Ryu passed through the portal and immediately felt a shiver run through him when he realized there was a blizzard.  He glanced around, still holding Po in his arms and saw nothing but snow covered barren land for as long as he could see.

He tried his stat screen and thankfully it was functioning.  The screen indicated there was some sort of structure up ahead.  He checked his inventory, grateful to see that he had packed a few items and dawned on a warm jacket.  He zipped it up, placing Po underneath with his head poking out under his chin. 

“Ready?”  

Po barked cheerfully as Ryu set out towards the point on the map.

A half hour later, after trekking through the ankle-deep snow, he could make out some sort of compound ahead.  It almost looked like a fortress to him and he smiled to himself, remembering Rika teasing him about it when they stumbled onto something similar.

Continuing ahead, he saw that the entrance to the building was already open and he pulled up his stat screen again, wondering if it can identify anything inside.

Notice.

Major energy levels detected inside the compound.

Warning: energy levels emitting from a single entity

“That can’t be good.”  Ryu muttered, wondering if it was another God considering that kind of warning and high energy level.  He patted his jacket, knowing his armor was already ready to go and on top of that it was recently blessed by the dwarves.  He figured it had to count for something and aimed for the entryway.

Po was quietly observing but immediately squirmed once he entered the building.  Unzipping the jacket and putting it back away in inventory, he set Po down.  He was surprised to see that the building was temperature controlled somehow and felt cool.  Carefully treading down the hall, he noted several deviating paths, but Po was walking ahead and seemed like he was determined to go a specific way.

Ryu followed him, keeping an eye out for anything that might pop up on the screen or anything around him.  It was almost too quiet and his sense of unease wasn’t going away. In fact it was becoming more troubling how quiet and calm it was.

Taking a page out of Zion and Zariah’s book, he reminded himself not to borrow trouble and continued following Po.  After a few more minutes of walking, they finally reached large double door a few floors below.

Ryu scanned it using his stat screen but found no luck.  He readied a small knife Zion gave him in one hand and a ball of energy in the other before he decided to push the door open with his shoulder.  The doors groaned as he grunted to push them open.  

Po barked and slipped through as soon as the gap was wide enough.

“Wait for me, Po.”  Ryu gasped, squeezing into the narrow entryway he managed.  Once he slipped through, he tensed and braced himself for what he would find.  The room turned out to be a huge circular chamber with a raised dais.  In the middle of that dais was Mu’s unconscious body.  Po hopped up and was licking at her face, whining.

Ryu dispersed the ball of energy and put away the knife, running towards the dais.  

“Mu!”  He called out, touching her head gently while Po continued to nudge his sister.  He leaned close to her mouth and was relieved to hear her breathing.  

“It’s okay Po.  She’ll be fine. Let’s just get her out of here.”  He reassured the wolf cub, scooping her up into his arms.  Po quietly followed him as he stepped of the dais, but the torches lighting the room began to flicker and he glanced around.  He held Mu close to him and took out the knife with his free hand.

“Stay close to me Po.”  The wolf cub began to growl against the far corner in the back of the room.

Ryu tensed, calculating the distance between the dais and the exit.  “Who’s there?”  He called out, slowly stepping back and towards the door.  There was no answer so he took another step back.

“I won’t forgive you if you had anything to do with Mu’s condition.”  He continued, hoping to buy time to reach the exit.

There was still no answer but he kept his eye on that corner since Po was still growling.  Noting the smaller distance, Ryu made a snap decision and quickly scooped up Po and made a run for it.  He could feel a blast of air and knew that whatever was hiding in the shadows was coming after them.

He sprinted forward, pushing himself until he was almost within touch of the doors.  Noting the opening between the doors, he calculated it and kneeled down to jump the rest of the way.  He was close enough that he could grip the door and quickly place both Po and Mu on the other side before he shut it behind him.  Just in time, he had a chance to see what was chasing him through the narrow opening and it was another humanoid Jackal with a sceptre.  But at a quick glance before he shut the door he could tell it was different from the other creatures he’d fought before.  He knew it was probably stronger than even the lieutenant general of the God of Chaos.

Hearing the banging on the door, he retrieved one of the spears he saved in his inventory and barred the door.  He scooped Mu and Po back up and sprinted back down the hall and out of the building.  As soon as he was a few feet away from the compound, he could hear a howl whistle through the air and he picked up his pace.

“Now would be a good time to open a portal Po.”  He murmured, struggling to get through a patch of snow that sunk them nearly to his knees.

Po whimpered but he peeked from Ryu’s arms and his golden eyes briefly glowed.  Before he knew it, there was a portal right across from him.  Without a second thought, he jumped through and found himself back at headquarters.

He glanced up, still holding onto the little ones and saw Brock’s familiar face.  He sighed in relief and lay down on the ground.

“Where have you been lad?  I was staring at that ghost tree you mentioned and next thing I knew you flew out of there like you were being chased by the devil!”

Ryu couldn’t help but smile as he still lay down on the grass.  “Brock, you’re a sight for sore eyes.”  He managed. Mu stirred awake at that moment and weakly lifted her head.  She licked at his face and snuggled into his chest.  Po barked in happiness, burrowing his head under Ryu’s arm to also cuddle next to his sibling.

Brock scratched his head.  “Well, I guess that’s all resolved.  Where are the others?”

Ryu sat up, still holding the little ones.  “You’ll never believe who we came across.”

Brock looked curiously at him and kneeled, producing a small flask.  “You look a little flush lad.  Do you want a drink.”

Ryu shook his head, feeling nothing but appreciation for the dwarf. “We found them Brock.  We found your tribe!”

Brock was silent for a moment, not understanding what he was saying.  And then the words sunk in but he was still in disbelief. “Run that by me again.  You’re saying you found more dwarves?  And they’re my tribe?”

Ryu nodded.  “Yes, they were protected by Ptah all this time in his tower.  They’re excited to reunite with you.”

Brock was still for a moment before he broke out in cheer. “Thank you lad!  Thank you!”  He repeated, sitting down with him on the grass and shaking his free hand.

Ryu shook his head.  “It’s all thanks to everyone.  We can take you there as soon as I catch my breath.”  He lay back down again, still reeling from what he narrowly escaped from.

He glanced down at the little ones who were fast asleep.  Sitting back up, he gently laid Mu into Brock’s hands.  “She was found hurt.  Can you take a look at her and make sure she’s okay?”  

Brock wiped the tears from his eyes and nodded, carefully holding Mu who barely stirred in her sleep.  “She seems to be more in shock than anything.  She’ll be fine.”  He reassured Ryu.

Just hearing that and after everything, Ryu felt like he could sleep for a week. At that though, his eyelids felt a bit heavy.  “Wake me up in a few minutes, Brock.”  He mumbled, already feeling himself get pulled under.

He heard Brock chuckle and felt him place Mu back onto his chest to lay with Po.  Ryu shivered slightly as a cool breeze passed.  Brock produced a small blanket and covered the trio.

“You did great lad. You all did.” He quietly said, looking up at the stars.  “But it’s just the beginning I’m afraid.”