Demonic Devourer's Development

When I found strength filling my limbs again, my body was completely squished between the snow. So much so, that even though there was a small pocket of air next to me, it was a real effort to reach it and form lungs to breathe it in. But I managed.

The pocket of air was half-formed by the hollow in the trunk I so desperately tried to cling to, and by half—a magic membrane of force that was, undoubtedly, Pest\'s work. It gave me just enough air to fill myself with oxygen and use blind sight to find out how deep I was under the snow.

The blind sight didn\'t reach to the surface.

It was alarming. There was nothing I won\'t be able to eat through, and some snow wasn\'t an exception from that rule, but I still had to breathe, and the air I had would only last for so long. At least the cold only added to my strength, not sapped it.

I inspected what else I had. The sword I carried got lost somewhere in the snow during the fall, but the ring, to my joy, was still stored in my body, where I kept it.. Then I searched the snow around me for more air. In my blind sight, every stray rock and piece of wood were visible, and with them—the pockets of compressed air they created.

Without wasting time, I morphed into a worm-like form, most adapted to eating its way through things, and began to chew my way towards the nearest one. While I did, I spoke with Pest.

\'Good job on that bit of the magic barrier,\' that I had to give him, as reluctant to give him praise as I was. But fair was fair. Besides, I was toying with an idea of giving Pest a little more freedom for a while now… \'It deserves a reward.\'

He didn\'t respond—he couldn\'t, since I didn\'t order or ask him anything—but the silence in my head was so heavy I could feel the question. If I had a mouth suited for that and a time for more than biting and swallowing, I\'d grin. \'Pest, you are now allowed to speak up to give me advice you think will be useful to me. But let me warn you. If you use that right to pester me with bullshit, it will be back to the silent mode with you, got it?\'

\'Yesss! Finally! I mean… Oh, whatever. That\'s some freedom, at least. And to think I was so disappointed when I couldn\'t control my host.\' Pest finished his tirade that went from ectatic to disgruntled in the span of seconds with a snort.

I felt like regretting my decisions already.

The first pocket of air I found didn\'t bring me any closer to the surface, but it gave me a few more minutes to use and to plan my route. My end goal was the surface, but I needed air to reach it. There were no quick ways to do that, too—trying to claw my way through the tons of snow would be beyond my scope of power.

That meant planning and rationing of my most precious supply right now—air. There were a few pockets above, and a few pockets below, and some on the side. I moved to the closest again, scanning my surroundings and calculating the route in my mind as I did.

The tunnels behind me filled with snow, but that meant that at least some of the air I caught followed me. To make it all the air, I formed a few air pockets within myself, like air tanks. With that, each pocket I reached before I exhausted all the air from the previous one gave me more of a reserve to reach the surface with.

And I had to exhaust the air. Used air could only harm me. I couldn\'t remember how the gas people exhaled when they breathed was called, but I knew it was poisonous in big amounts. I had one too many poisons in my already, to after I breathed the air a little, I just ate it together with the snow.

Still, the further I went, the more air tanks I filled. The more I dug, and closer to the surface, the more air there was just around, mixed with the snow. I dug, dug and dug, until finally a glimmer of emptiness touched the periphery of my blind vision.

Immediately, I changed my course towards it, and didn\'t stop until my head broke to the surface. Finally, I could take a full breath of fresh air, could morph eyes to look around and see where did I end up after that mad ride.

The place was unfamiliar and strange. A small valley surrounded by walls of snowy cliffs, but with no snow inside. Instead, warmth of spring that ruled at the mountain\'s foot was there in full bloom, together with the first spring flowers amid green grass. Next to all this, a pile of snow from the avalanche created a jarring contrast. But I could see that the snow was already melting, and the first trickles of water began to run down from it and towards a narrow stream that ran through the valley.

I pulled myself fully out of snow and wondered how could\'ve I missed that miracle when I was flying above the mountains. An island of warmth amongst all the cold… The animals there were all from the warmer places, too. I spotted a rabbit running through grass, and a mouse—just a mouse, no horns—scuttling into its burrow.

\'Master, I feel powerful magic around this place. My advice—be cautious! I\'m unsure what it does, but probably warms everything up. Oh, and I think I know what your new ring does. Try putting it on, it should create an illusion of something around you.\'

\'Magic, well, what else could it be?\' I asked sarcastically. I really hoped there were no more draining curses around…