Darkness surounded the mountain and made it one with the dim. It was cold and clammy and a snowstorm chased around it.
There was a slight opening into the mountain, a tunnel that led to a cave.
Two tiny creatures had crept together there for shelter. There was a male carrying a bag over his shoulder and a book under his arm; and a female with a beautiful pendant around her forehead; both of them dressed in worn robes and a cape that covered them. They were covered by a magical shield made of four glimmering gems placed in a circle around them.
One of the hanging stones was about to drop from the ceiling. When it fell, it landed just next to one of the gems and moved it out of its place, causing the magical shield to cease.
The two creatures looked around themselves in half sleep and half confusion. The female laid her arms around herself like she was freezing, but it wasn't really the cold that bothered her.
At last the male opened his mouth. "V-Vi… Viela?"
"Quin?" the female answered, not taking her eyes away from the cold rocks around her.
He rubbed his eyes and looked around. "I do not recognize anything. Are we… still at Domino?"
"I cannot tell. It is… so different." Her eyes moved over to him, terrified. "But I can still feel that dark force that I felt earlier."
His eyes widened. "Are they still here?"
He didn't get his answer, because the silence was suddenly broken by a loud scream that made echoes in the cave, and the two crawled together. As the scream faded, they finally dared to breathe again. Viela looked at her companion. "We have got to get away from here."
Quin nodded, too frightened to answer. Instead he took her hand and together they ran away from the spot they had stood. They didn't dare to look back and continued farther and farther into the cave.
Quin suddenly stumbled over a rock and he fell on the cold ground. Viela looked back at him and dragged him up again. "Come on. Hurry!"
They ran till they saw a slight light, and believing to get out, they hurried even faster. When they reached it they stepped out to cold, fresh air and snow in their faces. They crawled together, shivering.
"I-I remember this place!" Quin said, his teeth clattering. "I found the Perebian herb here. But what has happened?"
"We have got to get back to the others." Viela said, pulling her cape tighter around her.
"But it's impossible to make a way in this snow." Quin said, covering his face from the snow. But Viela was already on her way, and he had no choice but to follow her. "She's hopeless," he said, shaking his head.
It took them horrifying long time to get back to the cave where they lived. It was a small opening like the other they had been in, but this was on the bottom of the mountain and after they had used an hour on getting down, they used almost another one on finding it.
"Viela," Quin yelled over the strong wind. "Can you use some magic to make way?"
"I do not know, it is so cold I cannot." She said back. She took another step, but then she slid on the ice on the rocks and down the mountain side.
Quin wasn't late in following her, but tried to be as careful as possible not to fall himself. But the worry for his companion made him move fast and soon he was by her side at the foot of the mountain. "Are you... alright?"
She didn't answer at the first, she had got her eyes fixed on something. "Look!" she pointed in the direction she looked in and Quin followed her finger to see the cave opening. "We made it."
They weren't late in getting inside. The dark cave was a release from the snowstorm outside. They started walking down the cave until they reached a tunnel. Viela moved with determination without looking to any side, but Quin was memorizing everything he saw. "I wonder why they have not locked the entrance. They always keep someone at the... Off!" He hadn't noticed that he had walked right into Viela, who had suddenly stopped and stood like frozen. He looked up and second later he had the same pose.
The sight that met them was far beyond what they had expected. There was something there in front of them, a statue. No, not a statue, a person; frozen in stone. It had a pose that told that he had been running, fleeing perhaps.
Viela walked over to it and touched it carefully. "It is... I think it is Birren."
Quin's mouth fell open. "No!"
Viela walked over to the statue and knelt down to the ground where it was standing and touched it with her fingers. She bowed down her head and closed her eyes. Quin looked at her as her hands began to glow, a soft, warm light that surrounded her as she started to concentrate. A slight wind was made from the energy that escaped her and touched his face, and for a moment the cold was gone from his body.
He stood in amezement as she used her powers, but suddenly the glowing faded and he watched as she suddenly started shaking from sobbing. He walked over to her and was about to touch her shoulder when she spoke. "16 years." Then she turned to him with tears running down her face. "It has passed 16 years. We have been frozen in time."
Quin felt how all the color in his face disappeared. He couldn't believe it, it couldn't have been so long. 16 years. "And now we have woken up, while the rest of them… has not!"
Viela's sobbing turned louder and Quin woke up from his thoughts and bent down to her, embracing her. She leaned to his chest letting herself be stroked over the hair by him. "What are we going to do?"
"I do not know, Viela." He said low while tears slowly started ro run down his own face. "I really do not know."
