I own nothing. Everything except my OCs belong to Rick and Bethesda.
The wind howled as Rorik led the remaining demigods through the frigid temperature towards the fortress from his visions. They had tied ropes around their wastes in an attempt to combat the visibility, or rather lack thereof, brought on by the storm with Rorik leading them based on pure sense.
Every step was a whole new challenge. The snow amassed to nearly a foot, making walking nearly impossible. The threat of hypothermia was also very present. By the time Rorik felt that they were a quarter of the way to the fortress a dozen demigods had been set on Nokholvir, rendered immobile by the seemingly sub zero temperatures. Even Rorik felt the now ever present cold. In the middle of the line, another person collapsed into the snow.
"Rorik !" Called Alejandro. "We've got another. "
Rorik cursed before respond. "We can't fit any more on his back !" He had to yell to be heard over the raging storm.
"Well then what do we do ?"
"Here, I'll carry him" Rorik called everyone to a halt before walking back in the line to where the weakened demigod was and draped him over his shoulders before resuming the march.
Percy was second in line and had been quiet for the entire trek so far. "Rorik, I've been watching thinking. With the rate people are falling, we won't last much longer. Another hour, at the absolute best."
"I know. But aside from freezing to death, our only option is to march forward."
"I figured." They marched on with no breaks. Everyone knew that if they stopped that they wouldn't be able to get back up. That if they stopped, even for just a few minutes, they would die.
As the forced marched carried on, moral continued to drop. Percy had told everyone where they were going to before the march, but people were doubtful. You couldn't blame them though, a giant castle built atop a mountain would sound farfetched to anyone. More likely than not, they thought that the cold had begun to affect their leader's mind.
Obviously, the cold also dampened the spirits severely. Frostbite, hypothermia, and sheer exhaustion brought on by the constant hiking, of which for the last mile had been uphill, through the deep and frigid snow, most wearing no more than their pajamas.
One by one the demigod fell. By the time that Rorik sensed they were nearing the fortress, only 18 people could continue walking. And only 26 were still breathing. Soon Rorik began to fade. The snowy ground seemed so comfortable, so welcoming, so surprisingly warm. He fell to his knees, ready to 'fall asleep'. Percy tried to hoist the nord back onto his feet, unable to carry him as his back was already occupied by another disabled camper. He went to lay down when a figure cloaked in gray began to emerge from the blizzard.
He smiled warmly before speaking. "Welcome, Young Dragonborn, to High Hrothgar."
Hey guys. I know this chapter kinda, sucks, and it's short, and it's boring. But it was something that just needed to be included for anything to make sense. To me at least, it wouldn't have made any sense for the characters to just appear at High Hrothgar after the bombing. So big news. One more chapter (probably) then an epilogue. This is coming to a close. It will be done by the 16th of June (Probably). The next chapter will be up hopefully sometime between now and the 14th. With the last chapter (The epilogue) being easier to write, it will probably only take a day to write and will be up the 16th. But damn, I hate this chapter. I couldn't get it right, and this is just not the way I like to write. It took me 3 days to get this measly little chapter. I'm also on a trip so I was pretty distracted and not willing to work. Ok, that's all guys. Bye.
- Arkos T.F.I.W. out