Meera must have been a hundred feet from the ground, but still, she couldn't see the top of the ice wall. It was lost in the clouds above. She could see why no one had been able to climb it before, as it was nothing but ice. There was no place to rest once you began the climb.

The chill alone must've been enough to deter anyone foolish enough to try. Even though her armor insulated her, she still felt a little chilly. It wasn't as bad as when she was trapped in Zerodra's fist, but given time, it might get bad. She could only imagine what it would be like up top.

It was like the world itself had made this the natural border. Like it was saying that this is it. You cannot go any further. But Meera had to. There was no other way for her. If she could reach the top and somehow reach the Warlocks, she wouldn't have to worry about the queen's prophecy. She could bypass it and continue her search for Neel.

At this point, she should know better to try to fight a prophecy, but she still had to try. After all, the second line of the prophecy did state that she would be willing to pay any cost, even if that cost were this.

With no other choice, she started to ascend. She covered her head as the chill wind was biting at her skin, but she left some holes open for her nostrils and mouth. Soon, she passed through the light and misty clouds, and a chill went through her spine. It was cold but also beautiful. Finally, she could see the top of the glacial wall.

It wasn't like a mountain, but it didn't have a sharp peak; rather, it was like a cliff. The air got really thin at this height. She gulped in air through her mouth to make up for her low oxygen. She slowed her speed so she could get used to the air. Then, finally, she did it.

She had climbed the Pale Mantle.

She knew she wasn't the first person to have achieved this feat, but still, it felt good…and cold. The winds blew at full speed without hindrance. For as far as she could see, there were no mountains, hills, or rock outcrops—just simple icy plains. Snow blew on the winds, but in every sense of the word, this place was a frigid wasteland.

Why is it called the White Ember? She wondered.

She took a step and nearly slipped on the ice. She willed her armor to form spikes on the bottom of her boots. She could have flown, but she wanted to get acclimated first. She was sure her armor was stopping most of the cold, but she knew she wouldn't last long in this weather. She reached into her belt, pulled out one of the fur coats, and immediately put it on. She hugged her arms as some of the warmth spread through her body.

Then she flew a few feet above the icy ground and started flying south. It was hard to tell how long she had traveled before the fur coat failed her, too. She was shivering uncontrollably. She couldn't help but wonder what was causing this cold. If she didn't know any better, she would've figured that she was walking on Zerodra's skin.

But all this didn't deter her. Then the wind picked up. One moment, it was fine, and the next, she was pushing against it. She was almost certain it was unnatural, but there was nothing in sight.

She whipped her hand and activated Frigid Wave. A wave of ice materialized before her. The wave crested and froze on the spot, blocking the wind. She hunkered down behind the shield, but it did little to stop the cold. She sat there shivering, blowing hot winds into her hands and rubbing them together to warm them up. It did practically nothing. After a long while, the winds died down a little, and she moved on.

She had gone just a little when she felt the ground groan underneath the ice. She stopped, looked around, and didn't see anything. The winds moved, swirling the snow, but nothing out of the ordinary. She chucked it to the ice breaking in the glacier.

She continued on her way, and she had gone a little further when there was a freak gust of wind that sent her rolling through the air. She righted herself, pulled off two chakrams, and stared intently. Once again, there was nothing.

After a moment, she started to move forward, only to realize she didn't know which way was south anymore. She looked up, but there was no sun, only clouds above, so it was hard to tell which direction was south.

She gritted her teeth and shivered for a few minutes, trying to find her frigid wave, but it was gone. She grunted and decided to move ahead, and she would course correct when she got a glimpse of the sun. The journey did not become any easier. The wind picked up again. Meera dropped to the icy ground and raised a Mirror Tower Shield to hunker down behind it, only for the Tower Shield to fall on her head.

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The cold was unbearable now. Her nose was leaking. Her lips had a thin crust of frozen snow. Even the fur coat did little to insulate her. She thought her armor would protect her, but it didn't look like the case anymore. She breathed a deep breath of the cold air, trembled, and then shot out dark flames using her Shadowflame Devastation skill.

The world lit up with dark flames. She instantly felt their warmth, and her trembling stopped for a brief moment. Once the fire fizzled out, the cold returned, and so did her shivering. She would give anything for warmth at this point.

For the first time since she got here, she thought of turning back but didn't know which direction to go in. All around her was nothing but snow and ice. Now, she didn't tremble from the cold but fear.

Then the ice awoke.

At first, Meera didn't know what it was. It looked like the glacier had cracked and chunks of ice had started rolling by itself, but it wasn't that. Those icy chunks rolled, converging on Meera's location, stopped, and then stood. The closest thing to these that Meera had seen were the Mirror Golems from Cliffshield Valley.

But this golem wasn't symmetrical in shape. It had an overall humanoid shape, but its body looked different from every angle. It was bent forward as if it were a hunchback. It wasn't particularly tall. It was as if someone had smashed it on the head with a hammer and squished the top half of its body.

[The Splintered Glacidrak – Level 450]

Meera raised an eyebrow. Is there more of its kind?

She rolled her shoulders and activated Druvis Might. She figured she might as well move around and get some warmth in her body. She pulled a level 2 chakram and launched herself at it. She was fast, and the golem wasn't even close to her speed.

She punched the thing's torso with her chakram and sent it rolling. By the time it stopped, it had lost a chunk of its torso. There was a wide indent in its icy chest. But the ice of the glacier crawled upward on its legs to its torso and healed the ice golem.

Meera squinted. She had fought enough things that could self-heal. This thing was no different than Aksha drinking poison to heal herself, but in this thing's case, it was ice.

"No problem." Meera spun her chakram on her finger and hurled it at the monster.

It swayed to the side, but it was useless. Meera used the newest effect of her chakrams—size manipulation. The level 2 chakram expanded in size to become the size of a cartwheel. The chakram cut the ice monster's arm off and slashed clean through its chest. The golem stared at its severed arm.

Meera used Mirror Bolt and brought the chakram around to cut the Glacidrak in half. Its top half fell to the ground as Meera caught her oversized chakram and then shrank it back down to size.

She had thought that was it, but the ice golem was not so easily defeated. After all, it was in its home, and the environment itself was his. The glacial ice reassembled the Glacidrak.

It stood up, ready to fight once again.

This time, its shape was different. It was taller and bulkier. Its hunchback was gone, and it stood straighter. Though its shoulders were still uneven, the golem was as if it hadn't been hurt at all.

Okay, let's try this again, shall we?

It was clear that the ice healed it, so she had to kill it in a way that it couldn't come back. She knew of only one way of achieving this goal, which would be anything but easy.

With a chakram in each hand, she blasted off towards the ice monster. It swung its icy arms and launched icy spikes towards her. She avoided them easily. After all, she was much faster than it.

She launched half a dozen of her chakrams at the golem and cut it into so many pieces that by the time she was done, it was nothing but a pile of humungous ice cubes.

Meera snorted. "That was easy."

But she was wrong. There was a rumbling as the pile of ice exploded outwards, and Glacidrak stood unharmed and refreshed. This time in a different form. It was more squat but had sharp claws for hands and a spiky shell.

Meera groaned. "Seriously?"

She didn't waste a single moment. She had thought that would do the trick, but no, it was still alive and kicking. There was only one way left to destroy this thing that made sense to Meera.

She flew point blank at the ice golem. It smashed its clawed hand into the ground. Ice spikes jutted out of the ground in Meera's flight path. She dodged left and right, but one punctured her side, but she kept going.

She pulled out the broken ice spike. Blood poured out of the wound, but not for long as her armor closed around the wound. She activated Greater Vitalize, and the pain subsided as the healing began.

She punched the squat golem with her chakram, taking a chunk off its face. It swayed to the side. She followed it up with a couple more punches to keep it off balance. Then she activated Druvis Might and punched it in its abdomen so hard that her chakram went in a whole foot. Using her free hand, she gripped the monster's neck and roared as she blasted straight up into the air.

She hoped taking the ice monster away from its element would do the trick.

She drew a deep breath and unleashed Shadowflame Devastation. Dark flames exploded out of her mouth, heating the world. The snow and ice melted, and then the water evaporated by her devastating dark fire.

She breathed a deep sigh of relief, but she was wrong once again.

The glacier itself cracked underneath her in many directions. It was a spiderweb-like crack, and what came out of it made Meera shudder.

A dozen ice golems climbed out of the cracks. All in different shapes and sizes. They had no faces or mouths, but Meera could feel the hate radiating from them.

I guess it's not over yet.

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