Having gone down into the dark caves and soon realizing that he was traversing underground, Kratos was almost surprised to find the underground chambers were filled with the ruined remains of monsters, impaled and hanging like mandibles all over the caverns. Weapons that they carried seemed like they had been used against them, so there was possible infighting, but he'd never seen it happen with these creatures.

"It almost seems to be like your handiwork, brother." Mimir remarked, having a glimpse of the massacre. "Whenever you...let loose your fury, of course."

Compared to how he bashes and smashes, completely demolishing his enemies with his rage until there is nothing left, Kratos could spot the similarities. They were much like how would rip apart foes in the past, an unending fury for pain and anguish left in his wake. And that fury is embodied with a fiery wrath that burns all he attacks to cinders. Looking around, the corpses, the scorch marks, and the essence of rage that still lingered in the air. It was all too familiar to Kratos, that it was almost haunting. This...is the Rage of a Spartan, the same Rage that he bottles up and unleashes in combat every day. If that was not enough to prove that there was something strange, then the only other thing he noticed could.

"It is warm in here." he commented, feeling radiating heat all around him as it combated Fimbulwinter's touch. The icicles above were melting, dripping water down to the floor, and there was no brisk wind that was filling the place with a hellish cold.

"Indeed it is, brother. That's quite unorthodox unless it is a form of magic. I know that most realms are affected differently from Fimbulwinter and that Gods such as the Aesir and Vanir have their way of shielding themselves from its touch with their own magic. But I never had seen it in a form like this. It is almost like-"

"Head, enough." Kratos ordered, pausing Mimir's rambling. "Had Atreus and Calliope gone through here, they must've moved quickly. This place in unstable."

"That is true. There are only a few places from the old mines that would lead up to the mountain and down the valley. But surely, the boy wouldn't be heading up there."

Kratos looked around and saw no other footprints. His trail was gone, but he could take a guess at where Atreus was heading, for he could see a part of the cave was already in a greater state of disarray. Not from a struggle, but a chase. Something, or perhaps someone forced his children to go the more dangerous path that led nowhere but up.

"He had no choice." He said. "The earth around him was fragile, destroyed by the creature chasing him."

"What kind of beast would force the young ones to flee like this?" Mimir asked.

"I do not know...but I intend to find out."

"...Forgive me brining this up, brother. But I cannot hide the fact that I grew intensively worried for the wee one's safety. Now, the lad? I know you push to survive worse scrapes this. But your little gal, she's so fragile...do you really believe that she could make it past this?"

"Atreus would protect Calliope with all that he is. I have faith in my children; they will survive."

"Well...just to be certain, I say you best start climbing." the Head remarked as Kratos looked to see outside light coming from up above. Another sinkhole for him to climb out of. Out of the heat and back into the fray...

The brisk cold would be too much on anyone who stayed too long in the freezing wind. Unfortunately for Atreus and Calliope, this is exactly what they going through right now as the boy climbs up the mountainside to the foothills with his sister on his back. And he could handle the cold, for the only thing that was on his mind right now was "Is this how Father felt when he had to carry me?" Now, his sister was actually pretty light on his back; it was the fact that she was coming close to crushing his torso with her arms and legs wrapped around it like a constrictor.

Atreus pants as he reaches the ledge and finds himself on the bluff where Sindri's shop used to be. He could see the setup buried under the snow.

"Alright, Cal...I think we'll be safe up here." He said to her as he managed to get onto solid ground and allowed his sister to get off of him. Their feet sank and their legs were buried in the snow as the foothills were all but abandoned at this point. "Of course, I...could be wrong. We're gonna freeze up here...if we don't find any shelter soon."

Atreus didn't have time to mull over his options. He either had to find some way to go back inside the mountain using the paths he and his father took a year ago, see if that old Valkyrie chamber was still holding, and possibly use the mystic gateway that's inside, try and head back down through the path that leads to the Lake, or, and this is the least likely one, set up a shelter out here and hope for the best they don't freeze to death. There had to have been someplace in this frozen wasteland, up in thin air, that they could last long enough before they would back down to solid ground. The ledge wasn't looking so steep, so if they had a sleigh like he once dreamed of having, they would be out of there in a minute. Until then, they would have to just keep going further up as Atreus leads his sister up the old frozen path.

"The scorn poles...were knocked out by Fimbulwinter." That was one thing he was grateful for, considering he wasn't exactly equipped to deal with poison magic. But still, the more climbing they had to do, the more difficult it became. And the continuing legion of frost-bane enemies, the hel-walkers, didn't make things any simpler. Fortunately, the two children of the God of War worked together and defeated their enemies quickly, Atreus both shooting and whacking enemies with his bow, and Calliope demonstrating her ever-growing skills with her spear, showing fast and agile, delicate yet fierce moves that she once didn't believe herself capable of. By the end, she seemed to surprise even herself, and Atreus was left impressed. That feeling didn't last long when Calliope suddenly had to catch her breath. The cold was getting to her, and Atreus needed to get her out of here as fast as he made it so she held onto him and they continued...

"Just hold on, Calliope...I will get you somewhere safe!" He told her, holding her tight. "I promise..."

"Γιατί... συνεχίζουμε να ανεβαίνουμε; (Why...do we keep going up?)" Calliope asked. "Αισθάνεται σαν... η αγωνία. (This feels like...the agoge.)"

"The mountain...is our safest bet...I know the way...come on."

He continued to lead them up to the base of the mountain. The face carving was not completely obscured by the blinding snow, so Calliope was as amazed as Atreus was when he first came there with their father. But that's when he remembered something else that was exhausting.

"Oh yeah...had to climb up there." He muttered when they re-encountered the blocked path. "...Damn it." Then, he gestured at Calliope to hop on as he started to climb once more. But it was not so easy this time, given that every grip was inches beneath the snow or frozen under a layer of ice. There was a higher risk of slipping here and than before, and Atreus really did not want this. But it was only a short way up towards the mouth, and he could get there. He had to...

"Don't worry, Cal!" He said to his sister while huffing it. "Soon we'll in the mountain and everything will be alri-AAAGGHHH!"

And then, one of the grips loosened, making him slip as he held onto the ledge for dear life. Calliope yelled, not wanting to die a second time as she anchored her arms to her brother with all her strength.

"Hang on!" He cried out as he tried his best to raise his arm and reach for the top, but the last supporting grip gave out and he felt himself come off the mountain's surface. Atreus and Calliope were ready to scream just as they were ready to fall to their deaths...but then...something happened. Atreus felt a grip on his hand, something or...someone was pulling him up as he also never let go of Calliope. Whoever this was, their image was obscured by the snow, wait Atreus could make out the silhouette of a girl, and her hand...was glowing...in a blue flaming light. Atreus and Calliope soon found themselves at the mouth of the Mountain's face. where their vision was no longer blocked so much by the haze of the winter's storm. Yet, nowhere near the doors, nor around the ledge was...anyone. They were by themselves here.

"What...was that?" He asked. "...WHO was that?" A lot of questions were rolling in his mind right now. Was it an illusion? A hallucination? But those wouldn't have been able to save their lives. Was it some sort of guardian spirit? A Valkyrie, even? He did not think those things possible, not at this moment. All questions he couldn't answer right now, as he decided to look after his sister.

"We made it Calliope." He told her with a reassuring voice. "This will be where we can take shelter for now. And there's more space inside in case we need-"

But as she was catching her breath, Calliope then noticed something bright behind her brother and pointed over him to get his attention.

"Atreus, κοίτα! (, look!)" She said, rushing over to another thing, one that Atreus hoped wouldn't provoke something else to try and kill them. But what it was was a lantern of some kind, made of silver and glowing in a bright...blue flame. Atreus has seen a lot of things and knew there was some sort of magic

"Αυτό το φανάρι είναι ελληνικής σχεδίασης. (This Lantern is of Greek Design.) " Calliope said as she took it by its handle and stared into the blue flames that seemed to burn without fuel. Atreus came by and examined it himself, feeling the comforting warmth that exceeded from its fire.

"Whatever it is, it's warm and provides light." He said, gently taking it from his sister's hands. "We can use it to light our way through here. Come on."

And with that, Atreus once more continued to lead his sister as they headed into the mountain. If the mine hadn't completely collapsed or frozen over, they could try and find an alternate route and get back down.

But that was a long way from where they stood...

The harshest of climate and extreme weather can break down many structures overtime. But Kratos could recognize man-made destruction at first glance. It made going through those caves even harder as he was forced to continuously find alternate routes. But at least there were no forms of hostility that already seem to have been vanquished.

"ᛞᛖᚨᛏᚺ ᛏᛟ ᛏᚺᛖ ᚨᛋᚺᚷᛟᛞ!!!"

(SLASH, HACK, SHWING, DEAD)

...Mostly. There were still some raiders who were hiding from whatever else was in those caves. But they were savage enough to take their chances when it comes to encountering their primary target.

"I'm no military expert, but I'd say there were only scouts." Mimir pointed out. "Whatever broke their party drove them into those ambush spots. Perhaps, it was only luck that they attempted to catch us off guard."

"They fought desperately. Something had scared them." Kratos added, analyzing his fallen enemies from the edge of the underground area. "Whatever it may be, it is behind us now."

Mimir replied "Aye. But look where we are now, brother. An isolated path towards the mountain."

It's true, while Kratos did not recognize the route, he could see that the largest landmark in this realm can still be seen through the snow and darkness.

"Surely the lad would not be that cracked."

"Whatever was those caves, it chased Atreus and Calliope, hence the destroyed path. I can see where they could have made up from there."

"Oh dear...that could happen, couldn't it?" Mimir was fearing the worst right now. "Well...I will put my faith in the boy. I just hope the air isn't too thin for them."

Without another word, Kratos started to make his own way up towards the mountain yet again. A path far too different than before, in the hopes of finding his son and daughter. Though, he was unaware that something was stalking him...or rather, someone, as in the faint distance, a Falcon's cry could be heard...