Esriah was cleaning her cottage in the dead of night when they arrived. Ever since her husband's tragic death, she wore black, and always tried to avoid others. She swiped the rag across the filthy, grimy windows. She heard a loud noise. Bang. Deafened in her old age, she assumed that the rowdy men in the village had gotten drunk and were fighting one another. Esriah wiped off the last of the dirt and hauled herself inside. She walked over to her most prized possession. She flipped the secret lever that retracted into the secret room, "Keep this for me, will you?" Her husband's last words echoed through her mind. Adoringly she gazed at the finely polished emerald tipped blade. She heard another noise. She shut the door to the secret room and flipped the lever again. Bang. A lot closer this time. She ignored it and picked up her glasses. She grabbed a book from the shelf at random and began to read. Another Bang. This one sounded like it was right outside her door. Didn't that "Bang" noise sound a little like a.. gunshot? She lowered her book and peered through the window. A man stood at the now open doorway. And the last thing that Esriah saw was the double barrel of the man's shotgun.
Xtremeo, Seebercon, and Atomo exited the forest, where they found a village. A bakery gave out a pleasant aroma. Stomachs rumbling, they ran towards the village. They stopped in their tracks when they was what was going on. A coffin was being lowered into a grave. Many people, all dressed in black, had their heads down, looking solemn. Suddenly they weren't that hungry. Atomo decided to ask what was happening.
"What's going on?" he asked a lady dressed in black.
"An old woman called Esriah was brutally murdered yesterday!" she wept.
"Murdered?" asked Atomo.
"She was found with a shotgun shell in her head, and an expression of extreme terror on her face." replied the woman. "She was the kindest old lady in the village, always took to helping others."
The woman went back to weeping.
***
Seebercon stopped by a cottage that looked like it had been blasted into. Ice coated the doorway, but it was the middle of the winter. "The scene of the crime," he thought. He walked in through the open doorway and looked around, There was a stain on the floor that might have been honey. He went over to the bookshelf and saw a book that he liked. Maybe it would help him keep entertained in the future. He knew he was breaking and entering but he couldn't help himself. He tried to take the book, but it was stuck. Just his luck. He pulled, pushed, shoved, grunted, but nothing seemed to work. Frustrated, he yanked it with every ounce of his strength. It didn't budge. He suddenly tripped over a stray book on the floor, and grabbed the book he had been trying to get for balance. To his surprise, it came out easily. The floor rumbled and the bookshelf moved aside, revealing a stair case.
"No way.."said Seebercon
A secret room! He walked down the path stealthily. He pulled out his BB-gun and kept walking. Suddenly he heard the floorboards creak in front of him. He crouched behind a wall and placed his hand on the trigger. He peered around the corner. A man stood there, with a double barrel shotgun. Seebercon caught a glimpse of him. His skin was pale, and he had dark hair. His eyes were two different colors - one black, one an icy blue - were as frosty as the freezing winter air outside. In one hand he held an ice-tipped blue spear. With his other hand the man rummaged through a chest that looked like a shard of ice had blasted it apart- weird. Suddenly, the man pulled out a sword with a gleaming black hilt and a razor-sharp emerald blade. He laughed an icy, mocking laugh that seemed to make the frostbound room even colder than it already was. The man turned - and bumped straight into Seebercon. For a second they just stared at each other. Then Seebercon lifted the BB gun and fired. The man dodged it easily and swept at the air with his spear. A massive shard of ice impaled the area where Seebercon was just standing. What the hell? Seebercon leapt into the air and fired again. His bullet caught the man in the shoulder, but it just bounced off like the pellet was made of ice. Suddenly Seebercon had an idea. He ran to the far end of the room, just as the man shot another shard of ice at him. Seebercon grabbed the shard of ice, and with all his strength flipped it around and threw it back. The man leisurely deflected the shard of ice that Seebercon had just shot at him by firing another shard at Seebercon's shard. They both shattered in midair as they slammed into each other. Seebercon knew he couldn't fight like this forever. Already his strength was dipping. He tossed the BB gun at his opponent, who batted it away. Seebercon drew his pocketknife. The man laughed - until Seebercon impaled his arm against the wall with the knife. The knife started to turn to ice, but then instead glowed green. Seebercon walked over and took back the knife. He flicked a switch he'd custom installed on it, and the knife grew at least twice its original length. He slashed at the man, who was to stunned to do anything except block. Seebercon hit him on the head with the flat of his blade, and feinted towards his left side. However, the man got over his shock and anticipated the trick. He turned his hand to ice and blocked the strike. The man flicked Seebercon's knife away. Seebercon's reflexes turned to their best. And if this didn't work, he was dead. Seebercon leapt over the man's head, grabbed the knife in midair, did a somersault and threw the knife. His vision went fuzzy, and as he slammed into the wall, everything went dark.
