by Eric Vall
“I want five coats,” Erin decided as she shivered and wrapped her mage cloak around her. “No, I want ten. Ten should do it.”
“It’s a good idea to get more supplies than you think you’ll need,” I offered. “Just try not to spend all your money on more coats than you can wear.”
“Sounds good,” Erin agreed. “Though, you may underestimate how many coats I can wear.”
“Let’s try to find some merchants who are still open,” I told my group. “This is a big enough city, so I think there should be some.”
In fact, I had my eyes on a couple merchants already. I could see inside a specialty clothing supply shop, and there was some activity visible through the window.
“I bet they have coats,” I told my team as I pointed at the store I had my eye on.
“Let’s try it,” Nia agreed.
We went in, and the doorbell jingled cheerfully as the oiled wood door shut behind us. The man at the counter looked up and adjusted a pair of round spectacles over his eyes while he examined us.
“How can I help you?” he asked in a careful, neutral voice.
“We’re looking for full supplies to go camping in this weather,” I explained succinctly. “Coats, winter pants, blankets, boots, or anything else you have that would be helpful.”
“I don’t have any blankets,” the store clerk responded tartly as his eyes narrowed. “Boots are along the back wall, there, and pants are on the opposite wall. Coats are right in front of you.”
I blinked in surprise as I reacted to his hostile tone, and I tried to figure out if I’d said something rude.
“Thank you for your help,” Ashla cut in quickly. “We’ll go look, then.”
As we wandered into the back, I gave Ashla a questioning glance.
“He hates mages,” Ashla explained in a hushed whisper.
“How can you know that?” Varleth asked.
“He was glaring at our cloaks,” the ice mage continued. “Didn’t you notice?”
“I guess I don’t pay much attention to where people are staring,” I admitted. “Even if I did, I never would have guessed he hated mages, though.”
“It’s not a rare sentiment,” Ashla responded with a sigh. “Though, it’s getting rarer these days. Back when I was in the Academy, our monster response squad ran into people like this a few times. It’s usually never spoken out loud, but it’s not exactly subtle.”
“Damn,” Varleth reacted. “People can be such idiots, can’t they?”
“I suppose I can’t blame him without knowing exactly why he hates mages,” I admitted as I pulled out a pair of winter boots. “I’ve run into some nasty Academy students before, and you have to admit a few of our peers have sticks up their butts.”
“Just a few,” Erin defended politely. “Usually they aren’t on monster response squads, either.”
“But there are some,” I pointed out. “This guy could’ve had a bad experience, and I can’t hold that against him.”
“Let’s just get what we need and get out,” Varleth said decidedly.
“Agreed,” I responded.
We collected our piles of coats, boots, and pants and brought them up to the register. I was glad the prices were marked on the clothing itself, since I half-expected the owner to try to price gouge us just for being mages.
Instead, he merely glared and communicated in short, rude sentences throughout the entire transaction. He even carefully looked over the money we gave him, as if he expected us to hand him fake coins.
When it was finally over, we were much lighter in our pockets, but the climate-appropriate supplies would be worth it. I definitely understood why Almasy told us to wait until we reached the city for our purchases. The rest of Mistral got cold in the winter, but it never looked as snow-packed as this did, and I knew the mountains would only drop in temperature as we climbed.
We left with a short thank you and goodbye to the tense clerk, and we breathed a sigh of relief when we were back outside.
“Frosty welcome for a frosty city,” Varleth commented when the door closed behind us.
“It does seem appropriate,” Erin agreed as she clutched her new coat and pants to her chest. “I hope this doesn’t become a trend in this area.”
“C’mon,” I told the group, “I’m sure the rest of our trip will be completely fine. Who wants some fresh fish and a good night of sleep?”
“Fish,” Ashla repeated, and she perked up at the notion of it. “I could definitely go for some of that.”
“Then it’s settled,” I said with a wide grin. “Let’s get some rooms and eat like royalty.”
Getting rooms took a couple tries it turned out. The first place we tried had no free rooms, and they admitted they never changed the ‘vacancy’ sign outside when they should. The second place turned us away with an explanation of an unexpected crisis on their hands in the form of a kitchen fire. The fire was out, but they would have to do repairs before anything was open again.
Finally, the third place we tried, The Winter Hart, was a success. The owner was an elderly man with a bushy gray beard and curly silver hair on top of his head.
“Ah, two rooms, you say?” he asked as he examined us. “Sure, I can do that, no problem. Call me Grigor, by the way.”
We shook hands and introduced ourselves in turn, and relief swept through me that we’d finally found an inn.
“Thank you,” I said with a wide grin. “This is really good news to us.”
“I bet you’ve had some problems getting rooms, haven’t ya?” the elderly man assumed.
“Yep,” Erin answered. “Have you heard about the kitchen fire, then?”
“Kitchen fire?” the elderly man repeated. “No, there ain’t no kitchen fire in that Marigold Mountain Inn. I’m afraid to tell you the truth, here, but the fact is folks don’t look too kindly on mages in these parts.”
“Really?” I asked with obvious confusion. “How come?”
“Not much to it,” Grigor replied with a shrug. “We don’t get many rifts openin’ here, and those that do aren’t very successful. Most of the monsters freeze half to death before mages arrive to close the rift, and it seems like those mages are always late.”
“We’re just too far away,” I said helplessly.
“I know that,” Grigor answered bluntly. “I’ve lived other places, y’know. It’s the native folks who don’t see the point of mages, and there’s always a fair bit of anti-magic sentiment flying around ‘cause crystal-powered things tend to break down when the weather gets cold.”
With the absent mages and the nonfunctioning essence crystals, I could see why magic was held in such low regard here. It must’ve seemed to the people of Svellfrer’s Rest that we did nothing but posture ineffectually from afar as they dealt with real problems throughout their wintertime.
“I’m starting to understand,” I replied with a new, sinking feeling in my gut. “Thank you for explaining everything, but I want to ask you for another favor.”
“Sure,” Grigor replied as he organized some mugs behind the bar, “go ahead and shoot. I like you mages well enough.”
“We have a mission to find a certain ruin in this area,” I explained. “There are likely to be stones with strange writing on them. You haven’t heard of anything like that, have you?”
“Hm, not a word,” Grigor said honestly. “Though, I don’t bend my ear to tall tales or gossip much, not unless it can help my patrons.”
“That’s okay,” I replied as I fought off my disappointment.
“I do have one important tidbit, though,” the elderly man told me seriously. “If you’re going to be runnin’ around lookin’ for ruins in the northern mountains, you ought to be careful. I’ve heard there’s a snow bear around with an awful temper, and he’s likely to attack if you run across him.”
“Oh, thanks,” Ashla told Grigor. “We’ll be careful, but I’m sure we’ll be fine either way.”
Grigor gave her a long, skeptical look from
the corner of his eye.
“We’ll be fine,” I assured him. “We fight monsters all the time, so one bear isn’t going to put a stop to us easily.”
“Suit yourselves,” Grigor replied. “Just know, these bears ain’t playing around when they attack. Keep an eye out, at least.”
“We will,” Varleth agreed, but he quickly changed to another topic entirely. “Now, how about some good, northern cuisine? I could eat a horse.”
“Afraid we don’t have any horses for eating, here,” Grigor joked with a wry look at Varleth, “but I can fix you up some grilled fish worthy of your hunger, I think.”
We took the last free table in the room full of patrons and waited on our meal with eager anticipation. When it came, we salivated over it with obvious hunger, and we barely managed to thank Grigor before we dug in.
Lemon-roasted salmon, grilled asparagus, smoked trout, and leek soup were my favorites. Ashla and Erin indulged in dessert, which ended up being some kind of small, chocolate cake that oozed molten chocolate liquid when it was cut into. It looked heartburn-inducing and absolutely delicious, so I tried a piece of Erin’s with her permission.
“Amazing,” I agreed, “though I can’t imagine eating a whole one.”
“They must stock up on fat for the winter, here,” Varleth guessed before he spooned more of the buttery leek soup into his mouth.
“I can get behind that concept,” I said agreeably.
After dinner was over, we went up to bed and sorted ourselves into our two rooms. It was less space than I’d normally buy for a night on a mission, but I wanted to conserve our funds in case it took us a long time to find the permanent rift location.
Varleth and I shared one room while Ashla, Erin, and Nia took the other.
“Don’t look too disappointed,” Varelth quipped as he glanced up at my face. “Taking a night off from sleeping with beautiful women will make you appreciate them more.”
“I’m not sure there’s any room for me to appreciate them more,” I said honestly. “They’re perfect, truly.”
“Ah, well,” Varleth responded with a shrug. “Enjoy your night of imperfection.”
I laughed at that and went to brush my teeth before bed. After I was ready, it was a short matter of climbing under the covers, and I fell asleep quickly as I succumbed to my weary eyes and sore legs.
Unfortunately, I had an awful time staying asleep. Sera sent me more dreams of her naked body, and just when I managed to properly ignore the images, the dream morphed into a nightmare of me being hunted by shadowcats.
These monsters each resembled a large cat, like a tiger or jaguar, and they were covered in black fur that seemed to engulf the light. Shadows rolled off them like tendrils of smoke as they chased me through the indistinct landscape. Their bright, pupiless eyes glowed golden with hunger, and their telltale magical aura of dread and fear rolled off them with deadly strength.
As they chased me, the monsters spoke in the voices of my friends, and they each accused me of different crimes as they snarled and snapped at my heels.
Braden called me a coward, and Nia said I was lazy. Varleth asked how I could kill so much and never feel remorse. Gawain accused me of being arrogant as Ashla and Cyra mocked me for my careless mistakes. Layla cried out pitiful wails about how I used my friends as fodder for the front lines of the war. If I really loved them, how could I ask them to fight and risk their lives?
I startled awake after that last one, and my breath came out in harsh pants as I wiped the sweat from my brow. Varleth was quietly asleep on the other side of the bed, and he showed no sign of waking. I shivered at the memory of his voice from the shadowcat’s mouth, and it gave me no comfort to watch him lay there.
Instead, I turned my attention to the world outside the window. The moon was a tiny sliver in the sky, and it barely cast glints of pale light on the tiles of the building roofs.
In the end, I could get no more rest. I spent the entire night watching the moon while I tried and failed to banish the memories of Sera’s nightmares.
When Varleth awoke to the dawn light, he turned and took one look at me before he let out a disapproving huff.
“You should’ve paid for the three rooms,” he told me. “You look awful. Or you should’ve just crammed four people into one bed. I bet you could’ve done it.”
“You’re the one who told me to enjoy the imperfection,” I told him wearily. “Anyway, I’m not sure even the women could’ve kept this dream from bothering me.”
“Hm,” Varleth hummed as he narrowed his eyes. “Just tell me if Sera is getting to you too much, alright? I’ve got to keep an eye on you even more closely if things start changing.”
“I’ll let you know,” I said tiredly, and this time I didn’t bother to protest against his worries over Sera.
Frankly, I was worried, too.
Varleth and I joined Ashla, Nia, and Erin for breakfast downstairs, and we finished the meal off quickly before we went out in search of clues for the permanent rift location. I decided it was best to ask around before we went wandering off into the snow, though I didn’t think it was likely we were going to get any good information.
Sure enough, there were more than a few factors against us. The city was large, and it didn’t have the same friendly attitude toward strangers which many smalltown people had. Visitors weren’t a rarity, and not many people were willing to stop their busy day to give us directions.
Besides that, I suspected we were getting more than our fair share of silent glares and tight lips because we were mages. I estimated only one out of every five people we asked actually treated us differently, but it was enough to be felt keenly by the five of us.
“Man,” Erin sighed, “I’m half convinced to just throw my cloak away.”
“They’d still know us by the Academy sigil on our travel packs,” I replied with a glum tone. “Besides, I’m not fooling anybody by walking around covered in essence crystals from head to toe.”
“My sword and Ashla’s axe don’t help,” Varleth pointed out. “Even our armor sticks out under our coats a little.”
“Let’s keep going until nine o’ clock,” I decided. “Then we can head out regardless.”
First, we located a store that sold bedding supplies, and we picked up five nice blankets to put in our packs for emergencies. The woman selling them didn’t blink twice at us, and it looked like we escaped suspicion this time.
We went back outside and asked around about the ruins a little more, and remarkably, we got a pretty good answer from a young couple out for a stroll.
“I don’t know about any ruins,” the woman said as she rubbed at her cold, flushed nose, “but your little translation thing is probably talking about Cinder Mountain.”
“Cinder Mountain?” I asked.
“Sure,” she replied with a nod. “Your page there calls it a snowy, ashen mountain, right?”
“Yeah,” I responded as I gawked at the paper in my hand. “Could it really be that simple? Ashen isn’t for the color, it’s for the name?”
“I’m pretty sure it’s not for the color,” she assured me. “It’s been called Cinder Mountain for a really long time, and it got named that because of all the old forest fires. Every time it starts to grow up, it just burns down again.”
“Weird quirk,” Varleth commented as he cocked an eyebrow in skepticism.
“I think lightning gets attracted to it,” the pink-nosed woman replied with a shrug. “Not sure why, it just gets bad weather a lot.”
“If you’re going up there,” her companion added as he scratched at his brown stubble, “you should be really careful. People die from bad weather on it, sometimes.”
“Thanks for the warning,” I told the two of them, and we let them leave without any more questions.
“Wow,” Erin said. “That’s not a bad lead, huh?”
“I guess the mountain could be just as burnt and ashy as it was centuries ago,” Ashla guessed.
“Even
if it isn’t this mountain,” Nia interjected, “I don’t think we’ll get a better lead than this. It’s a good place to start.”
“Let’s do it,” Varleth agreed.
With us all in agreement, I led the team to the edge of the town as we walked toward Cinder Mountain. The plowed streets turned to messy slush and then back into feet of fluffy, deep snow.
Cinder Mountain reached into the sky before us, and I eyed the mountain with trepidation as I thought about the climb ahead of us. I wondered if the permanent rift location was at the very top, like some kind of physical challenge set by the Archons of centuries ago. Phi had a permanent rift by her palace for good reason, but why had anybody built a rift out here?
Wispy clouds floated around the upper portions of Cinder Mountain, and the white expanse of the cliffside was daunting without any real forest to cover it. Twisted, blackened remains of burned trees were the only thing to mark the landscape along the climb, and our footprints were the only ones visible in the stark, unforgiving snow.
We hiked for a very long time before I felt like we began to really climb. As we ascended, I noticed the weather began to worsen, and I hoped it wouldn’t snow on us. As we climbed, though, I realized snow might not be the worst of our troubles. The wind was biting and powerful, and it threatened to blow me sideways as it buffeted my team from every direction.
“Are we sure we should keep going?” Nia asked as she yelled over the howling wind.
“This mountain gets bad weather all the time,” I answered in a raised voice. “Remember the challenges to get the ciphers? We should think of this as something similar.”
“We can’t wait around for a sunny day,” Varleth agreed as he held his hat on against the wind. “Let’s keep going!”
Our progress slowed to a crawl as the wind was joined by icy flecks of snow that shot past us like tiny shards of steel. The cold bit at my face, and though I knew the snow wasn’t actually sharp enough to cut me, it was hard to convince myself to face it head-on. The storm was morphing into a full-on blizzard, and we were right in the middle of it.
