The blizzard came in spurts but wasn't too hard for Luz to trudge through. Still, this was a cold that stung her toes and bit her nose worse than any trip to the proverbial grandma's house of which the old song had spoke. Luz wondered if she would freeze right where she stood. It felt like hours that Luz had trudged through the glacial air, the increasing snow making the familiar crunch sound, although it seemed to resonate in her ears as much louder than it should have been while the blustery wind sound seemed to fade out at random times.

The real problem, however, was the sense of direction. She had no idea if this was even the right way. Occasionally, there would be a large hole in the clouds that would allow her to see the stars, but because the stars were so different from either Earth or the Boiling Isles, she couldn't make out if she was going true north or not. (It didn't help that they seemed to occasionally shift in the sky as if compulsively rearranging themselves.)

On and on she trudged through the cold, hoping, praying that she was heading towards the dreaded Kadath. All she could think about was Amity, holding on to all hope that her wonderful girlfriend was okay.

Off in the distance, she saw something moving. She couldn't tell how close it was, but it was just enough through the foggy snow to make out that it looked like several crawling spiders. Luz squinted and could see that they appeared to be purple in color, although that could have been a trick of such low light. It was hard to tell from this distance, but they appeared to be the size of kamodo dragons. It looked like they were flaring their forelegs up at something in front of them, something much smaller that Luz thought she could see was humanoid in shape. She noticed more of them surrounding the spiders and realized they were bigger than she initially thought. The figures were hurling what looked like spears, rocks, and throwing axes at the things while the spiders fought back. Eventually, the snow obscured so much that the vision of this far away battle faded from her view.

"Not your cowboys, not your rodeo, Luz," she uttered through chattering teeth, her visible breath wafting in front of her, "No matter how much I'd like to help them, I need to focus. But I do hope whoever they are can hold their own."

She eventually found a small ravine where she trudged down and discovered an icy cave carved into one of the crystalline walls. It was just enough shelter to keep her out of the driving blizzard that was beginning to kick up again. Conveniently, there was just enough room for her to light a fire on the ground. She gathered some wood from her pack, not really questioning how it got there, and ignited a fire glyph in the center of it. Warming her hands by the fire felt like a luxury at this point, one of which she wondered how she could have ever have taken for granted, always having some form of heat source available to her while in civilization. Upon examination, her pack also contained a packet of cold shrimp and vegetables for some reason, as well as a steel rod. She pushed the vegetables and shrimp through the pointed rod and roasted them over the fire. She wondered where all of this was coming from, but it didn't really matter. Her hunger was sated, and sleep was surely taking her. She unfolded her sleeping bag and blanket, covered most of it with latter and zipped herself inside the former before passing out in front of the warm, soothing embers and the scent of burning hickory.

Waking up in an unfamiliar area, she found that there was light pouring in from the aperture from which she had previously entered. It must have been morning. The fire had long since gone out, leaving Luz in the cold once more. At least she was refreshed; she got out and began to pack up again to continue the trek before she heard something echoing down the corridor of the cave.

Curiosity got the better of her as she moved down the long tunnel that grew darker as she proceeded. The sun's rays still caused the light to reflect through the ice and the stalactites and stalagmites to glisten. Eventually, Luz came to a large pit of which extent she had no means of discerning. The abyss seemed to go on for ever with what looked like long walkways connecting the inner walls. Squinting through the darkness, Luz thought she could view various creatures that looked at a distance like pineapples with bat wings and starfish heads. Echoing from the depths came a high-pitched, raspy whisper that sounded like it was saying "Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!"

She began to back away from the opening and proceed back towards the entrance before anything noticed her and decided to make her a meal.

Exiting the cave, she could see the horizon clearly. Twin suns blazed across the new fallen snow, blank canvas ready for Luz to begin painting with footprints. She continued on across the seemingly endless tundra on what she knew was a massive plateau, though she wondered why they would even call it that if it was so wide. Maybe it lead off some other side somewhere and that there was an end she just couldn't see.

It felt like hours before the hills came into view. She walked through a large canyon entirely made of some new glaciers the cartographers had probably not see yet and would definitely have to relieve Leng of its plateau title. She took a look inside the ice walls as she walked, squinting her eyes. There was definitely something in there, something with massive eyes and long black tendrils. She thought whatever creature was in there was frozen solid until she saw one of the eyes move her way and immediately turned her head.

"Nope, nope, noping on outta here," she said to herself.

A voice inside her head gave another raspy whisper similar to the one in the cave: "The dreaded Empress Marit Lage hath thee enthralled!"

"Nope nope nope nope nope," Luz walked faster, leaving the small canyon before walking across another stretch of tundra. The thing didn't say anything else after that.

On and on she marched, stopping to eat more of her rations and finding less than she had before. Did some creature eat half of her remaining food or was this due to the increasing anxiety level of the dream? Nothing made sense anymore, and Luz wondered if it were easier to continue on or succumb to the madness of this place. Unfortunately, as lucid as this dream was, she didn't feel entirely in control. Not to mention, was she really dreaming per se? She did enter this place from the waking world, so she wasn't exactly cosy in her bed at the nice warm Owl House. She longed to rest on the couch and drink hot cocoa, cuddled up next to Eda, King, and Amity.

Amity…

Amity!

No, she needed to trudge forward. This wasn't about her. Amity, her darling cotton candy haired princess, was still in the clutches of Nyar-what's-his-face. Luz was the only one who could save her. No matter how much this frost made her numb and stung her, no matter how many layers she was wearing, she would rescue her beloved.

Was it love? It had to be.

The sun's light was fading until it was obscured by another blizzard. She squinted her eyes as she moved forward. Goggled appeared on her head (once again thanks to dream logic), and she promptly put them on to see. The lenses were tented, making the world around her seem darker. Through the television static snow, she thought she could make out more of those giant purple spiders scurrying away, digging into the ground seemingly to escape the oncoming storm.

Still, she kept pushing forward. It was all she could do, even if she didn't know if it was the right direction.

And yet the storm never stopped and appeared to get worse as the sun set.

Luz desperately tried to ignite some of her fire glyphs, but it was all in vain, as each one dissipated in the oppressive snow. Her legs grew weaker and weaker, and no matter how strong her will was, her body began to give out.

"Amity…" Luz groaned softly, falling to her knees and reaching out into the darkness. Her eyes involuntarily closed, and she fell face first into the snow, the frigid darkness taking her.

But this was not the end. She awoke once again, the sky overcast with more seemingly living clouds.

Before her stood an enormous temple, its long stone staircase leading up to a soft white glowing doorway, two large obelisks at the stairs base. Luz looked at the obelisks and found various hieroglyphics that she recognized as Egyptian. Two large statues, stood on either side of the doorway, one looking like a humanoid male with a snake's head and the other a humanoid female with a crocodile's head; both looked to be dressed in some intricate regal attire.

Luz pushed herself up, finding new resolve and strength to march up the stairs to what she knew very well was the lost Kadath.