Cold is the Void

[Amaterasu]

Expedition, Day 12

"Aright... tha's as far as we can go."

Amaterasu was looking back through the massive plains that they had traversed after having passed the Devil's Maw as she listened to the dwarf. After having gone through the mountain pass they had traversed the valley that continued behind that, a bit less dangerous and treacherous than the rest of their journey thus far, followed by the ascent of the end of that valley. Now they were overlooking what would be the last bit of "easy" terrain that they would be experiencing for their journey. An open field riddled with hills, small lakes and ravines and of course covered in snow and ice was extending before them, before the mountains that they were aiming for began to ascend, about a dozen kilometers away. This was as far as the dwarves would bring them.

"I was dreading the day that we would part our ways... and you are all certain that you don't want to accompany us any further?"

"Aye... me boys an' I can make it back if we hurry a bit. Tha Devil's Maw ain't gonna close again, not so soon after a big snowfall, bu' these are the Frozen Fields... treacherous an' uncertain. Ah don' trust 'em, so... we better hurry t'get back to familiar grounds."

"I understand... well then, thank you very kindly for your help thus far, and I wish you the best of luck on your way. Are you going to be fine with just one Mardagore for the trip back?"

"Shouldn' be a problem, with the provisions that we've taken fer the trip. We're gonna stop at a settlement tha' we skipped on our way here, an' if we ain't lost the Mardagore til there, we'll be fine. If we do, well... we'll jus' make it some way or another, won't we." He looked down at the plains. "A word o' advice... don' trust anything down there. It's too quiet. Too untouched. An' there ain't no cover from the elements anywhere. Ah say tha' this whole expedition is madness, but it en't me job ta give ye advice 'bout that."

"What do you think might we encounter?"

The dwarf stroked his thick beard while surveying the landscape. "Snow-moles, Morrworms, Ice Drakes an' maybe Ice Schnauzers. Cold-lovin', the lot of 'em, not jus' cold-resistant. Snow-moles and Morrworms can dig underground... Ice Drakes an' Ice Schnauzers don' mind the cold temperatures at all. I'm sayin' all this because... mmngh, I don' like the looks of these plains. Like ah said, there ain't no cover from the elements... too flat, too open. If a cold wind or even a blizzard blows across, yer gonna be exposed. Or if yer particularly unlucky ye might encounter Rocs... or even a Blue Bird, swoopin' down from where ye can't reach 'em, an' rip yer head off 'fore ye realize it. An' of course there's the Dragonflight."

"The ones that inhabit the mountain?"

"Aye. Ah've never met one, lucky me, but... ah don' think that they're gonna be happy 'bout a bunch of adventurers climbin' their home, know what I mean?"

"Of course... I'll be careful, I promise." She smiled a little. "I have a few aces up my sleeves still. But thank you for the advice."

"Tha's just me warnings... if ye want ta make it down there, ah suggest that ye trust yer gut. Keep both yer eyes open fer anythin' that ye don' trust, an' if ya don' feel right about it then avoid it. Against a blizzard... can't say much but try t'find shelter. Use yer Prime powers ta make a wall, an' avoid holes where ya can be buried under snow."

"I understand... then wish us luck, because it sounds like we'll need it."

"Ah. If ye can make it across, it ain't that far... I say it's forty, fifty kilometers across til ye get to tha mountain. What's really gonna be dangerous is the ascent. An' with the weather lookin' good, ya might make it in under a day if yer careful."

"Got it. Thank you again, and safe travels."

"To ye too. Be sure ta come back alive an' well. Ah'm curious ta hear what's up there... an' how yer journey went."

Amaterasu nodded. "We'll be back. I promise it." She then withdrew, while Fiara, Oki and Urist said their goodbyes to the other dwarves as well. Food, water and tool provisions had already been organized and thus the dwarves were able to take off rapidly using their Mardagore, while Amaterasu pulled Oki aside. There was not much needing to be said, as the warrior had listened to their conversation. He simply nodded and said: "I'll be sitting on the back and guard our rear", and with that the matter was resolved. Urist placed himself in the middle behind Amaterasu in case of a front or side attack, and Fiara went third to keep an eye on the sky. With her Phoenix Blasters she was the quickest ranged combatant of the group, even surpassing Amaterasu herself in that regard.

Then they descended along the slope and began their journey...

... and traversed the valley. No monsters attacked them, no beasts bursted forth from the ground or snow to bite them when they least expected it, no snowstorms, blizzards or hail, not even a light drizzle... the prediction turned out to be correct, as after a three-hour travel time at a slightly slowed pace due to the snow and Mardagores not being as fast as Fur-Selkies, they had reached the other side.

Before them was the mountain, a titanic block of stone, snow and ice... its tip was hidden among ominous dark clouds, there was even the occasional lightning bolt to be seen illuminating the mass. As if it could fall down on them at any moment. This was what they would ascend... but not today.

As they set up camp inside a cavern that Amaterasu created by extracting large amounts of Omnilium from a massive stone wall, Oki drove the stakes of their tent into the ground and remarked: "It was... anticlimatic."

"I would have expected more", Fiara agreed.

"Ah'd be grateful fer the silence..." Urist remarked with a grim look on his face. "An' at the same time, ah feel worried."

"Why?" asked Fiara curiously.

"Did ya not notice? Those fields we traversed, they weren't peaceful."

"Yes they were! We had no fights, suffered no attacks... everything went great!"

"Yer not gettin' it, Fiara. Can ye guess it, Oki?"

"It was silent, still, not peaceful nor happy. It was dead."

"What's the difference?" Fiara asked with a huff.

"Those fields... they're a gigantic graveyard", Oki murmured. "I only realize it now that Urist mentions it, but... he's right. There was nothing. No life at all."

"So everything was dead? That's why you say it wasn't peaceful?" Fiara asked.

"Aye", Urist replied. "An' if we're to believe our friend Jorist, then there-"

"Wait what? His name was Jorist?!" Fiara interrupted the dwarf, chuckling. "Seriously?!"

"Wha's the joke?" Urist asked with a piqued voice. "Did ya never learn our comrade's names?"

"... well no. But Jorist?! You all have names sounding really similar!"

Urist groaned and passed a hand over his face. "Fiara's a funny name too and ya don' see me laughin' at ya, do ye?"

"Okay... I'm sorry..." Fiara said, her hands raised but still grinning despite trying to contain it. "What were the other guys called then?"

"Jorist McGurensson was the group leader, Alphonse McOlvarsson was the one tha' sat next ta Oki, Urstet McGurensson was the one next ta me and tha brother of Jorist, an' Bob McHaverdsson was the one sittin' with you, when we used the Mardagores." He cleared his throat. "Anycase. If we're to believe Jorist, chances are that cold-resistant monsters were livin' around 'ere. Ice Drakes even like the cold, so... if they ain't here, there's a reason fer it."

"Perhaps they just left? You know, for a better hunting ground?" the phoenix girl suggested.

"Nay. Not in this magnitude, ah don' think. There'd be some o' them... not many. But this... there's nobody. They've either all been killed... or they fled."

"Killed?!" Oki exclaimed with a gasp. "But we're talking about not just a few monsters here, we're talking about all life! Who could've... you don't mean the Blue Dragonflight?"

"Ah don' know, Oki. Might be the dragonflight... might be some sorta cataclysm tha' wiped 'em all out." He grunted as he drove the last stake into the ground and began to erect the tent with the stakes holding its sides.

None of them knew how right he was.

4585 + 1441 = 6.026 / 20.000 words.