"So let us go over this plan one more time," I muttered almost silently into the neck of my cloak. My words rung against the wall of the cave, clear and unmuffled like the striking of glass. I was sorely aware that my scarf was gone and without it the storm had a way of worming its way in. "I just want to make sure I have all the little details in place."

Laora wrapped her scarf around her face so that there was barely a slit left to see from. She looked like a some sort of mummified rag doll with her bulky clothes and wrapped up form. Compared to her I was naked as a newborn. "Alright."

"We go back down the tunnel after it gets dark."

She nodded and motioned for me to go on.

I narrowed my eyes as a I spoke. "The snow will calm down."

"Mostly likely."

"But there is no guarantee."

"This is life. When is there ever a guarantee?"

"A likely answer," I huffed. "The snow will calm down, your reaper will be distracted and – "

"We hope that the atrixes are as such while we run like there's no nanan."

"'Nanan?'" I repeated back at her.

"Tomorrow," she translated and shrugged her shoulders coldly.

"Never heard that one before." I closed my eyes and drew in a lung full of icy air. Between the two of us, we had probably lost all the heat there was to be had in that cavern beneath the snow. From here on out there was only the promise of cold – and a winter worse than the winters that occurred when the winter was actually winter. I opened my eyes and peered around the hollow. There was little I wouldn't give to stay there and warm up for just another hour.

"Is that Cardil?" I asked quietly as I shoved my hands in the crooks beneath my arms.

Laora seemed surprised. Her eyes grew wide for a moment and when she spoke her voice was even softer than mine. "It's elvish actually." She glanced away and lifted a hand to her face. A part of me wondering if she was fixing her scarf or something else entirely. "You know so little about us Eli. How do you know the name of our language?"

I chuckled almost to myself as the image of Cwen's toothy grin flashed over my mind. "A young girl once told me that the north was dangerous and to beware the rabid cow."

She shot a glance over her shoulder in confusion. "I am not sure what you mean by that but it sounds like I should be offended."

My head seemed to shake on its own accord, as if my body was already learning to function without my mind. "I heard the name while I was in Hbaekut." The smile fell from my lips. "I will say this about your snow storm. If the East Cardinal gets past Hbaekut, Sivena will make their travels a task to be handled heavily."

The Northerner opened her mouth to speak but she never got the chance to because suddenly the world grew silent. I hadn't been aware of the quiet tinkling of the night until it was gone, and there was nothing truer than the void of sound, no belief or holy spirit that could provide more certainty than the quiet at the heart of Sivena.

Loara turned toward me and her eyes shone with new hope.

She stepped forward until we were barely inches apart. "When we get out there, keep your feet apart so your weight will be spread over the snow." Laora explained with tight words as she fastened my hood more securely with a pin she pulled from her hair. I was looking down at the top of her head through the bottom of my eyes, but even so, I could sense her newfound determination. The story was real.

"If you fall," she continued. "Try and tuck your head into your chest. It's a pity you lost your scarf, but there's no use wasting breath over it. You have to be very careful. You get too much of this stuff on your skin or in your mouth and you'll be as good as dead."

I wanted to ask how the Northerners could even stand living in a such a dangerous climate – the death snow seemed a little dramatic even for them -- but I swallowed the question and moved to return Aldyth back to her magic box. For a moment, I envied her for at least she didn't have to deal with any of mayhem that followed her unconsciousness.

"Sivena isn't just a snow storm," Laora continued as Antone dissolved into a beam of gold light. "Sivena is conceived directly from the poison waters of Alfaydé and it is the greatest protector; keeping us safe inside our borders and slaughtering all who wish to enter."

Despite her dramatic postscript, one word in particular caught my attention more than the rest. "Alfaydé?" I repeated incredulously. "You mean the elven nation?"

"What's left of it," she replied with a nod, averting her eyes. "Their marshlands cross right into our Northwest border. During the flood season their water makes our western most territories uninhabitable. I can't imagine how they survive with such toxic rivers veining through their land. It is a pity for them I suppose."

"Yet you seem just as wary as everyone else about them."

"The elves are getting desperate." The Northerner drew her pack carefully onto her shoulders without looking to me. "Desperation makes fiends out of the best us – you know how it is. How we act in our moments of weakness determine how we'll be in our moments of strength. And they don't show much promise." Her back was to me, yet I could hear the frown deepening in her voice. "You seem like a reasonable fellow. Take some advice from me. Ditch the elf while you have the chance."

"One thing at a time." I glared at the small of her back and braced myself as she quelled the fire with a wave of her hand. Darkness instantly filled the cavern, sending the temperature plummeting like a rock off a cliff.

"Let us leave this place."

The cold began hacking away at my skin as soon as we stepped into the tunnels. My breath crowded in front of my face in dark masses of grey as we light stepped our way through the dark. At first Laora tried to advise me on different courses of action to take in different situations, but eventually even she stopped when the icy air made it painful to draw breath. She motioned for me to stay close with a wave of her hand, but otherwise kept silent as we ventured through the dark.

My entire body shook harder with each step forward I ventured. There was no turning back now – not that there was much to turn back to in the first place. My eyes adjusted despite the cold and I found myself recognizing turns as we traveled through the dark. Even the song beneath my skin silenced, seemingly frozen such to a point that time ground to a halt. I couldn't hear my own footsteps or the sound of my heart inside my chest.

I frowned – or at least I think I did. My own movement felt disconnected from my body, like there was no me left to take each step. It was almost as if I was already dead. The inside of my throat felt sliced open with ice crystals. My lungs ached and threatened to freeze with each breath.

We neared the opening where we had met Encore earlier.

Loara placed a hand on my shoulder, although I wasn't sure if she was trying to be reassuring or just telling me to wait.

She peered outside, sticking her head out the open before beckoning me to follow. She was gone for a moment and then she waved me forward with one hand. And then the next thing I knew, I was outside as well. If it had been cold inside the cavern then going out was like every death analogy ever made put into practice in one single spot at one time with one target that had little tolerance for pain. I choked as the first air rushed down my through, and just like that my entire body was numb.

But despite this, Encore was nowhere to be seen.

Laora looked up the sky and her entire form tensed. She turned to look at me her jaw moving as if to say something. I wasn't sure if she couldn't get out the words or if I just couldn't hear anymore, but nonetheless her jaw moved and there were no words to be heard. And then I was able to make something out and just like that I was warm again.

Fear is hot.

"Atrixes," she said. "Run."

Not again.

A/N

WE HAVE AN UPDATEEE WE HAVE AN UPDATEEE AND NEXT WE HAVE A CHASE SCENE AND ELI'S BEING SARCASTIC THROUGH THE WHOLE THING HAHAHA. This has been sitting on my computer for a month and I keep forgetting to update it. XD So what do you all think? I am a bit rusty I'll admit.

Project iDragon update is coming at you today as well!

TamiAlber Found you something to read. It makes me happy to see you comment on my board.