And so another day passed. The yakhchal was almost complete; only the ice was missing to finish it all. Now I must go to the mountains to find it and transport it back here. The trip will take about a day each way—two days in total—so the transport must be flawless. For that, I have the sawdust, which is a very good thermal insulator. I'll take a wagon with two of those camel-like animals; by the way, I found out they are called Kaplas. A rather strange name, if you ask me.
I sent for everything necessary and got ready to leave. When I reached the entrance, everything was prepared; there was a wagon that would be driven by a demon named Siro. He looks calm and seems quite good at his trade. The cart was immense, which I guess is normal since most demons are over seven feet tall. I headed to the back and opened the door to climb in. Inside were several sacks of sawdust and the two brats.
—What are you doing here? Weren't you two in jail? —I asked them, confused. They didn't even flinch.
—They promised to stay quiet as long as they were with you —Janeth's voice resonated from behind. I turned around.
—So you're going to leave these two girls in my charge?
—Don't worry, I'm going with you. Remember I have to watch you; besides, the King is in the castle, so everything will be fine here —the girl said as she settled into the wagon.
—This is going to be a very long trip —I said as I tried to climb up. I had to give a good jump since I'm small.
With everything ready, we undertook our journey toward the frozen mountains.
An hour passed and everyone was as quiet as the dead. I didn't know what to do to liven up the atmosphere and, honestly, I didn't feel like doing anything either, so I leaned back in my seat and fell asleep.
—Wake up, cockroach —I heard a whisper—. Wake up, dammit! —A blunt blow knocked the air out of me.
—What happened? —I asked, in pain. As my vision focused, I saw that Anastasia was beside me.
—Lady Janeth sent me to wake you up, Mr. Samuel.
—The blow to the stomach wasn't necessary —I sat up. It was already night; apparently, they let me sleep until the first stop.
—I'm sorry, you just wouldn't wake up —she said, surprisingly apologetic. Who would have thought that just yesterday she wanted to kill me?
—It's fine, let's go out.
I stood up and we stepped out of the coach; the others were sitting around a campfire.
—You managed to wake up the perverted cockroach. Now who knows what he'll do to us at night while we sleep? —Petra said to Anastasia as the latter sat beside her.
—You will stand guard tonight while the others rest! —Janeth shouted from the top of a tree.
—Yeah, I guess that's fine.
As night fell, everyone went to sleep until only old Siro and I were left. He had eyes of wisdom that also looked tired; he had blue skin and white hair from age. He wore a shirt that showed his torso, a straw hat, and short pants. He looked quite comfortable.
—Hey, old Siro, you've been here a while and haven't spoken to the others. Why don't you tell me something about your life? —I asked him.
—What would you like to know, my animal friend? —he replied with a raspy voice.
—You seem to be someone of considerable wisdom, so you must know something about the war that unified the villages. Everyone mentions it, but I have no idea.
—From the time we demons gain consciousness until we die, we carry a war instinct within us. For over a thousand years, we were always in conflict, one clan against another —he became serious—. Until one day, a giant demon named Zoran wanted to stop that primal chaos. Everywhere he went, he promised a new era where we could all be calm and at peace, so many people joined him. Little by little, he conquered all the villages until none were left; after that, he founded the Demon Kingdom. That is the history of these lands.
—So that's how Zoran became king? Very interesting. Did you fight in that war? —I was very curious.
—Yes, I fought side by side with his majesty. He inspired us barbarians a lot to be better people and to live honestly without killing each other.
—Incredible. By any chance, do you know anything about someone who goes by the name of "The Master"? —I questioned.
—To be honest, no —the old man said thoughtfully—. From what I know, that's what they call someone who is against the King; I only know that —he stayed quiet for a moment—. Well, I'm going to sleep. I have to drive tomorrow, see you.
The old man lay down on the ground. Now everything made sense; that's why the King is so popular.
Everyone was resting and I was left alone; suddenly, I felt something moving in the shadows. Instantly I stood on guard and looked around, but I found nothing.
—So you are this Samuel? —a very distant whisper made itself present.
—Who are you?! —I shouted, and it seemed like no one heard. Janeth and the others didn't even move.
—You will know that soon; for now, continue with your adventure. See you —the voice vanished.
What the hell? Had I already become schizophrenic? Who could it be? Someone on "The Master's" side? I must watch my back more. Well, Janeth is with me, and she's super strong. Though this still gives me the creeps.
The sun began to rise and everyone got up; I was exhausted. It's not healthy to feel cornered by mysterious voices. How many are there now? Like five? Am I actually crazy? Who knows.
The people got back into the wagon and we continued our trip. After a few hours, the temperature dropped; we had reached our destination.
—Well, we're here! It's time to collect the ice! —I announced enthusiastically—. If you're very cold, it's better if you don't go out.
I opened the door and the freezing air slapped my face.
—Did you bring coats? —the twins stared at me, confused. They were trembling from the cold.
—Did you really not bring anything for the cold? We were coming to frozen mountains —I asked, quite naively.
—I'm sorry, it didn't occur to us, Mr. Samuel —Petra replied.
—Stay here then, I'm going out.
The twins stayed sheltered in the carriage. I was quite calm; my fur was more than enough to handle the weather—those are the advantages of being an animal. I went out and touched the snow; in my human life, I had seen it many times, but it was strange to feel it on my feet again. Janeth followed me and we started walking; we had to find a frozen water source to extract the ice.
The old man and the giantess walked as if it were nothing in the middle of the moor; apparently, adult demons are very resilient. Or maybe these two are from another race among demons? Siro led us to a frozen lake a few steps away; we arrived in a heartbeat. It was immense, so much so that I couldn't see where it ended. I asked Janeth to punch the ground, and she did it without hesitation.
Then, using her hair, she loaded all the pieces of ice into the carriage. Obviously, I covered them with the sawdust; I didn't leave a single inch uncovered—that was going to be crucial for most of it to arrive intact. It's normal for a bit to melt on the way.
And so, the last part of the fridge was almost complete. All that's left is to go back and that's it.
The return trip was quite peaceful; the voice didn't return and everything was normal. We arrived at the castle at night and the twins were very tired. I sent them to sleep in the dungeon, but they opposed it; they said they wanted to sleep with me.
—What do you mean, sleep with me?! That would be weird —I flatly opposed the idea.
—The cockroach will be our husband, so it's necessary that we sleep together! —Anastasia claimed.
—I already said no! What will the readers think of me? —Everyone stared at me strangely.
—We aren't going back to sleep in that dungeon! It's cold and there are bugs. We want to sleep with you —Petra was having a tantrum.
—Fine, but in separate beds and I don't want you doing anything weird.
—Good, thank you very much, Mr. Samuel —the girls went to the room.
I went to unload the ice and put it in the yakhchal. Everything was ready; I put a cup of water inside and closed the door of the structure. If it works and nothing goes wrong, tomorrow we'll have fresh ice in the middle of the desert.