Icebound Peak

I walk in the footprints of the scouts, which makes progress much easier. But I need to keep my head down to be shielded from the biting wind blowing through the canyon. The frozen walls on either side of the narrow path leading to the rocky spur chill each gust into an ever more painful slap to the face. Each blast of wind brings flurries of snowflakes that hit us in waves. I regularly force myself to stop staring fixedly at the tracks in front of me and raise my head to look up towards the snowy peak that will be our ultimate destination. Though the summit looms larger with each stride, the distance to reach it still seems too long and insurmountable. The silvery glints we can see on the mountaintop warn us that we'll need to use our ice axes to scale its face. I repeatedly say a little prayer that our equipment will withstand this expedition. From this distance, it's hard to gauge the layer of ice that we'll be dealing with during the ascent.

For a brief moment, I remember the heights of the Vanderun Shards and the morning sun bathing my face with its light. That's when she would always appear to me – my heart, my love – to hold me tightly in her arms... Deep in thought, it takes me a second to notice that the sound of the wind has changed. What was previously a bleak, nagging moan has become a rumble, like the breathing of a buried giant. It almost sounds like the growling of a dragon. I focus on it and surmise that it's coming from the peak. The vibration intensifies and rattles the whole length of my spine. Fear grips me. I look ahead and realize that what I was dreading is actually happening. At the end of the ledge, my two guides have stopped, frozen in horror as the avalanche barrels directly towards them.

ATSADI