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"Weather's getting bad again."
"I know," Crispin said, looking up from the faint tracks in the snow. While the sky had remained clear during the day, a new storm was beginning to move down from the west, obscuring the sun setting behind the Khairathi Mountains. With the light rapidly fading, the trail would be nearly impossible to follow. Only a step behind him, Emeri leaned against a huge, lightning struck spruce as he watched the clouds moving in from the west. "We'll have to make camp soon and put together some kind of shelter to ride out the storm."
"Wasn't there a river around here somewhere?" Emeri inquired, gazing westward as Crispin tried to discern the wolves' trail in the gathering gloom.
"It's more of a creek," the ranger answered absently. Talia and Rachwal joined the pair as they studied the tracks. "Fast, but not very deep."
"Are we stopping here?" the mage inquired, looking past the two men.
"Maybe," Crispin replied. "The storm moving in looks like it might be a good one. We'll need some kind of shelter."
"Will we lose the trail if it snows?" Talia asked, watching the clouds herself.
"Yeah," Crispin answered. "Then we're back to guesswork."
"We use caves ahead," Rachwal suggested, leaning on his short bow. Talia started off slowly along the faint tracks, trying to follow them through the snow. "Cold Tooth use caves west of river."
"Yeah, but we still have to find the river," Crispin said, looking up to the sky. "I thought we would have reached it by now."
"Hey, these tracks are getting clearer," Talia informed the group, almost a dozen yards ahead of the group. "And I think I hear water!"
"Uh, Crispin, does that river ever freeze over?" Emeri asked, pointing to the tree line. Crispin looked up as well, and suddenly noticed a linear break in the forest canopy.
"Talia! Stop!" the ranger shouted, jumping to his feet. The mage turned around, a look of confusion on her face, but she had no time to question her companion as a loud crack echoed through the trees.
Crispin was moving instantly, racing for the mage as Talia plunged through a thin layer of ice and into the river hidden below it. The ranger slid forward, feeling ice give way beneath his chest as he lunged for Talia's cloak, snagging her only a fraction of a second before she could slip beneath the icy water. Emeri raced forward, diving to catch the sliding ranger's legs before Crispin could also be pulled into the frigid current. Rachwal took a step forward as well, but stopped as he heard a pair of low growls behind him.
"Humans! Hurry!" the goblin shouted, spinning back on the rumbling growls and swiftly drawing an arrow. Two winter wolves were already charging through the snow, baring their fangs and breathing thick clouds of frost as they closed in on the goblin. Rachwal fired quickly, nearly knocking the smaller of the two wolves back with his first shot, but the other covered the distance to the goblin before Rachwal could draw and fire a second arrow. The two combatants tumbled backwards in a cloud of snow and frost as Rachwal struggled to draw his short sword and push his far larger combatant away. The winter wolf snapped down on the goblin's arm even as he pulled his blade free, trying to tear Rachwal's limb off at the elbow.
Emeri suddenly slammed into the wolf from the side, his mace crashing down on the canine's skull and forcing it to let go of Rachwal. The Lancer pressed the attack as Rachwal stumbled back to his feet, blocking a brutal counter from the monster with his shield and following through with another thunderous blow as he rolled with the impact. The wolf turned back on him, blood pouring from its head, in time to receive a third strike from the Lancer's mace, this one snapping the monster's head back from the force of the underhanded attack. Emeri pushed forward, trying to finish the dazed wolf before it could regain its senses, ignoring his armor's suddenly freezing temperature in his hurry to finish his opponent. The wolf stumbled backwards, trying to escape the fighter, but Emeri managed to land the killing blow as he fell forward, screaming in pain as his skin froze to his chain mail and ripped apart with his movements. The Lancer dropped his mace and shield, frantically trying to tear his armor free before he froze to death inside his chain mail.
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The shock of falling through the ice and sinking into the frigid water had stolen her breath and numbed her for a moment, but after only a heartbeat Talia had recovered enough to frantically claw her way back above the water. Her head thumped into solid ice for a moment, but the mage kicked off of the rocky bottom enough to break the surface and gasp in a mouthful of air before her feet slipped across the riverbed and the current dragged her back down. Talia began to scream for help, but her mouth filled with water as she submerged once more. Again the mage tried to kick off of the bottom, but the stones beneath her offered no purchase, instead ripping through her heavy boots and slicing into the soles of her feet.
A terrible pain shot through her scalp as someone grabbed a handful of hair and yanked her back. Talia threw her arms out, desperately reaching for her rescuer, and within moments a powerful hand closed around her wrist and hauled her onto the bank. With the last of her strength the mage dug her fingers into the muddy bank and dragged herself forward, choking for breath as she finally pulled herself out of the powerful current.
With Talia out of the water, Crispin rolled back to his feet to meet the winter wolves that he had heard behind him. The ranger froze, his long bow halfway off of his shoulder, as he suddenly caught sight of a shape against the dark trees on the opposite side of the river. The slight form was standing more than two dozen yards away, dressed in the white furs of a winter wolf, but it was definitely not another one of the monstrous canines. As Crispin watched, the diminutive man pushed the wolf's head helm he wore back slightly, revealing sharply pointed ears and flowing, platinum blond hair, almost seeming to smile at the ranger as Crispin saw him. Then the man simply disappeared as he took a single step backwards, vanishing into the trees.
Rachwal's shout for help and Emeri's screams of pain snapped the ranger back into action. The ranger spun and loosed his first shaft, driving an arrow through the neck of Rachwal's foe. The first arrow had barely struck home when the ranger fired a second time, striking a winter wolf charging in on the melee from along the riverbank. Crispin dropped back a step, drawing another arrow and preparing to fire, when a loud bellow from the other side of the river caught his attention. The ranger turned and fired again before he had truly sighted in on his target, but his new enemy was difficult to miss at best.
"Talia, get up!" Crispin shouted, swiftly drawing another arrow. The ranger let his second shaft fly as Talia spun to the newest threat, but she froze in horror as she finally saw the monstrous, brown furred bear charging to the river in its hurry to reach the four travelers. Both of Crispin's arrows had struck their target, but the gigantic bear seemed not to even notice the shafts as it roared again in anticipation of tearing its foes apart. "Talia, come on!"
Crispin's voice brought Talia back to her senses. The mage quickly pulled her spell components free of her belt pouch, and loosed a bolt of lightning on the bear just before it reached the water. The lightning barreled into the monster head on, but the bear hardly slowed as it crashed through the ice covering the river and splashed through the water towards them.
"We're not even slowing it!" Talia exclaimed, trying to think of some way to destroy the oncoming monster.
"Talia, come on!" Crispin ordered, pulling the mage off of the ground by her arm. Talia fell back into the snow only an instant after she had risen, barely able to stand on her torn feet. Crispin turned back to her, ready to pull her up once more, but stopped as he saw the blood staining the snow around her shredded boots.
"Get going!" Talia demanded, seeing the ranger's hesitation. "I'll hold that thing off!"
"Stupid heroics," Crispin grumbled, drawing his sword and axe. The ranger met the bear head on as the monster lumbered onto the river bank, slashing through its thick brown fur and chest as it stood on its two hind legs. Crispin spun quickly, barely avoiding one ponderous strike from the bear's huge claws, and buried his hatchet in the creature's chest just as it crashed home with its left paw. Crispin tore free of the monster as he flew backwards, crashing through the ice almost ten feet away and falling into the river, but Talia had somehow managed to find her footing and threw off a trio of magic missiles into the monster's gut before it could charge her. Despite four arrows sticking out of its shoulders, Crispin's sword and axe wounds, and the mage's spells, the enormous bear seemed to be nothing more than angered by the assaults. Talia stumbled backward one step, but the mage had nowhere to run as the bear swatted her to the side. Stunned by the brutal assault and left gasping for air, the mage had no time to react as the huge bear stormed forward to finish the job.
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Four winter wolves were charging in off of his left and two more to the right, but at least he had found the potion of cold resistance in his pack in time to keep his armor from freezing him to death. Emeri hefted his mace and turned back to the river, hoping that there would be some kind of safety in that direction, but the Lancer was just in time to see a titanic bear hurl Crispin back into the water with an almost casual swipe of its paw. Rachwal was barely recovering from the initial beating that he had taken, but the goblin had somehow managed to gain the upper hand against the winter wolf that had originally attacked him. Still, the Lancer was beginning to doubt that the small group would live through the fight; it might have been possible to defeat eight winter wolves, but the dire bear that had simply appeared out of nowhere had certainly tipped the scales in the canines' favor. The odds worsened even more as the dire bear hurled Talia back into the snow, tearing huge gashes across her chest with its monstrous claws. With the bear's attention fixed on the helpless mage, Emeri found himself looking at what might be his only chance to ford the river and make a dash for safety in the forest on the other bank.
Emeri charged forward with a roar of his own, crashing into the dire bear only a second before it could reach Talia. The Lancer's mace thumped down on the monster's flank, but the bear was only angered by the new attack. Emeri dropped back one step and threw his shield up in time to parry the bear's devastating assault, but his arm was nearly torn off at the shoulder by the force of the blow. Stubbornly the Lancer launched a second attack, this time having marginally more success with a strike aimed at the bear's head. Roaring in pain and fury, the dire bear turned back on Emeri and slammed both claws into him, nearly tearing his stomach apart as it lifted him off of the ground in a deadly embrace.
Crispin rejoined the fray then, leaping onto the monster's back and driving his sword into the bear's hide up to the hilt. The huge creature threw Emeri aside and swatted at the ranger clinging to his back, but Crispin refused to be dislodged as he hacked away at the back of his foe's neck with his axe. Emeri rolled back to one knee as the dire bear bucked fiercely, but Crispin's sword remained firmly anchored in the monster's back, allowing the ranger to keep hold on the huge ursine for a moment longer. Next to him, Talia wheezed for breath as she tried to recover from her injuries, but the Lancer could barely worry about her as he turned on the rapidly closing winter wolves. Rachwal's original opponent had finally been killed, but the goblin himself was nowhere to be found.
Straining to concentrate through the pain, Talia fought her way through another spell, and a cloud of golden dust settled on the four winter wolves charging from the left. Behind them, the dire bear flopped backwards, nearly crushing Crispin in its desperate attempts to dislodge the ranger, but the Lancer had no time to worry about his companions as he rushed forward to intercept the final two wolves. Both of the monstrous canines turned their icy breath on him at the same time, trying to freeze the Lancer in his tracks, but the potion's protection allowed him to barrel through the worst of the frost and slam his mace down on the shoulder of the lead wolf. The wounded wolf turned, missing the Lancer by scant inches, but its companion ripped through Emeri's shield and clamped down on his elbow with a vicious snap of its jaws. Emeri dropped back with a gasp of pain, knocking the wolf free with a powerful backhand stroke of his mace, and nearly fell into Crispin as the blood soaked ranger yanked his sword free of the slain dire bear.
"How are you holding up?" Crispin asked, dropping into a defensive stance as the two wolves slowly closed on their targets.
"I can't keep this up much longer," the mauled Lancer replied, his shield arm hanging useless by his side. "What about you?"
"I'm taking a beating here," Crispin answered. "And Talia's been crippled. The druid set a trap under the ice."
"He's here?" Emeri asked, glancing back to the ranger.
"Somewhere," Crispin affirmed.
"Then I hope she has some kind of teleport spell," Emeri said, backing up another step. Behind the two warriors, the four blinded winter wolves were caught in another of Talia's webs, but the powerful canines were already recovering from the glitterdust spell and pushing their way through the webbing with furious strength. "Because we are not going to win this fight."
"The river," Crispin said, glancing over his shoulder. "We make a swim for it, beneath the ice. If we're lucky, they won't follow us."
"And if we're not lucky?" Emeri inquired. Crispin turned a grim expression on his partner.
"Then we die anyway," he answered, backing away from the wolves. The two canines continued to match their opponents step for step, but refused to attack as they waited for their entangled allies to break free of the web. With one more step the two men had reached Talia, and Crispin helped the mage to her feet.
"What do we do?" the mage asked, clinging to Crispin's sleeve to keep her balance. "The glitterdust will wear off any second, and they're already halfway through the web!"
"Get ready to hold your breath," Crispin answered, sheathing his weapons. The ranger hoisted Talia onto his shoulder, and turned to the icy water behind them. "We're going for a swim."
"You can't be serious!" Talia protested. Crispin simply charged for the river in reply, sprinting for all he was worth as the winter wolves pulled free of the web and barreled through the snow after their victims. Only a step behind, Emeri pushed forward for all he was worth, but the two winter wolves that had not been caught in the web were too close. The Lancer spun at the last moment, trying to throw up his shield in time to deflect one wolf's attack even as he crunched his mace down on the other's head, but his wounded arm moved too slowly to block the leaping monster. Before Talia could try to think of a spell to save him, Emeri had been thrown to the ground by his monstrous attacker. The mage could only spare the briefest instant to mourn Emeri, however, as the other four wolves rapidly closed the distance to the fleeing ranger.
Crispin dove forward at the last second, crashing through the icy crust on the river just as the wolves reached the bank. Talia rolled free of the ranger's grasp and began to swim forward with the frigid current, barely able to open her eyes through the stinging cold. Behind her, Talia thought she could hear something else splash into the water, but would not even hazard a look back as she tried to keep up with Crispin's furious pace.
Chunks of ice suddenly lanced down through the water behind her, gaining in intensity until a full fledged ice storm was tearing through the thin ice above her. The already cold waters dropped still more in temperature, until new ice was forming in the current. With her lungs burning for lack of air and her arms and legs going numb with frostbite, the mage bumped up against the sheet of ice and snow above her, trying desperately to find her way back to the surface. The mage was ready to punch her way through the translucent barrier when Crispin grabbed her by the arm, dragging her along the rocky river bottom and away from the winter wolves.
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The icy water had sapped his strength quickly, stealing the heat from his body within seconds and threatening to overwhelm him before he could even come up to surface for his first gasping breath. But as bad as the water had been, the night air was even worse.
Crispin clawed his way onto the riverbank with the last reserves of his strength, racked by shivering as the harsh southwestern winds brought the threatening storm upon the forest. Snow was already falling, rapidly gaining in intensity as the ranger stumbled up onto the rocky shore, trying to force circulation back into his numb fingers and toes. With the last bit of his coherence, Crispin called upon the wood magic he had mastered, banishing the chill from his body with a simple spell.
With the cold at bay for only a moment, Crispin quickly took stock of his surroundings. He had timed his exit from the river as well as he could have hoped, and found himself in one of the thickest, wildest patches of the forest. Almost a dozen years earlier, he and Renaux had spent three nights riding out a storm in the worst part of winter in the tiny caves and overhangs that honeycombed the rocky outcroppings just to his west. Now, with very little time to organize a shelter, the ranger had to pray that he could find a deep enough cave to hide in, and he needed to find dry firewood in an escalating blizzard after nightfall.
"C-C-Crispin?" Talia stuttered, already delirious with cold. Crispin rushed back to the water, nearly slipping on the icy stones, and took the mage in his arms.
"Come on, Talia," the ranger said, carefully carrying her away from the water. With the last reserves of his mystical energy, the ranger was able to protect Talia from the cold, but it was a temporary respite at best. Even now he could feel the limits of his own spell being tested as the bitter wind began to freeze his clothing to his skin. "We'll get you to shelter, and I'll see about a fire."
"I d-don't feel so cold any more," Talia said, putting her arms around Crispin's neck and leaning into his drenched tunic. "Is it magic?"
"Wood magic," Crispin explained simply. "I have a little more time, but the spell I used on you won't last very long. Now Talia, this is very important. Are you listening?"
"Yes, I'm listening," the mage said, although she still sounded distracted and not quite coherent. "I really like you, Crispin."
"Talia, come on," Crispin ordered, trying to force coherence back on the mage. "There are some small caves just ahead. I'm going to bring you there, and heal the damage to your feet. Then I'm going to get some wood and start a fire. But you have to keep moving around, Talia. Do you hear me?"
"Keep moving," Talia repeated in a drowsy tone. "I'm tired, Crispin."
"I know, but if you fall asleep, you won't wake up," Crispin said, pushing through the snow with all the speed his numb legs could muster. "You need to keep moving, and keep as warm as you can until I can get a fire going. Do you understand?"
"So tired," Talia said quietly, snuggling up against the ranger's chest.
"Talia, come on!" Crispin shouted, almost directly into her ear. Talia jumped, shocked by the sudden outburst. "You have to keep with me! Keep awake!"
"Right, awake," Talia repeated, growing slightly more lucid. With her renewed coherence, the mage was suddenly more aware of her surroundings, and of the biting cold fighting to overwhelm Crispin's magic. "Crispin?" the mage asked, her voice a timid whisper.
"What is it?" the ranger asked, still plowing through the snow.
"Are… will we make it through the night?" Talia asked, her dark eyes locking onto Crispin's gaze.
"We're damn sure going to give it a shot," the ranger answered sternly.
"I'm glad you're here," Talia said, drawing herself as far into Crispin's arms as she could.
"You're going delirious again," Crispin said, although he could not force all of the awkward tone out of his voice. The ranger finally reached his destination, and picked his way up through the rocks in a desperate search for shelter. Finally, after several agonizing minutes, Crispin pushed his way into a cave that was almost eight feet deep, fairly well hidden within the rocks, with a thin layer of dirt and conifer needles to insulate the pair from the cold stone. While the ceiling was too low for the ranger to stand, Talia might be able to fit inside with only a little bit of a crouch. Quickly the ranger ducked into the cave, and lowered Talia to the ground against the far wall.
"What about those potions?" Talia asked, gingerly helping Crispin to remove her boots.
"Emeri had them," Crispin answered simply. Talia looked down to the ground.
"He…" the mage started, her voice trembling. Crispin nodded. "Did you see what happened to Rachwal?"
"No," the ranger answered, taking his waterlogged pack from his shoulders and quickly coming up with the jars of healing salve. Crispin continued to speak as he applied to salve to the deep lacerations in her feet, seeing them begin to close as soon as the ointment touched the injuries. "I can only guess that he was killed, too. This should heal enough for you to be able to walk. Once you're able, stand up and walk around. Jump up and down, if you can. Wave your arms about. But whatever you do, don't stop moving. That spell I cast on you is just about over. After that, the cold is going to hit you full force again."
"Then hurry back," Talia said, doing an admirable job of keeping the fear out of her words. She carefully planted her feet on the ground, and pushed herself up against the wall as Crispin emptied his meager supplies from his backpack. For a moment the ranger hesitated, taking stock of the mage, but Talia forced out a smile. "I'll be okay," she said, fighting off a renewed chill in her body as the spell wore off. Crispin nodded and turned to leave, but Talia caught his arm and pulled him back to a quick kiss. "For luck," the mage said, seeing the ranger's stunned expression. Crispin nodded.
"Keep moving," he said, unable to think of anything more to add. Talia merely smiled in reply, but her teeth were already beginning to chatter again. Crispin ducked out of the cave and half slid down the rock face, hurrying to the nearest trees in an effort to find wood.
Crispin bolted from tree to tree, hacking dead limbs off of the lowest whorls of spruce and pine at a frantic pace. His own spell, more potent than the one he had cast on Talia, was already beginning to fade out. His drenched garments were quickly freezing, and with every step he could feel icy water sloshing around his feet. Under normal circumstances his elemental protection spell would have lasted well over an hour, but in under half that time the ward was beginning to give way to the first stinging sensations of frostbite. Slowly his body began to shiver again, until he was shaking so badly that he could barely aim his axe. Still the ranger forced himself to keep moving, barging through the knee deep snow with two armfuls and a backpack full of wood.
Talia had slumped against the far wall, shivering uncontrollably and fighting against the urge to simply fall asleep. Crispin barely noticed her as he dumped the wood in the center of the tiny cave and set to work, trying to control the shaking in his hands as he tried to arrange the tinder and kindling so that it would catch. Next the ranger fished out his flint and steel, but his shaking hands could barely strike the two together with enough force to draw a spark.
"I'll t-t-try," Talia stammered, moving next to the ranger. Crispin dropped back, ready to give anything a chance, and the mage managed to spit out a quick chant. A sheet of fire spread out from her outstretched hands, barely igniting the gathered wood.
"G-g-good," Crispin said, pulling off his frozen gloves and trying to keep the fire going. "T-t-take off your c-clothes."
"What?" Talia asked, looking to the ranger.
"They're t-too wet to be of any help," Crispin said, quickly building the fire up. "You'll b-be able to absorb more heat w-without them."
Talia hesitated for a moment, but finally began to remove her heavy outer garments. With the fire beginning to blaze up, Crispin took his blanket and a pair of daggers, and fought to drive the small blades into cracks in the rock around the cave opening to hold the blanket over the entrance. Though it was far from weatherproof, the ice covered blanket did manage to keep most of the wind and snow out of the cave. With the entrance sealed, Crispin dropped to the ground and pulled off his boots, cloak, studded leather tunic, and shirt, and quickly moved as close to the fire as he could get. He had barely sat down, practically hunched over the flames, when Talia moved to his side, forcing herself under his arm to share body heat.
"Crispin?" Talia asked, looking up. Although she was still violently shaking, the ranger could not feel it over his own shivers.
"Yeah," Crispin answered quietly, moving the two of them even closer to the meager heat source.
"Are we going to live through this?" Talia asked. Crispin looked down at her, and ran the back of his hand gently along her cheek.
"We'll make it through," the ranger answered quietly. Talia smiled up at the ranger, and slowly rose to press a kiss to his lips.
"Keep me warm, Crispin," the mage said quietly, drawing him down to her.