John's heart hammered against his ribs, sweat trickling down his forehead despite the biting cold. "You... Captain Vlad?" he stammered.
The Captain lay broken, his body a map of crimson gashes and tattered cloth. He looked as if he had crawled out of the jaws of hell. His eyes widened in disbelief. "You... how are you still breathing? I threw you into that frozen abyss myself! If the cold didn't take you, the lizards should have torn you to pieces. How?"
John didn't answer. He didn't even know the answer himself. Instead, he stepped closer, his voice trembling with a pain that no ice could cause. "Why?" he asked, a single question he had been screaming in his mind for hours. "Why did you throw me away like bait? Why did you abandon me?"
Tears blurred his vision. To John, Vlad was more than a captain; he was the father he never had. The betrayal stung more than the frostbite.
Vlad's gaze turned cold and weary. "I told you, boy... it wasn't personal. This world has only one law: the survival of the strongest. You either kill, or you're the one being killed."
John stood frozen. The words were harsh, but in this frozen wasteland, they felt like the only truth. "But what about family?" John whispered. "What about loyalty? Protecting those who trust you?"
Vlad let out a raspy, bitter laugh. "Family? Friends? Childish nonsense. In this world, trust is a noose. They'll betray you before you even know their names."
The Captain's breath grew shallow. He pulled a small necklace from his pocket. "Take this... my last request. Put it in my old house. I feel the reaper's hand on my shoulder."
With those final words, Vlad's eyes closed, and his body went limp. John's hands shook—not from the cold, but from the crushing weight of the world. He leaned in to take the necklace, his heart heavy with grief.
Suddenly, Vlad's eyes snapped open. Like a viper, he lunged at John's throat. "Hahaha! You little rat! Did you really think I'd die that easily?"
Vlad wasn't seeking mercy; he was seeking a companion for the grave. But John was no longer the boy who had stepped onto the boat that morning. In a flash of pure instinct, he drew the jagged ice-blade from his sleeve and drove it straight into Vlad's heart.
Silence fell over the cavern, broken only by a sickening, wet gurgle. Because the blade was made of enchanted ice, Vlad's heart froze instantly. No blood sprayed; the life was simply snuffed out, frozen in his chest.
John pulled the blade back, his eyes wide with shock. "I killed him... I actually killed him."
Seconds felt like minutes. Then, a cold resolve settled over him. "I have to get back," he muttered. "Before anyone notices."
He looked at the wreckage. He couldn't sail the boat, but he could build. Using tattered clothes and broken planks, he fashioned a small, crude sled-raft. He scavenged the remaining Red Stones and loaded the supplies.
But how to escape the lizards? He looked at Vlad's corpse. A dark, terrifying idea took root—one that made him shudder. He stuffed several Red Stones into the Captain's pockets and dragged the heavy body to the edge of the cliff.
With a grunt of effort, he hurled Vlad into the water below. He then threw a stone to trigger an explosion. BOOM. The water churned as the Snow Lizards swarmed the explosion, tearing into the remains of the man who had taught John about betrayal.
"This is my chance," John whispered. He loaded his sled, placing a few Red Stones into a small iron box at the back to act as a makeshift engine. The heat caused a controlled burst of steam and pressure, propelling the sled forward across the ice.
As he sped away, John gripped the necklace. He looked back at the darkness one last time. He didn't feel regret.
"In the end, I followed your advice, Captain," John whispered into the wind. "The strongest survives. And you should have known... actions have consequences."
To be continued...