The two Golems stood there for a moment, glaring at the group with murderous intent, before finally moving.
One of the two Golems chased after Tai and Yuko, while the other lashed out at Niko and Hana.
Niko raised a wall of jagged bone to block its attack, but the wall shattered against the Golem's adamantine ice, barely holding out long enough to give them time to dodge out of the way.
The second Golem caught up with Tai and Yuko, blocking their exit.
It tried pummel them with its massive arms, but Tai nimbly dodged in the nick of time.
He set Yuko down on the ground, before running back towards the Golem.
It tried to strike him down, but Tai quickly slid through the gap between its legs to get to the other side.
He then started sprinting away, with the Golem following right behind him.
Tai ran towards the spot where the very first Golem had been shattered.
"You tried to kill my little brother", he gritted his teeth, "Now I'll make you pay for that!"
He reached the pile of broken ice, quickly grabbing a sharp piece from it before jumping away, barely avoiding the Golem's fist, which fell down like a giant hammer.
But that was just what he had needed.
It would take the monster some time to raise its massive limbs again, but before it could, Tai ran up the length of its arm.
Reaching the Golem's face, he plunged the shard of ice into one of its glowing eyes with all his strength.
The Golem screeched in agony, before stumbling back and falling to the ground.
Seeing Tai bring the Golem down, Hana pumped her fist in the air to celebrate, before ducking down to avoid an attack from her own frigid foe.
Raising her hand, she summoned vines to constrict it, while Niko leapt forward to deliver a devastating punch, shattering its entire body.
The Golem was destroyed, but Niko still remained tense, as if waiting for something to happen.
And, as if on cue, another pair of Golems rose to replace their fallen comrade, while the one that Tai had blinded stumbled back to its feet.
Gritting his teeth, Niko looked at Hana and pointed towards the brothers, telling her to go help them while he held off the two new Golems.
She hesitated for a moment, before nodding reluctantly and rushing to the brothers' aid.
Niko summoned countless spikes that bit into the limbs of the two Golems.
They failed to pierce the icy bodies of the two beasts, but still managed to immobilize them long enough for Niko to knock them down with brute force.
This time, however, he made sure that neither of them shattered.
Hana, meanwhile, ran towards Tai and Yuko, summoning vines to bind the Golem attacking them before piercing through its remaining eye with a sharp tendril.
Completely blinded and in agony, the monster thrashed about aimlessly, giving the three of them an opportunity to escape.
Leta flew off of Niko's head, rushing out through the cave's entrance.
"Follow me, I'll find you a safe place to hide!"
Tai ran after the bird with Yuko in his arms.
Hana looked back at Niko for a moment, before running after them as well.
Niko stayed behind to hold the Golems back until the others safely escaped.
Once he was sure that he had bought them enough time, he ran out after them.
But before leaving, there was something he needed to confirm.
So, on his way out, he grabbed the blind Golem and smashed it into the cave's wall, obliterating both the Golem and the wall and starting a cave-in.
Just as he had expected, two more Golems formed out of the freezing wind.
Having confirmed his suspicions, he rushed out through the entrance as the cave collapsed behind him, trapping the Golems inside.
"Niko! Over here!", Leta flew high up, pointing him towards the place where the others were hiding.
He found the three of them inside a damp cave, with Hana healing Yuko's wounds while Tai nervously paced back and forth.
Hana lifted her glowing hands from the boy's body and wiped the sweat off of her forehead.
"Is he alright?", Tai rushed forward, his face full of worry.
Before Hana could answer, Yuko stirred and started to regain consciousness.
When the young boy opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was a beautiful young girl with pale blue hair and an elegant white skirt sitting near him with a smile on her radiant face.
"Am...am I in heaven?", he stared at her with wide eyes.
Tai covered his face with a hand and sighed, "Yeah, he's definitely alright."
Then, his eyes filled with tears.
Wrapping his arms around Yuko, he pulled him into a warm embrace.
"I'm glad you're alright", tears streamed down Tai's cheeks, and he clinged to his brother like his life depended on it.
"Brother, I...", Yuko wanted to complain about the sudden hug, but found himself leaning into his brother's embrace.
His voice hitched as he started sobbing uncontrollably, "I...I was so scared and...I missed you..."
***
Soon, Niko, Hana, Tai and Yuko were all sitting against the cave's walls.
The snowstorm had picked up again, so they had decided to wait in the cave until it died down a little.
Leta was gathering some sticks into a small pile near them.
After that, she uttered a few arcane words, and the sticks caught fire, creating a source of heat for the group amidst the chilling cold.
The little bird may not have been very powerful, but she was quite knowledgeable about many things, including some useful spells.
Niko patted her on the head, prompting a proud smile from the tiny Spirit.
Hana took some bread from Niko's satchel and handed it out, while Tai filled Yuko in on what he had been through after getting hit by the avalanche.
"I...I see...", Yuko slowly nodded, trying to digest everything his brother had told him.
"Thank you", he looked at Niko, "Thank you for all your help."
Although Yuko was thanking him, Niko could see a hint of something else in the boy's eyes as well.
Fear, suspicion...scorn.
He didn't blame the boy, though.
Living people never were fond of Spirits, and Yuko's family had already suffered greatly because of a Spirit.
So, Niko didn't hold it against him.
Leta, however, did.
She glared at Yuko, before sticking her little tongue out at him.
They all turned their attention to the bread in their hands.
The bread had become hard and cold, freezing in the bitter cold like everything else, and yet, eating it was strangely pleasant.
Perhaps they had all been extremely hungry, or perhaps the familiar taste soothed the pain they were suffering in this harsh and alien environment.
Hana absentmindedly summoned a few vines while she ate, frowning when she saw them freeze solid in an instant.
After some time, Yuko sighed and spoke.
"I guess I should also explain my side of the story. Well, it's really not as impressive as yours. After the avalanche, I was left alone and injured. The harsh terrain, the bitter cold, I didn't have it in me to fight against it, but I kept trying nonetheless. I..."
He lowered his gaze, "I didn't want your sacrifice to be in vain, so I tried to at least find that flower so that dad and the others could be treated."
Tai patted his brother's back.
"Don't be too hard on yourself. You did well to survive in this place for so long, so you shouldn't blame yourself for not finding the flower."
Yuko raised his head to look at Tai.
"But I did! I found the flower, several of them! But when I tried to get close, dozens of those Golems showed up and attacked me. I ran away and hid from them, but one of them managed to find me."
"If you all didn't get there on time, it would have...", he shuddered, "It would have definitely killed me."
Just thinking about it sent chills down Yuko's spine.
The rest, however, beamed with joy when they heard him.
Tai grabbed Yuko's shoulders, "You mean you actually found the Winter's Breath?"
Yuko nodded, "Yes, but—we can't just go there and pick one when those Golems are there. You've seen what they can do!"
"We'll need some way to hold them off while we get to the flowers, then...", Tai mumbled, stroking his chin as he tried to think of something.
Niko looked at Hana who, after casting a brief glance at her frozen vines, looked back at him with a grin.
They both nodded in unison.
They had a way to stall the Golems.
With that, they all turned their attentions to the snowstorm raging outside.
"It's settled then", Tai took a deep breath, "As soon as the storm dies down, we'll head out to get the Winter's Breath."