Chapter 111: New Life
Reinhard found himself drifting and falling into an abyss once more.
This felt so similar, but he couldn’t seem to recall.
Then light began to shine around, coming in all colors at an incredibly fast pace. Before growing righter and brighter. Until it consumed everything, and Reinhard could only make out white.
Before he then blinked and saw a familiar icy world with familiar figures.
Reinhard saw the towering giant settle into a new routine. It would create its ice structures, maintaining and expanding the frozen kingdom it was building. When weariness overtook it, it would sleep, and from its sleeping form would come the sweating that birthed new beings.
But now it was careful to ensure these births happened only here, in the safety of the cold, where the small ice-beings could survive and thrive.
The population of smaller beings grew steadily. They had developed their own patterns of behavior and their own crude society. They would gather in groups, communicating in those incomprehensible growls and guttural sounds.
Some of them began attempting to mimic the giant’s ice manipulation, though their efforts were far less impressive. They could create small structures that served their needs, but then destroy them as soon as they’re built.
The giant watched them with something that might have been paternal pride, though its expression was difficult to read in its crystalline features. It had gone from a solitary existence to being surrounded by life that had, in a very real sense, come from it.
The frozen realm was no longer empty.
Time continued its strange passage, and the boundaries between sleep and waking blurred for the giant. It would create, then rest, then wake to find more beings had formed, and then create again.
The cycle became constant, similar to how the sun rises and falls through the day.
Then something happened after a long time, and the environment began to change.
The frozen realm was vast, but it wasn’t static.
The frost that formed its foundation was constantly shifting, melting at the boundaries and reforming elsewhere. The giant noticed an increase in this melting and saw the ice receding in certain areas, while new formations appeared in others.
And then something new emerged from the melting frost.
It was another massive being, towering over even the giant.
This one was quadrupedal, with a thick body covered in white fur. The creature had four powerful legs ending in broad hooves, and its head was broad and flat with small, dark eyes that surveyed the world with patience. The giant approached this new being cautiously, as unlike the small ice-beings that had formed from its sweat, this creature seemed to have emerged from the frost itself, a product of the environment rather than of the giant.
The two beings regarded each other for a long moment, neither showing aggression.
Then the creature’s purpose became apparent.
It lowered its massive head and began licking the ice and frost around it. Its broad tongue scraped across the frozen surface, and where it licked, the ice responded differently than it did to melting.
The frost seemed to be nourishing the creature somehow, though the mechanism wasn’t clear.
The creature’s tongue left clean paths across the ice, polishing it to a mirror sheen.
The giant watched this behavior with interest. After a moment’s hesitation, it approached the creature from the side. The creature didn’t react with fear or aggression, simply continued its licking.
The giant lowered its head, positioning itself near the creature’s side, and instinct guided what happened next.
The creature shifted slightly, and the giant found what it was looking for, nourishment.
It was strange and surreal even in this dream-space, but somehow it worked. The creature sustained the giant in a way the environment alone could not. Some of the smaller ice-beings saw this exchange and approached as well.
They were too small to reach what the giant had accessed, but they seemed to understand the significance of this new creature. Instead of trying to feed, they began to help with what the creature was doing.
They started licking the frost around them, their smaller tongues working across the ice in mimicry of the larger being.
The creature seemed content with this arrangement, showing no distress at being surrounded by the ice-beings. It simply continued its patient work and licked away at the frost steadily.
This new routine established itself alongside the others.
The giant would create its structures, the creature would lick at the ice, the small beings would go about their simple lives, and all would be sustained by the strange relationships that had formed in this frozen realm.
But the creature’s licking was having an effect beyond simple nourishment. As it worked away at the frost, removing layers that had perhaps been there since the beginning of this strange world, something was being revealed beneath.
At first, it was just suggestions of a figure, but Reinhard wasn’t sure.
But as more frost was licked away, as the creature continued its patient workday after day, the shapes became more defined.
The small ice-beings had joined in this effort with enthusiasm, though their smaller mouths and tongues made progress slower. Still, they worked at it, drawn by some instinct or curiosity to uncover what lay beneath the ancient frost.
The towering giant became involved as well.
It couldn’t lick away the ice as the creature and its children did, but it could use its manipulation abilities to carefully remove layers of frost in areas where the shape beneath was becoming clear.
The work became a collaborative effort, all three types of beings working together toward a common but unclear goal.
More and more was revealed.
The shape beneath the frost was massive, easily as large as the giant itself. It was humanoid, that much became clear, but it was distinct from the giant in subtle ways.
Where the giant’s form was jagged and geometric, this hidden figure had smoother lines. Where the giant was all sharp angles and crystalline patterns, this being seemed more organic and more naturally formed.
The work continued.
The creature’s tongue had worn smooth from the constant licking, but it showed no signs of stopping.
The small ice-beings had formed assembly lines of sorts, some working on exposing new areas while others polished sections that had already been revealed.
The giant supervised it all, using its abilities to assist where needed, clearing away large amounts of frost when the shape beneath was certain.
After an indeterminate length of time, the work was complete.
The being beneath the frost was fully revealed. It lay on the ice as if sleeping, its form pristine and perfect. Like the giant, it had ice-like features, but they were softer, while its face was peaceful as it slept.
It was beautiful in a way that the giant was not with its pale silver skin.
The giant stood over this newly revealed being, its white eyes studying every detail.
The small ice-beings clustered around, their incomprehensible sounds taking on wonder while the creature continued its licking, now maintaining the cleared areas rather than revealing new ones.
They waited.
The giant, the cow, and the small ice-beings all waited for this newly uncovered being to stir, to awaken, to join them in this frozen realm.
Then everything froze and shattered, with darkness taking up Reinhard.