I was wrapped in my warm blanket, lightly dozing as the fire of my hearth crackled, the sound slowly dragging me back into a deep sleep. A warm hand snaked its way around my waist, and from behind, a nude form pressed itself against me. She caressed my sides, kissed my throat, and whispered sweet nothings into my ears.
Something tickled the back of my mind. A warning, danger, but then the sweet voices drifted into my ears.
With a hush, they said, "It's all right, Edith, nothing's wrong, sleep, no need to worry."
It was an odd voice, a combination of Yarah, Jenna, Silvia, and Beth encompassing each of their unique charms. It soothed me, and for a moment I relaxed, sinking back into the embrace.
'Myr, focus, you're almost there.'
Another voice said, barely above a whisper, but I could feel the fear beneath the cold, emotionless tone. It was desperate.
The form behind me enhanced my enjoyment further, her warm bosom pressing into my back quite pleasantly. "See how comfortable we are, just sleep, we can stay together forever. Happy and at peace."
The words were so inviting, so tempting. Who would blame me for accepting?
"Good, Edith. Let me love you as you deserve to be loved," the voices whispered to me.
'Are you really so pathetic, a bit of comfort, and you fall back into complacency? Is this what you sacrificed for? killed for?'
Bile rose in my throat at the suggestion that I would be guilty of such weakness.
"Don't listen to her, Edith. Look how comfortable you are, why leave this place?" There was an undercurrent of anger in the voices.
'Ha! comfort. What good is comfort and peace? If you are so pathetic to fall for such things, then you don't deserve my effort.'
How dare that voice judge me? I am Myr. I've rid myself of such notions a long time ago.
"And what did it get you, Edith? You have no love, no friends, no family. I can be all that for you, my love." The voices said to me.
'Why not accept Myr? You saw how happy Beth and Darion are? Go ahead, abandon your goals.'
I would never abandon my goals, not for anyone or anything. The room chilled, and the body next to me felt icy instead of sweet warmth.
"You see, Edith, she wants to take away the warmth. Don't let her. Return to my embrace."
Comfort, love, and all that led to complacency. I saw it over and over and swore to never fall into that cage. I fought against the covers and warmth, and the body behind me became colder. That only made me fight harder.
'Yes, Myr. Never forget that comfort and happiness can be as much of a mind-altering drug as Haliax.'
"NO no no, Edith come back to me."
I fought even harder. The room became ice, and the body behind me struggled to hold me down.
'Yes, fight Myr, fight her, fight everything. Not even the coldest frost can extinguish the flames within.'
~
I jolted awake only to be met by frigid winds and numb fingers. The sun was up, though the area around was little more than an endless expanse of snow and icy wind.
'What a strange dream.'
I was lying down on my side, curled up into a ball with my back against the wind. It blew a thick, white snow over me. Oddly enough, it isolated me from the icy wind. In my hands was the potential energy ring and the charcoal black orb that was currently being used to keep my body warm. The source of thɪs content is nοvelfire.net
Releasing a loud groan of pain, I stood. My legs were in such agony that even standing was difficult. Muscles screamed at even the slightest twitch. Overusing my muscles, I found, resulted in intense soreness, though I usually recovered in a few days.
This didn't feel like soreness. It felt like I tore something. The animus was powerful, but the aftereffects on my body were dreadful enough that I used it sparingly.
I breathed heavily as the throbbing pain slowly eased. Distinctly, I remembered my second orb turned to ash. Based on the state of this orb, I had around an hour or two. I almost wanted to thank the baroness for access to her magical items. The arcane dampeners inside my armor were rather useful in regulating the power of the heating. I only used enough power to maintain my body heat, extending the life of the fuel.
It wasn't perfect coverage of my entire body, but it was enough to keep my limbs functional, and after checking my fingers, I breathed a sigh of relief; no frostbite.
Remembering how long I was walking was rather difficult. At some point, I reached a level of insanity similar to when I first used to animus. True darkness was terrifying. Walking in icy wind for hours in utter blackness was by far the most horrifying thing I had done. Running from Lord Heywood couldn't compare; when facing him, I knew what the danger was. The darkness, however, held the unknown, and there lay true terror.
I was reasonably assured I wasn't being followed; heavy winds made for little in terms of a trail. Taking the main road to the city or any side road was out of the question.
Everything was bet on that escape, and even someone as risk-keen as I was decided to take no chances. So, I continued, one foot in front of the other. There was a birchwood forest roughly fifteen miles north of Greenwood. However, a walk that would take me a few hours at a brisk pace seemed unending.
With an almost neurotic caution, I kept looking at my wooden orb. I warred internally with constant pain in every step, and my worry that I wouldn't reach the forest before I ran out of wood to fuel the circuits in my armor. Once that happened, in this level of icy wind, even through my well-padded clothing, thick cloak, and armor, I would freeze to death.
~
Another hour of painful walking passed, and the icy wind battered my face mercilessly. Still, I could see no signs of trees in the distance, though it wasn't as if I could see more than a hundred feet or so in front of me.
'I'd better be close, this orb won't last very long.'
It was mostly grey, with only flecks of wood. Parts were already crumbling away as it neared the end of its life.
~
The orb turned to ashes half an hour later. And now I had no source to fuel my circuits.
'Dammit all, I have to be close. Don't worry.'
I still kept up the pace. It wasn't as if I would lose all my body heat instantly. I had enough time, I was sure. I wrapped my cloak around me as tightly as I could, pushing into the wind.
~
It started in my legs. Buried knees deep in the snow made for poor progress, and quickly they started going numb. I racked my brain for answers, but could find none. My only source of energy was my heat absorption circle. Even expanding the circle of influence to my maximum, and absorbing enough heat from the surrounding air to drop it to its minimum energy point, there was little relief to be had.
Being inside a sphere of supercooled air was worse than the wind. I sapped heat from my body faster than it added. Breathing it in was an even worse option. So I had no more options but to keep walking and hope that I could find the forest before the wind sapped all the heat from my body.
~
My mind became sluggish; thoughts were elusive. The chill that threatened me at every moment slowly crawled up my legs, half-buried within the snow, making every step a trial. Somehow, the numbness helped, removing the constant throbbing of pain from my muscles.
Staring into the distance, I could see no trees, no hint of salvation ahead. The distinct fear that I could die became certain with each passing moment.
Minutes stretched on, my pace slowed, and even my normally thundering heart slowed. I had enormous willpower; I knew this; the world knew this. But flesh, blood, and bone can only be pushed so far. I took two passive steps, then collapsed to my knees.
I was at the end of my strength. Surprisingly, I wasn't angry or sad; I felt mildly content. This was my choice. I would not complain that I died of my own design. With shallow breaths, I relaxed, preparing to let the cold take me.
‘Wait, Myr, listen.’
I almost wanted to ignore the voice, but with a force of will, I paid attention to what I was hearing.
Nothing new, the constant howl of wind was as loud as it was painful. Just as I was about to ignore it. A sound slipped through, a creaking, just an undertone within the icy maelstrom. Then there was a snap like someone stepped on a twig.
‘Twig?’
“I stared up, gazing in the icy wind, my vision was rather blurry. But I could make out the swaying of branches in the distance.
‘Rise, Myr. Go forward, you're not dead yet. Anier will not have you today.’
I stood with far more difficulty than I had ever imagined. My limbs felt like lead, my mind was unfocused, barely able to keep myself standing.
‘One foot in front of the other, remake the bindings.’
Activating the animus while in this state was without question the most difficult bit of magic I had ever performed. Somehow, I completed the passive binding.
‘Good, keep moving forward. Don’t stop, never stop, either keep walking or die on your feet, there is no alternative.’
Time was largely immaterial to me. But after some point, I collided headfirst into a tree. Taking out my energy ring, I pressed it against the bark.
Going from chilled to the bone to being bathed in warmth was apparently not healthy.
I collapse to the ground, my body spasming. Clutching my chest, I felt an odd pain.
‘What is happening?’
After a minute of spazaming, I lost consciousness.
~
I groaned as I woke in a knot of pain, again, lying on my back, covered in a light dusting of snow. What was surprising was the warmth. I felt lightheaded, but my wits remained. Suddenly, memory rushed back into me. For a moment, I thought I was dying. In the future, I will pay more attention to medical texts. Clearly, heating a body saturated with such cold is dangerous.
I looked around to see where I was, finding I was near the entrance of the forest. Birch trees were everywhere. The black spotted oaks stood out against the white snow.
I sighed, slumped against the tree away from the wind, and smiled.
“I made it,” I said with a laugh.
‘By Anier, that was close.’
I grinned as I could feel toes and fingers again. I didn't move, just enjoyed the glorious feeling of being warm.
It took a minute to find my energy ring leaning against the bark.
Staring up at the sky, I said, “Not today.”
Reaching into my pack, I pulled out a large silver tankard, scooped up some snow, and then spent a moment binding the cup to a series circuit inside my armor.
Slowly, the ice melted and steamed. Grinning, I grabbed a few shards of dried soup, tore apart some dried beef with my teeth, and added them to the cup.
I let the soup boil for a minute before breaking the binding, taking a tentative sip.
I moaned loudly. It was the greatest thing to ever grace my lips. I was in heaven as the salt and fat made their way down my throat, warming me from the inside.
For over half an hour, I sat leaning against the tree, sipping cups of hot water. Without the threat of death hanging over my head, I had time to contemplate my options.
Taking out my map, I charted a path.
‘It's best I stick to this forest, continuing northeast until I leave Harlock.’
I drew a line with my finger.
‘Avoid these roads until I reach the County of Elieas. There’s a good chance word about me hasn't spread there yet. I don't care how vast the Magisterium's intelligence network is; no one can move fast in a deep winter.’
Checking my supplies, I found that I had at best a few days of food remaining.
’There then,’
I tapped on a small town around twenty miles inside the border of Elieas County.
‘Far enough from here that little or no information would have reached them. And large enough that they should have some resources. If I have to steal, then so be it. Perhaps I can even find a mount.’
Mapping out the route and my likely speed in the deep snow, I guessed the journey would take three to four weeks. Food would become a problem. I wasn't much of a hunter, but with the surrounding trees for fuel. I was neither defenceless nor useless.
‘It's a good thing I put on a good amount of weight over the winter.’
But for now, I would rest, allowing my body to stabilize before I started marching again. I took a deep breath of the steam wafting from the water, truly grateful that I could perform magic. Anyone else would have died on that journey.
Unfortunately, nature called on me. I signed, knowing how miserable removing my armor to relieve myself would be.
Looking up at the sky, the birch trees reached towards the heavens like pale fingers. Somehow, in this whirlwind of cold and death. I relaxed.
Without impending death from the cold, traveling through the frigid forest of birch was just an exhausting chore. The soreness in my muscles wasn't helping me in the least. So bad was the soreness in my muscles that I couldn't even appreciate the odd beauty of the winter forest. There was no birdsong, insects, or the cry of animals, just the wind and snow.
Two days later.
The sameness of my surroundings could drive anyone mad after enough time. With no landmarks, the sun or stars, the only thing I could use to navigate was the constant wind. It was a pain lugging around pieces of birch to use as fuel. But better that than freezing to death.
Now was the long haul of monotonous travel. Days spent looking at the same scenery were numbing to the mind as much as the cold.
There was a sharp crack from behind me. It wasn't loud, but compared to the occasional snapping of twigs in the wind or beneath my feet, it was practically deafening. I spun around to see nothing.
‘Perhaps it was just a large branch falling.’
I shrugged and kept walking.
An hour passed before I heard a loud crack again. This time, a bit closer and once more directly behind me. I spun around, even looking up at the trees. Compared to the last few days of travel, the forest was positively noisy. Yet I could find nothing again.
‘Am I just delusional and paranoid?’
I picked up the pace slightly; however, this time I would bind my glove to the circuit in my hand, just in case.
Four hours passed, and once again, a loud crack. I spun one arm out and stretched another against a tree, ready to activate Dragon’s breath.
‘Once from directly behind me can be ignored, twice is chance, but three times, each time getting a bit closer. It’s clear to me now, I’m being stalked.’
I didn’t know much about the wild animal life in this area. I kicked myself for forgetting something so important. But how many things can be so stealthily? Mountain lion? Bobcat? Bear?
I spotted a downed tree in the distance. I headed over, carefully degrading away sections of the bark by using my dragon's breath to consume the energy until I was left with roughly a foot-thick cylinder of wood. Around six inches tall. My potential energy ring fit quite snugly around it, so it was simple to slip it into my pack. With my right hand and armor bound in series, I kept walking.
Gold and silver made for a far more efficient circuit than using my left hand.
‘Any time now, whatever you are.’
I walked with my ears alert. It took another four hours, but once again I heard a loud crack from behind me.
I smiled.
‘There you are.’
This time, I didn't react; I kept walking at the same pace, not altering my direction. I grew so used to the wind that I could easily pick out foreign sounds. A shifting of snow, a soft pat on the snowy surface.
‘It’s coming towards me, getting closer.’
I gripped the energy ring in my left hand tightly, ready to act.
A faint sniff, a quick hop, and another shifting of snow.
‘Slightly to the left. Still too far.’
My heart rate increased significantly. I could almost feel the creature getting closer.
‘NOW!’
I spun, hand spread out, palm first, as I strengthened the binding to my maximum power. Blue-red spiraling fire erupted from my hand. A large white mass ran face-first into the flames with massive paws outstretched.
The creature released an ear-piercing cry of pain. Reminding me of a cat just louder and deeper in pitch. My flame, however, didn't halt its momentum; it barreled into me, pressing me into the soft snow as it tumbled end over end.
Hopping back up to my feet, I finally had a good look at the creature.
‘It's a….I don't know what that is.’
Its fur was snow white, save for a black streak along its right side, from my flame. And a severe burn on its muzzle. It was roughly the size of a lion with a feline face and large pointed ears like a fox. Its body, though, was a bit elongated with a long tail.
“What in the hells,” I said aloud, as the creature stood. It crawled out of the furrow its body had dug into the ground as it tumbled. With great shock, I watched as it stood on the surface of the snow as if it weighed nothing.
Physically, it was impossible. That only left one conclusion. For the first time in my life, I was staring at a magical creature.
‘So, the tales were wrong, not all are dead.’
Examining its body, I noted the outline of its ribs and hipbone, combining that with it not running due to a severe burn on its face; I assumed the creature must be starving.
Its bright blue, vertically slit eyes focused on me as I shifted to my right. Holding the ring and the mostly blackened wood in my hand, I waited for it to charge again.
It darted to the left, disappearing into the thick fog of ice that constantly blew in the wind.
‘That’s why I can never see it. Its fur was perfect camouflage. But now, not so much,’
Occasionally, I spotted a black streak in the distant fog as it tried to flank me. I wouldn't allow it, either it came for me straight on or not at all. Sometimes, the creature would climb a tree, sit there for over a minute, leap to another, and slowly climb back down to the ground.
‘That’s the cracking. It was breaking wood twigs as it climbed or hopped from tree to tree.’
How it was doing that while being at least 300 lbs and making so little noise could only be explained by magic. But its movements were sluggish; it slipped occasionally. It tried to get to my blind spot. I tracked it with my eyes, unwilling to let it leave my vision.
It gave up trying to stealthily attack me. Instead, it hopped back down to the ground with a soft thud and slowly crept forward. It was drooling incessantly. It was strange looking at it, though thin, I could imagine what the creature would look like, strong and healthy. As it walked atop the snow without leaving the slightest impression, I was reminded that I planned on killing something truly rare. I would like nothing more than to study or tame the creature.
‘Come then, little fox, lion, weasel thing. Come and die. One of us will be dinner.’
Dropping the energy ring next to a tree, I grabbed my dagger with my left and readied my right.
Time froze, and its eyes locked onto me. It tensed and charged, its long claws digging into the ground, giving it more leverage to bound towards me.
‘Wait, wait…Now!’
Flame burst forward again, and the creature ran face-first into it. I dove to the right as it tumbled again, yowling in pain.
I grinned as I rose.
‘Magical or not, it’s still just a beast. Though I do wonder how much deadlier it would have been if it weren't half-starved.’
I wasn't going to give it a chance to recover, though. I awkwardly waddled over to it, brandishing my knife. I just managed to plunge my dagger halfway to the hilt before the creature bucked and fought, managing to throw me bodily to the side, then sprinted off into the distance, finally disappearing.
‘Well, isn't that convenient?’
I thought, smiling at the trail of blood.
‘Looks like we have food for the night.’
~
It took almost an hour of walking before I found where the creature ran off to. It led me to a small rocky formation, not quite a hill but more than a mound of stone. The slope curved upward, then eventually flattened. Eventually, I found where it went. There was a rocky, near-vertical outcropping near the base of the system of hills where a small cave resided.
Stepping into the cave, with magic and dagger ready, I looked around. It was maybe 15 feet deep, eight tall, and twelve wide.
Inside, near the rear, was the rapidly dying creature. Even better, this place was out of the wind. Its agonized breathing was pitiable. It watched me as I approached. Its eyes had that odd bit of reflectiveness like a normal cat. The light from outside was just enough for me to make out its outline.
It tried to growl, but that only resulted in it hacking up blood. I raised my dagger and met its eyes one last time. I could almost see the acceptance as I brought it down. Luckily, I hit something important. It shrugged, gasped, let loose a piteous cry, then went limp.
I released a breath and looked around. “Good place to rest for a day or two, maybe even a week. I need to properly recover my strength.”
Smiling at the large cat thing, I decided not to leave until I ate at least half the thing or until my legs recovered.