Death Guns In Another World

Chapter 2101: The Frozen Valkyries: The Descent into Dragon's Maw

The morning sun cast pale light across the training grounds of the White Castle. Maria stood at the center, her white hair untouched by the wind, her ice-blue eyes scanning the seven women before her.

They were her elite. Her chosen. The Frozen Valkyries, though that name had not yet been spoken aloud. Each was a master of ice in her own right. Each had been tested and proven. Each looked at Maria with something between respect and awe.

Today, they would face their greatest challenge.

Maria spoke, her voice flat and cold. "The Dragon's Maw dungeon. Third circle. Drake packs. Wyverns in the upper chambers. Possibly a young dragon at the deepest level."

The seven women stood perfectly still, absorbing the information. No questions. No fear. They had learned to trust their commander completely.

"Our goal is not just survival," Maria continued. "It is growth. You will fight. You will learn. You will become stronger."

She paused, letting her gaze touch each of them in turn.

"I will guide. I will correct. You will execute."

The seven nodded as one.

Then they marched forward.

The Dragon's Maw was a day's journey from the White Castle. It sat in the heart of the Frozen Peaks, a massive cave mouth ringed with icicles as long as spears. The air around it shimmered with cold, and the ground was covered in ancient frost that never melted.

Maria stopped at the entrance. She turned to her squad.

"Formation Delta. Elara, forward scout. Signa, rear guard. The rest, box formation. Move."

The women flowed into position without hesitation. Elara, small and quick with sharp blue eyes, slipped ahead into the darkness. Signa, tall and broad-shouldered, took the rear. The other five formed a tight box around Maria, who walked at the center.

They finally entered the dungeon.

The first chamber was vast. A frozen cavern with walls of black ice and a ceiling lost in darkness. The air was thick with the smell of dragons—musky, hot, dangerous.

Elara reappeared, moving silently. She signed with her hands.

Three drakes. Sleeping. Forty paces ahead.

Maria nodded. She looked at the squad.

"Astra, Freya. Ice lances. Aim for the eyes. Bryn, Inga. Follow with leg cuts. Disable before kill. Sigrid, cover. Elara, rearguard. Signa, watch our backs."

The women moved.

Astra and Freya stepped forward. They raised their hands, and ice formed in the air before them—long, sharp lances, perfectly balanced. They threw at the same moment.

The lances flew true. Two drakes woke screaming as ice pierced their eyes. They thrashed, blinded, roaring in pain.

Bryn and Inga were already moving. Their ice blades flashed, cutting deep into the drakes' legs. Tendons severed. The beasts collapsed, unable to stand.

The third drake woke and lunged at Bryn. Sigrid stepped between them, her ice shield forming instantly. The drake's jaws snapped against it, teeth cracking.

Maria watched. She did not move.

"Freya. Neck."

Freya's second ice lance took the third drake in the throat. It gurgled and fell.

The chamber fell silent.

The seven women stood over the three dead drakes, breathing hard. They looked at Maria.

She gave a single nod. "Acceptable. Astra, your throw was too slow. You hesitated. Next time, the drake would have moved."

Astra's face fell, but she nodded. "Yes, Commander."

"Learn. Improve. Move."

They went deeper.

The second chamber was a long tunnel sloping downward. The walls pulsed with faint heat—signs of active magma channels deeper in the mountain. The drakes here were larger, more aggressive.

They came in a pack. Six of them, charging up the tunnel, their claws scraping against the ice.

Maria spoke calmly. "Wall formation. Bryn, Inga, front. Astra, Freya, second line. Sigrid, shield rotation. Elara, high ground. Signa, hold rear."

The women moved like they shared one mind.

Bryn and Inga dropped to one knee, their ice forming into a low wall in front of them. Astra and Freya stood behind, ice lances already forming. Sigrid stood to the side, her shield ready to cover any breach.

The drakes hit the wall.

Ice shattered. Bryn and Inga rolled back, avoiding the claws. Astra and Freya threw their lances into the exposed bellies of the lead drakes. Two fell.

But three more pushed through. One leaped at Freya.

Sigrid's shield was there. The drake's claws scraped against it, leaving deep grooves. Sigrid grunted but held.

"Elara," Maria said.

Elara dropped from the ceiling, her ice daggers plunging into the drake's spine. It crumpled.

The last two drakes hesitated. They looked at the seven women, at their dead pack mates, at the cold figure standing untouched at the center.

They turned and ran.

Maria watched them go. "Let them. They will warn the deeper levels. It does not matter."

She looked at her squad. Blood dripped from small wounds. Breath came hard. But they were standing.

"Bryn, your wall was too thin. You sacrificed strength for speed. Against larger drakes, you would have died."

Bryn bowed her head. "Yes, Commander."

"Freya, you exposed your flank. Sigrid saved you. Next time, be aware."

Freya nodded, shame in her eyes.

"Good. We rest ten minutes. Then we go deeper."

The third level opened into a massive cavern. The ceiling was lost in darkness, but the floor was lit by glowing magma rivers that cut through the ice like veins of fire. The heat was intense, the air thick and hard to breathe.

At the center of the cavern, coiled around a pillar of black rock, was a wyvern.

It was larger than any they had faced. Its scales were dark red, nearly black, heated by the magma below. Its eyes burned with ancient intelligence. Its tail, tipped with a stinger the size of a sword, twitched slowly.

Behind it, a tunnel led deeper. The final level. The young dragon's lair.

Maria studied the wyvern. Then she looked at her squad.

"This is the test," she said quietly. "This creature is faster than drakes. Smarter. It breathes fire, not ice. Your element gives no advantage. Some of you may die."

The seven women looked at the wyvern. They looked at each other. They looked at Maria.

Elara spoke for them all. "We trust you, Commander."

Maria felt something stir in her cold chest. She pushed it down.