Chapter Four
Volga sat in his keep deciding the best way to retrieve the fairies. After the war, the bokoblins had retreated to their forest in the Lanayru Tundra. His soldiers could not survive in that climate, though the local monsters may be of some use. Having never been to the tundra, he assumed there were ice-oriented versions of the more common monsters, such as keese and chu. The monsters around Eldin Volcano would be more easily commanded due to their familiarity with Volga and his reputation. He decided he'd recruit the more elementally neutral monsters who would have a better chance of surviving the tundra rather than try to command the icy creatures.
After making a few preparations, Volga again set the dinalfos chieftain in charge then set out to recruit King Bulbin, taking a few lizalfos to help. Finding the bulbins turned out to be the biggest problem. They had made their camps in covered and well-hidden areas that were difficult to see from the sky. It had taken them several days to find the camps. The monsters made themselves known with the piercing blare of a bokoblin horn when Volga and his lizalfos finally got too close.
When they appeared to investigate the dragon knight's appearance, he explained his intentions of marching on the bokoblin camp and that he was looking for strong allies to assist in the endeavor. The moblins he encountered first were easily convinced. Still war hungry after Cia's defeat, the large, red, spear-wielding creatures were quickly prepared and willing to march into the tundra after the promise of a raid.
The bulbins were hesitant. The hunchbacked green creatures had a shifty look about them, bandages covering their arms and faces, leaving only a little room for their beady eyes to peek out between the wrappings. They were slow to agree because Volga lost to the Hylian army, they didn't want to fight for the losing side and it took quite a bit of convincing to get them to do so. King Bulbin himself brought the loss to Volga's attention.
"Why should I lend you my soldiers? You who lost to a single hylian knight?" He asked, looking down at the dragon knight from his throne.
"Would you like to test my strength?" Volga offered, holding his arms out and leaving his chest exposed. The ruby amulet chained and bolted to his chestplate gleamed in the light.
"Yes," King Bulbin answered without hesitation. He stood and swung his spiked steel ax. Volga quickly lifted his pike and blocked the attack, easily throwing King Bulbin back a few feet.
The king recovered and charged with his horns down, missing his target as Volga flapped into the air before bringing his pike down and knocking off a few pieces of armor as Bulbin dodged the attack. In retaliation he swung his ax horizontally, using the flat of the blade like a club. The hit connected, knocking Volga to the ground. Bulbin moved, quickly bringing his ax around and up again only to bury it in the dirt as Volga rolled away, doing his best to ignore the burning pain from his leg.
The dragon knight used the opportunity to hack away more of Bulbins armor as the large green monster struggled to free his weapon before the blade came loose. Bulbin swung again, using the momentum that pulled it from the ground to further his attack. Volga brought his pike up again, barely blocking the heavy ax as his leg protested the rough treatment. He shoved the blade off his own weapon and stepped back, wings flaring out behind him.
The wind created by his wings as Volga climbed into the air stirred up so much dust it was impossible for either party to see, keeping the field even but providing the opportunity for an unseen attack. Bulbin could do nothing while Volga was in the air. He was figuring a way to bring the knight down when a large red dragon rolled into the ground with a deafening roar. He took cover behind some metal barriers as a wave of fire engulfed the area as the beast landed.
The flames cleared, leaving Volga in the center of the wave, safely wrapped in his wings. He stood carefully as they shrunk into his back once more, then turned to face king Bulbin when he stepped out of his hiding place.
"Enough. I fight for the strongest side. You've won." Bulbin relented as Volga prepared for another attack. He ended up with five moblins and eighteen bulbins. A group of twenty five counting King Bulbin and himself. After he had secured non-reptilian forces he went about acquiring a horse then set out for the tundra.
Volga swung his pike with an angry roar as a wolfos jumped out of the snow at his horse. The creature self-destructed on impact, falling to the ground as powdery snowflakes before rebuilding itself several yards away. A pack of the snowy spirits had been following the group for a few miles, jumping at them and disappearing into the snow before they could retaliate. They were making a general nuisance of themselves leaping out of the snow like fish with their mouths opened wide, distracting the party from reaching the bokoblins' stronghold.
Twice the group had scattered, impatiently attacking the wolfos to no avail. The inanimate snow that covered the mountain was not helping the situation in the slightest. It was taller than the bulbins and came to Volga's horse's chest; forcing the moblins, with their large sturdy shields, to walk ahead and force a path through the icy terrain, constantly harassed by the wolfos. Volga swung at another one, missing again. He exhaled sharply in irritation, the steam forming against the frigid air almost a flame. He had tried melting the wolfos when they first appeared, but the snow spirits weren't affected by the heat, simply animating another patch of snow seconds later.
Ignoring them didn't work either. Any attempt to counter their attack was met with the wolfos disappearing, and ignoring them caused you to take a dog sized snowball to the side of the head, or acquire a literal frostbite. A moblin noticed and pointed out a blizzrobe that had been dancing through the air alongside the group, leaving small growing ripples where it stepped. The wolfos would run to the blizzrobe before renewing their draining attacks.
Volga dismounted, mildly saddle-sore, before sprouting his wings. He instructed the bulbins to continue to the bokoblins fortress, then went to investigate the blue robed creature. The blizzrobe seemed to be leading the wolfos pack, disappearing and reappearing on either side of the party. Perhaps the blizzrobe was not only leading but controlling the wolfos? It was a reasonable speculation. Volga's suspicions were confirmed when the wolfos, after getting hit several times, would reappear next to the blizzrobe instead of the snow before running at the moblins and bulbins with renewed vigor.
Deciding the best way to be rid of the wolfos would be to kill the blizzrobe controlling them, Volga landed behind the creature and folded down his wings so the air they moved wouldn't draw the creature's attention. As he raised his pike to attack, a wolfos appeared in the snow behind him and jumped, catching his arm and dragging him to the ground before taking the opportunity to adjust its grip. It latched onto his elbow and began dragging him through the snow in quick jerking motions. He yelped as its icy teeth found the less armored area around the joint and dug in as far as they could.
He threw the animal off himself and brought his pike up to meet its next attack. Once the wolf disappeared into the snow again Volga dressed his arm then turned his attention back to the blizzrobe. The blue robes creature disappeared upon his approach, reappearing behind him and shooting a spell from its ice rod. The spell created a layer of ice around Volga[']s form, briefly immobilizing him. He analyzed the situation, conjuring small flames to weaken the thick ice before breaking through. The blizzrobe danced around in place for a few seconds before conjuring a small blizzard and disappearing again.
Volga sprouted his wings and flapped into the air watching the glowing ripples that gave away the blizzrobe's position. He hadn't concerned himself with the seemingly false blizzard, choosing to keep an eye on the blizzrobe instead, so hadn't seen the larger star-shaped snowflakes begin to fall. One landed on the tip of his wing, ice quickly spreading down his back, coating him in ice once more and stopping his wings from functioning. Volga managed to free himself just before he hit the ground, avoiding other star-shaped flakes and flying to safety as shards of ice completed the descent.
Volga landed on some snow capped boulders, determined to kill the blizzrobe. He watched it disappear tauntingly and counted its glowing steps. The blizzrobe usually took 4 to 6 steps before reappearing. Volga took a breath on its fourth step and released it on the sixth, catching the blizzrobe as it reappeared. The creature melted fairly quickly, hissing as it was incinerated. When the flames died, all that was left was mud where the snow had melted, and an ice rod.
They stopped for the night when Volga rejoined the group. The blizzard stopped and the wolfos were nowhere to be seen once the blizzrobe had been taken care of, and they found a frozen river to camp by. The wolfos had caused a surprising amount of damage, the bulbins bearing several cuts and bruises from the solidified snow. Volga's arm burned with the cold from the wolfos icy teeth, however his horse was relatively unharmed. Concerned about frostbite, they lit several fires and warmed themselves up, taking the opportunity to catch a meal.
The bulbins went ice fishing and returned to camp quite sometime later with a large pile of wriggling fish. The fish were distributed and the extras were left in a pile to be fought over. Volga raised an eyebrow at the bulbins who handed him a fish, still wiggling and very much alive. He held it at arm's length, wondering in disgust what kind of heathenish creatures he'd aligned himself with as he cooked it.
The rest of the trek to the bokoblins stronghold was rather uneventful. A few ice Keese made it clear that the group was trespassing several times. The bat-like creatures sported long, hooked tails and exuded an aura so cold it could freeze anything unfortunate enough to touch them without protection, much like the blizzrobe's ice rod. The few chu they met were uninterested in the newcomers and let them be.