Matthias's knuckles turned white as his grip tightened on the sword hilt.

The footsteps outside the cave grew closer, accompanied by heavy panting and the sharp crunch of ice. It was as if a herd of giant beasts were grinding their way across the snowy plains.

Matthias signaled his soldiers to douse the torches. In the sudden darkness, the faint blue glow of the cave's mineral stones stretched the shadows of the 30-odd men into elongated silhouettes across the damp moss.

Heavy, labored breaths echoed from the shadows, then several towering figures emerged. Each was at least twice as broad as an ordinary man. Their bodies were covered in long, grayish-white fur, like yarn spun from polar ice.

They carried spears tipped with jagged ice crystals that gleamed in the faint light from the cave entrance, casting shifting, cold reflections across the stone walls.

The burly yeti in the lead wore a string of ice beads around its neck. Each bead contained a tiny frozen animal bone that tinkl