here?" Shouted Joanne with clenched fists.

Larya was behind her, wide-eyed and quiet, trying to comprehend what just happened.

As Joanne talked with the twins' parents, Larya walked around the plaza, expressionless. Her gaze was unfocused merely looking at the ground. She noticed a small group of clerics had gathered down the main road, in front of the huge doors at the entrance. As she approached them, asking if they knew what had occurred, they turned to her in silence. Their eyes were full of fear and grief.

Larya felt her stomach sink, her heart pulsing faster, threatening to jump out of her chest. Gathering her strength, she passed through the group, encountering a most horrifying scene.

The doors were torn open, with large scratch marks and blood scattered over them. The two guards, both considered to be the strongest monks in their congregation, lie on the ground motionless on top of crimson snow.