Of Snow and Ice - And Things less nice

[Elspeth]

As any seasoned adventurer can tell, crossin' an' recrossin' the desert wastes gets more'n a mite boring after a while. All them sand people, an' armored bugs, an' whatnot. Not to mention the chance of gettin' caught out when the wind is drivin' the sand so hard it's travelin' sideways! Sure, there's a spot or two to hole up an' savor a drink (an' maybe catch a quick nap) ... but they's few an' far between. An' it sure don't help that Ryndell's folk have let their enchanters MOVE the place! I mean, what good's a map, if'n folk can't nohow trust it?

But that's beside the point. This tale's about what happened AFTER I got done wanderin' that barren desolation. Not that where I ended up was all that less barren, mind, Just a different sort of trouble, I'd say.

Y'see, there's these huge slopes to the west of the desert - Western Mountains, they're called on the maps. Don't rightly know if'n they can be called mountains or not - never seen much to compare, myself. I'd just call 'em mighty big hills ... but that's no nevermind, either. 'Cause there's trails and tracks all over those slopes, if'n one can pick 'em out of the rocks and snow. Some no more'n game trails, belike; others are true passes, or so 'twould seem. Runnin' in all directions, loopin' back on one another, an' bendin' every which way. A lass could get real confused real quick, all by herself out there. 'Specially when there's nary a signpost to be found in the whole mess!

Then again, the critters what hole up in them hillsides don't stand much on readin' or writin' I suspect. More inclined to strike first an' question later, if y'get my drift. Leastways, that's what I found, after gettin' twisted up in the backcountry. Lots of good furs - an' a few other things what aren't so nice.

Turns out I had been out wanderin' here n' there for most of the day ... dark falls swiftish up there, where the peaks shut out the light from Sunrifter an' the shadows scoot across the ravines like turkeys about t' be butchered for Winterfaire. I had had about enough of the cold and wind, an' wanted somewhere to set my back ... just to rest my feet, y'see. Well, I closed my eyes for a minute .. an' next thing, full dark had come. 'Tweren't no stars t' be seen, on account of the clouds - some of 'em so low they looked more like the ground fog down in Duberry's Swamp. They was real clouds, of course. I was just that high up ... an' had no idea which way to go to find my way back down. The cold must've been sappin' my mind as well as my strength, I s'pose; good thing I'd changed to leathers - wouldn't have wanted to be under that scale stuff, freezin' my cheek t'the collar or my arm t'the pauldron.

Nothin' up there for fire, neither; I was up above the treeline. Though just when I'd passed that magical line was anyone's guess. I certainly didn't know!

Well, with the temperature still droppin', and my hands n' feet goin' numb, I knew I had to find somewhere more sheltered. I pulled out Solis - not to fend of any nasties, but more to let her light show me a bit of my surroundin's. It didn't reach too far - but far enough that I kind of stumbled onto a cave of sorts. I could barely feel my feet, wedged in them blight-blasted boots, so I figured the hole was as good as I was goin' to find. I ducked inside ... an' just stood there.

Most prettiest thing I ever did see! That bit of light from sword and shield reflected real nice off the ice what seemed to be the main ingredient for this here construction. Shadows an' glimmers, fadin' off to the distance. Weren't that much better standin' in the openin' though - that wind was pickin' up such as it seemed fixin' to be a real hard blow. I hunched my shoulders, an' moved on deeper into the place.

Weren't too bad, at first, neither. Could pretty much tell where that openin' was, by how that dark patch stayed more or less in place. Then I rounded a corner, an' came across my first nasty. Weren't much, just a hungry leopard with prob'ly much the same idea as me - hide out from the weather. It tried to chew my leg off, but I whacked it a few times and got my shield jammed betwixt me an' it, an' finally finished it off. Just managed to catch my breath ... an' realized all the bits of path I could see looked just like the others, an' I had no idea where 'out' was!

Well, with one bit lookin' like t'other, I picked one and started walkin'. Need I say I did NOT choose the way I came in? Didn't think so! A few more twists an' turns ... an' I came up on somethin' a whole lot more nasty than that snow-covered first one. My first swing seemed to pass through it like it were smoke ... but IT's first swipe near dropped me in my tracks. Only then did I notice I'd not bothered to heal from the first battle! I was gettin' weaker by the minute, an' it was only gonna be time before this icy thing closed the deal.

I tried to fall back, get out of range. But that slippy-slidey track weren't no good for movin' around in them boots, an' I just keeled over backward, sittin' down mighty hard. Good thing, in retrospect - the creature's bite missed my throat by a fine four hair'sbreadths. I skittered, it came on. I weaseled left, it just slinked closer. I rolled right, an' lifted my shield. Just managed to block that next bite ... or most of it, anyways. Took a chunk out of my leather sleeve, but only grazed my arm. The scent of blood seemed to make it even madder, and I scrabbled back once more ... an' that's the last thing I recall, 'til I woke up starin' at my name on this stony pillar.

Somethin' about that post was familiar ... yeah, sure. It was the lifestone just outside Milltown. I remembered that place - not that I wanted to, mind. Guess I'd been returned to that warm desert sooner than I'd 'spected. AN' by Cory! How it hurt!

I'm not sayin' any adventurers what want to can't travel up onto them western slopes - I'm just sayin' I'm not keen on tryin' my hand up there any time soon. Leastways not 'til I get some restockin' done an' maybe pick up a few things down in the market. But at least if you're hearin' this tale, you'll know a bit more of what's maybe there than I did ... an' come home all of a piece.