Cold is the Void

[Amaterasu]

Expedition, the Night between Day 12 and 13

"... out... get out..."

"You are not welcome here..."

"Be gone... intruders..."

"Turn back..."

Amaterasu darted up into a sitting position and banged her head against the metal bar that formed the ceiling of her little tent. Although it was cold outside she was drenched in sweat, and the sharp pain that pierced her head where she had hit the bar just now felt numbed and far away. The voices were much closer... they spoke in her head, even after she had awoken from her dreams.

"Leave... at once..." they said, ghostly and yet sending a cold chill up the Kami's spine. If they did not leave, they... they would...

The tent fell onto and Amaterasu's head when the latter bursted out of it. "OKI!" she yelled whilst shaking the fabric off, burying the startled Fiara beneath. Urist and Oki were the first ones on their feet, they had left their tent open and so were quickly out.

"What's the matter?!" Urist asked with an alarmed voice. The uncomfortable look in his face hinted at that he could feel something but knew not what it was.

"No time for explanations! Help me close the entrance, immediately! Bring shovels and picks! And wake up Fiara!" She rushed to the entrance of their little cave without bothering to change out of her night gown first and sat down, focusing as hard as she could. She needed to summon a big wall to close it, and fast.

From the location that they had picked for their home they could oversee the valley that they had crossed the day before, seemingly peaceful with only an occasional gust of wind blowing through the untouched snow. Above, the sky was clouded, allowing only an occasional glimpse of the stars far above... yet this silent night, Amaterasu felt, was only the calm before a storm that was brewing. How she knew she did not know, but she knew. And that was all that she needed. Urist and Oki heard the panic in their voice and knew that the otherwise calm Kami would not be speaking this way without a real reason. They helped Fiara out of the mess of a tent that Amaterasu had made and grabbed the tools that Amaterasu had made in case that rapid digging was needed.

"Urist, Oki, weaken the structure of the ceiling and see if you can prepare a collapse. Fiara, use your Phoenix Blasters to have the snow from the mountain above us fall down and block the entrance", Amaterasu instructed them without standing up. Omnilium flowed out of her in vast quantities and shaped vaguely into what she was aiming to make, but the process was slow. It gave the three others ample time to carry out their tasks.

Fiara was the first to succeed, causing a large avalanche of snow that piled up before the entrance to their lair, but it was only the first step. "Come back in!" Amaterasu instructed her with urgence. The rock was still immaterial so the Phoenix was able to traverse without issue. Minutes later the solid block of glass solidified and sunk a bit into the ground... and Amaterasu relaxed, although only for a pair of seconds. The entrance was mostly covered but they were far from safe. "Oki, Urist, collapse the ceiling onto the rock until it's closed. I need every crevice stuffed as best as possible", she spoke, less panicked but with urgency carried in every syllable. Outside, the winds were picking up, raising a small snowstorm that blew counter-clockwise across the valley. Had they been in the area it would have been chilling but they would not have been in danger from just that.

After several more minutes of work with both Amaterasu and Fiara helping along the ceiling collapsed and sent large amounts of dirt, rock and dust down on the glass block. The winds that blew through the crevices were cut off. "Good work, but we're not done yet. Close the remaining crevices with the rocks that fell down."

"Ama, yer cuttin' off our air with th-"

"I know! Just do what I say!" she sharply interrupted Urist. "I'll summon more air for us to breathe once we are done. Help me hermetically seal the entrance for now." She again sat down and summoned more rocks to stuff the parts that Urist, Oki and Fiara could not reach, especially the top. The glass block allowed them to see what was happening outside, in a distorted fashion.

Suddenly Fiara gasped. "The Mardagores! We've left them outside!"

Amaterasu bit her lip. "No... it's too late now. We can't go out."

"What is happening?" asked Oki. "Why are we doing this, Ama?"

"I have to focus, I'll explain later."

She did not need to explain herself. Barely a minute after she made her promise a wall of snow and ice particles came rushing down through the valley, a wind of such force that it carried everything with it that was in its way. The two Mardagores had dug into the snow and were slightly protected because, being near the mountain, they were at the edge of the storm. Everything turned into a flurry of white and blue when the wind passed in front of the glass block and a ghastly howl made by the wind blowing through the remaining holes and crevices filled the cavern. Then the temperature began to fall and Urist gasped. He covered Amaterasu with a blanket and yelled for the others to cover themselves with everything they had, then huddle up as close as possible to preserve warmth. Had they had a thermometer it would have been a frightening sight: the temperature was dropping by 1°C every five seconds, plummeting towards the freezing point. Amaterasu's summoned rocks were insufficient to cover all the crevices in time.

"Bring our water! Quick, put the gourds into the remaining holes!" Urist then yelled. His last-ditch plan worked out: the steel gourds were full to the brim with fresh water but the metal cooled it rapidly, conducting the cold as soon as Fiara and Oki stuck them into what holes remained. As it froze and expanded it broke out of its container and filled the space until completely closed. The remaining small holes were slowly filled in with snow and ice particles which eventually solidified into a frozen wall on the outside. They were locked off from the outside world... but safe. For now.

"What... what is this?" Fiara asked as she stared at the raging winds and colds through the glass wall, unable to avert her terrified gaze from the certain death that they had barely escaped from. Urist only shuddered and gave no reply, Oki looked back and forth between Amaterasu and the glass wall and knew not the answer, and Amaterasu was fulfilling her promise and enhanced the air with oxygen to breathe, by summoning it with yet more Omnilium. For minutes they remained quiet. Then, Urist was able to start speaking.

"Tha... tha's Mistral... I... I never thought... by Bruenor's Beard, I could not have imagined..."

"Urist... talk to us. Don't let the terror overwhelm you. What did you say? Mistral?"

"It's a legend, a folktale 'mong the dwarves... a wind summoned by Arktos, the dwarven God of ice... it's even got a poem... a rhyme that mothers sing ta their children..."

"A nursery rhyme?" Fiara asked, still fixated on the storm outside.

Urist nodded. He recollected his thoughts for a minute, then in an odd sing-song began to chant:

"My child, my child, be not outside,
When mother calls you in,
And eat your greens and do not lie,
So you may keep yer skin.

Be thankful, kind, and do not curse,
And care 'round sharpened stones,
And don't, my child, forget this verse,
So you may keep yer bones.

And hear it not, I plead to you,
The Cold God's Arctic Call,
And his blue eyes don't look into,
So you may keep yer soul.

My child, my child, when Mistral blows,
I ask: 'Are you at home,
And are your doors and windows closed,
And are you not alone?'

Be not a fighter, fool and proud,
And light some logs to burn,
And pray to Helzvog strong and loud,
And wait for his return.

The warmth shall chase Mistral away,
And with it Arktos too,
To bring the dawn of a new day,
To those who made it through.

If Mistral howls, my child you must,
Find shelter there and then,
Endure and my words you can trust:
You'll see the light again."

Urist leant back a little. The wind was still howling with deadly force but it had calmed a little, and their shared warmth kept them safe under the blankets. Amaterasu smiled a bit in her concentration but continued to summon air. Like this, they sat through most of the night. When the winds finally settled and the snow cleared the valley looked untouched once again, without the slightest trace of the Mardagores that had passed it that day.

When Amaterasu was finished with extracting the Omnilium from the extra air in their cave and had created an opening in the glass block that functioned like a doorframe, Oki was the first to head out and verify that it was safe. He came back in with a grim look and put down a completely white skull. "This is the only remains that I could find of the Mardagores. It was buried under some rocks which shielded it from the wind but the rest of their bodies and skeletons is gone."

"Bruenor's beard... the snow in this valley must have tha bonemeal o' all its victims mixed into it..."

"So you were right that it felt like a graveyard", Fiara remarked with a cold shudder.

Amaterasu stood up, her extraction finished. "This was not a natural wind... I believe that I have heard the souls of the dead, warning me. But there was a presence... in the winds. Someone or something summoned it."

"A Prime?!" Urist asked sharply.

"Or a very powerful Secondary. I cannot imagine the amount of effort that must have been poured into it. But I feel that it will not be the last of their attempts to stop us." She passed her glove through the snow and let the fine dust run between her fingers. "Pack your things but be ready to carry some on your back. I'll summon new water flasks and provisions, but we will continue on foot."

"On foot, you say? Bu'..."

"The Mardagores would not have served us much more anyway beyond here. From here on we'll carry all necessities in our backpacks instead... We won't be traveling through the snow on the outside of the mountain anymore. There was a large entrance to a cavern system that I saw when we approached the Roof of the World, I have a strong feeling that it is the right way... and safer than being out there and exposed to the Mistral, or whatever other murderous attacks our secret opponent will throw at us."

Oki's eyes lit up. "You mean, we're going to..."

"Yes. We'll scale the mountain from within."

6.026 + 1864 = 7890 / 20.000 words.