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Beyond the Peak of Emptiness
Greetings and a Happy Late-Late Halloween night to you all! Yes, I'm here and I'm not super-late delivering another haunting title to you all this spooky-fingerpuppet-ghost-month! Now this is quite the chilling tale delving into my favorite subgenre of the kind: Arctic Horror! The Shining, The Thing, some other third one... there's nothing about scares that snow doesn't improve! So I wrote up this tale to chill you all to the bone! It's a grisly one, all right! Now I may be late, but this time I actually finished the damn thing in its entirety before posting it, so no need to worry about waiting on updates from me! The only updating I've gotta do is fix any grammar issues I see (this was written in a single day so I expect those). So grab a blanket, whip up some cocoa, and put on this track, and enjoy the story of...
Spoiler Alert!
BEYOND THE PEAK OF EMPTINESS ____ Seawater colored black with the winter cold lapped at the hull of the Maldicao as she slowly, rockingly urged her way ever northwards. I peered listlessly across the icy expanse, berg after berg stretching on far as the eye could see. Land nowhere in sight. The speed of ships had always surprised me, and this view was among the reasons why. For no matter how long I watched the ice and water the vessel trudged through, it never seemed to actually move. ____ Despite my allegiances to the Valkyrie I had never traversed the perilous waters of the Dragon’s Head Sea, nor laid eyes upon the Fortress of the Archkyrie. The latter would have to wait anyhow, as the Maldicao was not charted for Jandar’s castle. She was destined for a more grisly purpose than to see the splendor of the Valkyrie’s castle, though even from here I could see why it was considered impregnable. Despite its haunting beauty the Thaelenk Tundra was more hostile than any land in Valhalla—even the hot coals of the Volcarren could not compare. Any force of Utgar’s—any sentient force at least—would have no chance of enduring morale in any campaign this far north. And I was going farther still. ____ “Excuse me, sir.” Creaking floorboards preempted the speech, turning my attention away from the frozen view. It was a human passenger, a mildly overweight man whose bushy mustache helped conceal his face. Thick winter clothes, layer upon layer, did their part to hide away the rest of him. His quickened breaths visible in the air was the best I could catch of his organic nature, so hidden was he by the futile attempt to remain somewhat warm up here. ____ “Can I help you?” I said. ____ “That depends. A—Are you the detective? For the Innorth case? Richard Swaddou?” ____ “That’d be me.” I didn’t bother extending a hand. He probably couldn’t bend his elbows in that getup anyway. ____ “I’m Joshua Gobb.” The man said, “I’m the one from Northern who sent for you. I’ll be accompanying you in Innorth and in the search.” ____ “I see.” I returned my gaze to the ocean, already trying to crack its secrets. As I said, I’d never been this far up north, and I could plainly see even now that it wouldn’t be terribly helpful terrain for my case. Eight people had gone missing north of a small village. Mostly locals, but among them was one Sir Dubold of Artor—one of Jandar’s high-ranking knights. Finding him would quell one of Jandar’s many, many worries. So here I was. Me and this Joshua fellow anyway, “Tell me, Josh: have you ever been to Innorth?” ____ “No sir. Have you?” ____ “…No…” ____ I brooded for a moment or two longer before turning back, seeing Joshua in the exact same spot he’d been standing, still staring at me. I smirked and hovered away a few paces, only for him to maintain his gaze. ____ “Is there something wrong, Mr. Gobb?” ____ He stuttered out a response, looking surprised to be questioned on his odd behavior, “Uh, well, no sir. It’s just… I wasn’t expecting… I’ve never worked with…” ____ “A ghost?” I asked. ____ Joshua shrugged, “It just seems a bit odd to me, sir: a dead man solving murders and such. They never told me you were a shade, is all.” ____ “Yes well, I could’ve been a nine-foot-tall intelligent ape if that suits you better.” ____ The man looked a bit flustered but spoke no more of it, following me around the deck now that we were acquainted. The thought of having him tag along during the search at Innorth didn’t sooth my anticipation of the mystery ahead, and I threw him off a couple times by moving through walls. Nonetheless my efforts were in vain: I had a permanent follower from here on out. Solitude was temporary. ____ The next day the Maldicao pushed through the ice of the Dragon Head’s Sea and moved further north along the Great Horn of Ice, finally making its way to the tundra proper. Land came into view, creeping closer by the hour. A tiny port town, looking like little more than an irrelevant blister of wood, stood out on the icy shore ahead of us, tucked between the toes of the feet of the mountains ahead. That was our stop. ____ The crew was silent and dour, most ready to depart the second they’d arrive. Even the experienced Jandarian sailors didn’t like these waters, saying little in fear of offending some unseen unspoken-of spirit of the icy seas and spurning their accursed wrath. ____ Joshua Gobb was not one of those people. He stood next to me on the deck, eyeing his new partner rather than the shore. He’d gotten over his nervousness the day before and was now more plainly outspoken regarding his curiosity, “So do you not get cold out here?” ____ “I can see and hear. I can feel just as well too.” I replied dryly, “Yes, it’s cold.” ____ “How is it you can sometimes interact with things, and sometimes they go through you?” ____ “Wills can be imbued upon objects. If I wish to interact or not interact with something, I can. Same goes for those wishing to interact with me.” ____ “Can you be killed again?” ____ “Considering some people who go through Bleakewoode make it out alive, yes I’d say you can kill a shade… Silver would do it.” I tried to look over at him less and less with each answer, hoping he’d take a hint. He did not. ____ “So you can hover there, independent of the ship, yes?” ____ “What of it?” ____ “Well, then how come you’re not constantly moving slightly backwards as the ship moves through the water? How are you a part of its velocity if you exist outside of it and can move through it and stuff? Have you been flying after the ship this whole time?” ____ “Look Mr. Gobb.” I faced him again, “We need to think about our Missing Persons case, so it’s probably for the best that you not worry about these little things, yes?” ____ “Uh, right sir.” ____ "Good. And that goes for the rest of You too." ____ The Maldicao made port at Innorth, the crew quickly expelling all passengers to their icebound destination and hurriedly preparing to depart back south. The rickety snow-coated old wood of the dock was the first greetings the passengers received upon landing in the town. Joshua looked petrified down at the creaking wood and the lapping black waves of the arctic just beneath them. I smirked, finding it to be a proper greeting: as if to say “Welcome to the Great North; you are already in peril.” ____ “Land, land… better!” Joshua breathed a sigh of relief once off the docks, stamping his boots on the mucky roads. He withdrew a crumpled up letter from one of his coats and squinted to read its contents, “We’re looking for… for, The Stag of Spring. It’s a tavern. Our contacts should be meeting us there.” ____ “Or here!” A man overdressed similarly to Joshua tramped his way up to the two of us. He took off two pairs of gloves and extended a hand, doffing his hoods with the other to reveal a sagely yet worn elven face, “Greetings. Welcome to Innorth.” ____ “A pleasure! I’m Joshua Gobb, from the Northern. And this…!” ____ I merely nodded, “Detective Swaddou.” ____ The man nodded in return and began leading the way down the mucky icy street, speaking as he went, “I’m the one who sent for the two of you. Havir is the name. I was one of the Eladrin Jandar summoned way back when, but I serve as the local Ranger for these parts nowadays. I was the one who found the campsite of the missing party. That’s when I sent for you. Here’s the place:” ____ The buildings were unorganized in their placement along the street, old and bent like elders under the winter winds. A cramped shack of an inn was the place, looking like the kind of building that made one pray for the site to be somewhere else. But there the Stag of Spring sign dangled above its heavy doors, unmistakable. Havir gave the entrance his all, slowly pushing it open and holding it for us. ____ Inside was a muddled brown tavern struggling to maintain warmth and an orange hue as fires and candles fought for their lives to stay burning. The abandoned coatrack in the corner seemed like little more than a cruel joke. Havir led us over to a booth in the corner, beckoning me to sit down and ignoring Joshua who wandered about trying to get a server’s attention (desperate for a pint of something, I figured). ____ “Now,” Havir slipped off his hat, finally showing that signature elven hair and ears, “Let’s get right to business, Mr. Swaddou. Time is of the essence in a case like this. About four weeks ago, a party consisting of eight left Innorth on an expedition of the Thaelenk. They were considered days late when I departed to look for them about ten days ago. All I found was their last campsite, still containing their possessions. Tracks I found indicated that they left in a hurry, with no signs of animal activity.” ____ Joshua caught up and sat down, setting two beers down on the table with him, “What’d I miss?” ____ “Eight dead people, most like.” I replied, “Chances of survival out there are very, very low. If they left their equipment and camps behind, I’m afraid they’re likely dead.” ____ “At least help us find the bodies, then.” Havir said, “Some of those folks have families here.” ____ “Do you, uh, do you have any files on the missing?” Joshua asked. ____ Havir nodded and slid some papers over, containing notes and some photos. He gestured to the contents, “Half the group consisted of locals, other half locals from further south plus Sir Dubold. He was the only real adult of the group by human standards, him and the expedition’s leader: Jensen Arrowhead. The rest of them were Jensen’s protégé’s: no more than 20-something’s in age. All experienced in mountaineering and the terrain.” ____ I slid the file open, eyeing the photos. All human, save for two Kyrie and an Elf. The names were listed below: Jensen Arrowhead – Kyrie Male – Expedition leader Sir Dubold of Artor – Human Male – Expedition guest Tessel Koyav – Human Female – Chronicler Wesley Jakobel – Human Male – Charter Hugo Intendiv – Human Male Chuchan Brightbeam – Kyrie Male Amber Lightstep – Elf Female Mel Smittee – Human Male ____ “What was the purpose of this expedition?” I asked, closing the folder and looking to Havir. ____ “Charting out Thaelenk—” ____ “What was the real purpose?” I maintained my glare, “Why was Sir Dubold on the expedition? He wasn’t experienced like the rest of them. He should be out on the front, not going on hiking trips north of the Fortress of the Archkyrie.” ____ Havir mused for a bit, thinking of his response in full before saying a word. “None of this can be officially verified,” He finally said, “So it can’t be on the reports. But word is that the expedition leader, Jensen… he was trying to find a local legend in these parts. A place called The Hidden Village, north of north. Norinth is its name, a place of spirits and great power where the lights of the arctic come from.” ____ “Do go on!” Joshua couldn’t bear even the slightest pause in the Eladrin’s report. ____ Havir continued, “Jensen believed that the Village contained many wondrous artifacts and secrets. Things that could help in the wars. He roped Sir Dubold into funding the expedition with that last hook and they set out to find it. Still a routine route they took, with plans to return at a set date if they didn’t find anything around their path.” ____ “But they didn’t.” I finished, “Something spooked them away from their campsite. Whatever it was, it was spookier than hypothermia.” ____ Havir nodded in reluctant agreement, “They were all experienced, I assure you. It is quite a mystery, Swaddou. Think you can crack it?” ____ “We’ll find the bodies, I can assure you of that much.” I said, “They’ll provide further clues to shutting this case.” ____ Joshua sat back in his seat, “I’m not sure we can even assure finding the deceased. Up here, with the weather, things can be lost forever. Buried under sudden snows.” ____ “I’m an experienced Ranger.” Havir insisted, “If there’s any dead, I can find them. I just needed more of a team than I had. Now that I have that, we can set out tomorrow and see what we can find. All the provisions you’ll need will be in your rooms upstairs. Anything else you think you need you should pack, because we’re not coming back to Innorth until we’ve cracked the case.” ____ “Right…” I floated upstairs and located my quarters, finding lots of supplies I wouldn’t need laid out on the bed. I could pack tomorrow, not needing the bed to sleep and needing to muse more than load up at the moment. ____ It was deceptively simple, the case. Something dispersed the expedition while they were camped. It wasn’t an animal. That was all I had to work on at the moment. For now I discounted Havir’s reports of the Hidden Village; unless the campsite would reveal information that steered me back to it it was little more than folklore. ____ Joshua entered the room and walked over to his bed, a look of fatigue shadowing his face as he slowly packed the belongings laid out for him. A distant sound of a horn could be heard outside the window, echoing through the darkness. Joshua turned and looked outside, squinting to see the Maldicao slowly retreating from Innorth, the lights aboard its deck near smothered in the fog and grip of the night. ____ “Last chance to turn back.” He softly joked, looking pale with regret. I said nothing and let the ship go without my attention. There was no turning back. ____ DAY 1 ____ Cold dug its teeth into the senses as we ventured outside the next day. The blinding light of morning and the meager heat of breakfast a few minutes before did what they could to assure us that it was more pleasant out. But the temperature would not have it. ____ Joshua and Havir were dressed up in coats upon coats, burdening heavy packs and awkwardly walking on snowshoes for the terrain down the road. I myself was free of such things, merely floating above the ground (and good thing too, for it was both muddy and slippery and I did not miss it). ____ Two others were waiting for us at the edge of town, before the endless slopes of white beyond. The first was a human, late-middle-aged and face wrinkled with hard times weathered. Tiny totems hung from his long hair, and he scowled at me at first sight and didn’t break it. ____ “This is Adigo.” Havir introduced, “He’s experienced with the lands around here. He’s also a medium of sorts, so if he senses anything… unnatural… we’ll be the first to know.” ____ “You are an unnatural form.” Adigo told me, “A blight!” ____ “Wow, his powers really work.” I answered dryly. ____ Adigo maintained his scowling, “Why do you hold onto this world, shade?” ____ “Because I have a case to solve at the moment.” ____ “Even if they serve a Valkyrie of Good, a spirit roaming Valhalla is an unholy thing.” Adigo concluded. ____ Havir looked uncomfortable, “Uh, right… Anyhow, this is Sel Sprancefoot. He’s also experienced in these kinds of hikes. And he’s a doctor, so he can help if we find anyone. Or help you Detective, if we find anyone deceased.” ____ Sel was a Halfling, not three feet tall. He didn’t bother with handshakes or any gestures of good will, instead taking out a large flask and drinking from it. His deep voice was rough yet somehow eloquent, “Pleasure, the lot of you. Let’s get going.” ____ Joshua leaned over to me, whispering, “(A little early for drinking, isn’t it?)” ____ “(It’s only late for yesterday. I’m sure he knows what he’s doing. He’s a doctor, you know.)” I replied as we set off. ____ The mountains welcomed us as we left Innorth behind and set foot upon the beginnings of their trails. Snow was everywhere, making the going painstakingly slow for the living. The pace could only be made up for with patience and persistence, the experienced of the group keen to keep moving throughout the day. Only Joshua lagged behind here and there, unused to the marathon. ____ Our trail took us northwest along the valley between the two smallest mountains of the range ahead of us. From there we’d follow the expedition’s footsteps along the edge of the range until we reached their last campsite. ____ “The initial path was a typical one.” Havir explained as we moved, gesturing to the mountains north of us, “Their plan was to follow the Kojek mountain range west and then duck north of it in their search. However, the tracks I followed indicate that at some point they deviated and went north, along Det’thekel Peak: the mountain over there at the edge of the range. That’s where the campsite is.” ____ “That is not where one travels in this region.” Adigo morbidly claimed. ____ “Why is that?” I asked. ____ He looked back at me, face serious as the plague, “Dzu-Teh in that region, around those set of mountains. Very dangerous.” ____ “They suffer none encroaching onto their lands.” Havir explained, “And they are deadly hunters, ambushers, and the like. They can move through ice and rock as easy as you can through walls, Detective. They don’t even leave tracks in the snow.” ____ “Don’t they now?” I mused. ____ The day served only to distance us from the town, leaving it behind as we entered the embrace of the Kojek mountains, the range curving around us as we ventured through its valley. The travel did little to harden us to the cold, and it would only get worse. We were in the seasons of unpredictable weather, Havir told us, one of the possible explanations for the sudden abandonment of the campsite. Days were getting shorter (which would not aid us in our travels or our investigations), and the winds and precipitation would pick up more often. Both proved true as the sun hid quickly in the evening and we were forced to pitch tents early as the winds came down from the north to harass us early. ____ “Nature knows we’re coming.” Sel declared as he took another swig of his mystery drink, “Let’s get something hot to eat and wait out the night.” ____ The tent had a literal stove Havir had made for such ventures, providing cooked meats and hot coffee for the living as we all huddled inside the cramped space. It was a small comfort and not much of a break compared to the day-long journey we’d just endured. I had nothing to gain from food but luckily no stamina to lose, feeling slightly at edge above my peers. ____ “We’re already camped earlier than I’d like.” Havir said, “It’s not good for us. We’re seriously against the clock here.” ____ “You’re the Ranger; find a quicker path to the campsite.” Sel said, “Ugh, I’m cramped in here. You tall folk take up too much space.” ____ The wind roared and howled in victory over us as we hid in the shelter, picking up to a screaming din over only a few short minutes. Joshua jumped in fright, dabbing at his forehead with his gloves, “Bloody kind of winds are these?” ____ “Dzu-Teh howling.” Adigo explained, “They sense our presence here.” ____ I listened to the noise, taking a while to discern their calls from the winds. Their call was more like a great scream than a roar, a bellow of arctic agony and rage. I began to doubt that they’d leave us alone as long as we maintained the path, that Havir had already made a mistake where we pitched tent. Slowly I got up and floated above the tent’s roof. ____ Black mountains surrounded us on all sides of the valley, towering into the midnight sky. I couldn’t see any signs of life in the dark about us, only hear it everywhere around me. And yet I was taken aback by something more: ____ It was windy but not snowing, few clouds in the sky. Above I could see a host of stars in the northern Valhallan sky, accompanied by great beams of waving light. They snaked about, glowing brightly and hauntingly. I’d never seen polar lights before and at once all the hostility of the lands about me peeled away and were gone. I understood the lunacy of the expedition and those who believed in it. There was a reason to live up here. ____ Gradually the howls of the Dzu-Teh returned to my senses and I ducked back down into the safety of the tent. Adigo again frowned at me, “They sense the presence of a dark spirit.” ____ “What makes one a spirit anyway?” Joshua said as he gnawed on a sausage. ____ “I died.” I explained, “Some who die still have a purpose to fulfill before they… move on, so to speak.” ____ Adigo shook his head. “They refuse to let go.” He said, “To every soul bound to the earth, there is a silver cord tethering them to this world. When they die the cord is cut and their spirit returns to the bones of the earth. ____ “But you!” He took out a small carved pipe and pointed it at me before setting to light it, “You are of the ones who do not let go. The spirit clings to the silver cord, and denies the fate of death. All are fated to die—it is the Doom of the living.” ____ Joshua turned to me, “It’s okay, Swaddou. You can be at peace.” ____ “Shut up.” I said, “I’ll be at peace once the damn case is solved.” ____ Havir grimaced, “That may be longer than you expect. The snows have a way of burying the truth. And sometimes, people along with it.” ____ DAY 2 ____ The wind maintained a solemn pace all throughout the day, whipping our sides as we walked and lashing out to punish any ears that were exposed. It whistled and wailed all through the morning and evening, which were closer together than ever. This far north this time of year the sun had no business hanging directly over the sky. Soon in the coming months it would not visit this region at all. ____ The Kojek mountains accompanied our right flank, huge solemn mounds of black rock and snow curving up into the sky as if peeled. To our left was an endless expanse of snow and ice, occasionally the sound of crackling glaciers shooting off from those lands. The only signs of life were forests dotted around the landscape, skirting the feet of the mountains or clustered around the west where we were headed. ____ Havir gestured ahead as we went, pointing to an outcrop of rock along our path. It was a sharp spike of stone jutting upwards, decorated with the bloodied corpse of an animal killed and stretched along it. The winter weather preserved the freshness of its guts, no flies or scavengers around to pick it clean. Havir cautiously approached. ____ “It is a sign.” Adigo said, “The Dzu-Teh know we are here.” ____ “They’re worried we’re onto them?” Joshua speculated, “Wanna scare us off?” ____ Sel took another swig, “It’s working.” ____ “Be quiet.” Havir said, “Don’t touch it. Let’s keep moving.” ____ We made for a treeline around the base of the next mountain, the white of the snow quickly replaced by dark shadows under the umbrella of the pines. The woods were thick and clustered, offering little direction. As we approached, shapes moved amongst the trees, huge hulking apes with fur of ivory stepping out into the daylight. ____ I was unused to movement and life from anything but us over the last several hours, taken aback by the sudden appearance of the yetis. They had tiny beady eyes, glaring at us in animal hostility. I could see blood on their fangs and hands, but they did not attack. ____ “We mean you no harm!” Havir exclaimed, gesturing for us to pack tightly together. Only Adigo and I obeyed the silent order. ____ From the trees emerged another Dzu. This one had darker fur and carried a crude spear. He rode some kind of equine, like a horse overgrown in hair and fur. The unique ape rode near to us, unintimidated by the shortbow Havir had unslung from his pack. ____ Most surprising of all, the ape spoke, “Why you here?” ____ “We’re investigating an expedition that went missing in these parts near ten days ago.” Havir said. ____ “Men came. Crossed our lands. All dead.” ____ Havir frowned, “Was that your doing?” ____ “No. All dead though.” The ape, pointed his spear eastwards, “You leave. Or die too.” ____ “We’ll leave once we investigate.” I said, “I am Swaddou. Do you know what killed them?” ____ “I am Guk.” The Dzu replied, “No know what killed. Terrible thing if was a thing.” ____ Guk dismounted, sending his horse and followers retreating back into the trees, “I show you, then you must leave. Bad omens all over the mountains.” ____ “Uh, very well then.” Havir didn’t rebuke the offer, letting the ape trudge on ahead. Everyone followed close behind, nervous of the newcomer and his words. ____ I maintained the questioning, not letting the opportunity go to waste. True natives to these mountains seemed hard to come by, given the lack of life around here. I hovered up to the Dzu, “Did you see them before they died?” ____ “We watch travellers, yes.” Guk answered, “Wary of all.” ____ “You didn’t kill them. Could another Dzu have?” I inquired. ____ “No! Dzu no kill Jandarians! Not ever!” ____ It occurred to me that the expedition did have Sir Dubold with them, a Jandarian solider of renown. The yetis were never known to attack those flying the Valkyrie’s colors, hence their recruitment into the war and use as a natural defense around the Fortress of the Archkyrie. This particular expedition actually had an edge in that regard over other local ones. ____ We made camp at a spot very near where Havir assured us the group broke with their intended line of travel. He claimed tracks departed from the northern path and instead ventured up the mountains northwards, first to Mount Herissane then to Det’thekel Peak where the last campsite was found. ____ “Do you know what compelled the group to make such a sharp turn in their route?” Havir asked Guk as we huddled in the tent, still harassed by the winds all night long. ____ “No. We watch. They go, into our lands.” Guk said. ____ “Did something spook them that way?” I inquired, “Were they arguing?” ____ “No. Move orderly. As if always planned. Not even worry about us. Trespassers.” ____ Joshua still seemed on edge, “So the penalty for such is death, if I’m not mistaken? Did you follow them?” ____ “No. They cross to Det’thekel Peak. We did not follow them there.” Guk’s large forehead wrinkled with grimness, “We do not go there. It is a sacred place. Nothing goes there. Nothing lives there.” ____ “Sacred place is in line with their true motives.” Adigo said, “They were looking for the Hidden Village around there, I’d bet.” ____ “I will show you the fastest way there.” Guk assured us, “But I will not go to Det’thekel Peak. No Dzu-Teh goes there. It is barren. It is Det’thekel.” ____ “It means ‘Place of Emptiness’ in their tongue.” Adigo explained. ____ Sel scoffed, “Empty indeed! Where did the people go?” ____ DAY 3 ____ Havir led us to the spot where the tracks had taken a turn, and from there Guk led us to Det’thekel Peak. He bounded across the snow as if it were effortless, spending most of his time waiting for us to catch up. I too found my trek more consistent than the others, all having to wade through increasingly high levels of snow and ice. Their gear could only do so much as the path steepened. The wind maintained its harshness. Thick low clouds had begun to gather in the distant north. I’d not be seeing the polar lights again any time soon. ____ At long last the grade slacked and we trudged across the bridge of rock between the mountains, their slopes tightly knit like a stone handshake. Guk did not cross, “Be wary. Storm coming.” ____ “Thank you for your help, Guk.” Havir said, bowing low, “Your path saved us a lot of time.” ____ “Do not go beyond the Peak. Nothing north of there.” With that, the albino ape bounded off, never to be seen again. ____ Joshua sighed, “Glad they were helpful and not having us for dinner.” ____ I frowned, “That’s one suspect off the list. Onto the next.” ____ It took the rest of the day for us to gradually climb up Det’thekel Peak and locate the campsite. Again Havir led the way, finally grimacing and stepping aside for us to behold the abandoned place he’d discovered earlier. ____ Two tents lay in tattered ruins strewn about the small clearing, covered in snow. Boots, clothes, and belongings were scattered everywhere with no regard to organization, as if assorted by a tantrum-throwing child. The site was surprisingly small—hard to guess that it housed eight given its size, but there wasn’t much room on the side of the mountain, everywhere else too steep an incline to comfortably serve as a campsite. ____ “We don’t have much daylight left.” Havir explained, “Let’s hop to it.” ____ I stooped down and peered inside one of the tents, plucking a large feather from the ground and eyeing it inquisitively, “What would’ve been the flight capabilities of the Kyrie in the party?” ____ “Very low.” The Eladrin Ranger replied, “There were storms in the area at the time of abandonment, and the winds in this region make flight near-impossible anyway.” ____ “Do you know which direction the party went when they abandoned camp?” ____ Havir pointed south, “I saw tracks going downhill. They were unorganized and in somewhat different directions though. I believe they left in one hell of a hurry. Some were even barefoot.” ____ “Hm.” I continued my perusing of the tent, “This was torn open, violently, from the inside I’d wager.” ____ “Those don’t come open easily.” Adigo said. ____ I plucked a small frozen chunk of nail from the inside fold of the tent, very near to the opening in it. Gesturing the Halfling over, I handed it to Sel, “Here doctor. Piece of fingernail, still preserved.” ____ He only examined it quickly before putting it in a small container, “No signs of animal interference.” ____ I next turned my expert eye to the other side of the tent, running one hand over its faded yellow surface. There was a particularly scratchy section, no… crisp even. I looked back to Havir, “Some of this tent has been singed, from the outside.” ____ “Fire would be an excellent reason to hastily abandon camp.” Sel agreed. ____ Havir examined my findings, “The tent’s not actually burnt all that much though… I’m not sure what would’ve caused that. Surely they’d have returned if it was put out before it could do any real damage. The canvas isn’t even particularly blackened. I’d have noticed it the first time up here if it were severe.” ____ Joshua poked his head up from behind the second tent, running around waving a small book in his hands, “Journal! I found a journal! Over here!” ____ “Give it here!” I said, snatching the small pamphlet from his hands and flipping it open, small pieces of snow falling out as I did so. ____ The pages were damp and the ink smeared, but it was still eligible. The name Wesley Jakobel was written inside, one of the missing folk. I flipped through the entries, finding only a few. ____ “‘We set out from Innorth today.’” I read aloud, “‘Jensen has lead. Only second time I’ve been on a longer hike with him. Hugo and I are going to help Sir Dubold learn to mountaineer on the way. Strange man. Wears Weston armor even in cold. Tess is running camera.’ Hey, Josh! They had a camera—try to find it!” ____ “On it!” Joshua ducked back behind one of the tents, digging through the snows. ____ I continued, “‘We tried pranking Sir Dubold as a Dzu but he didn’t take. He must know about them already. Mel claiming to feel ill. Not the first time. Jensen didn’t let him go back to town.’ ____ “‘Amber told me about Norinth but I didn’t buy it. I think she was trying to scare me with ghost stories about Fates. I explained to her that it was a dumb legend made up by kids in town. She believed me after I told her about the anagram thing.’” ____ “Skip ahead; we’re losing light.” Sel snapped impatiently. I obliged, reading faster. ____ “‘Jensen believes in the Hidden Village. I guess I do too. I trust his judgment. Mel is more sick. I think he might not be faking this time. Get what he deserves for faking all the other times. Tess thinks we’re making a drama documentary. She’s not going to make it in stardom while in Valhalla.’ ____ “‘Taking alternate path up the mountains. I know because I’m the charter. Jensen and Sir Dubold didn’t tell anyone else. I think it’s because Mel is sick. This cuts our route time in two. I think it’s a bad idea. Dzu-Teh don’t like us being on their turf. Jensen says it won’t be a problem once we cross over to Det’thekel.’ ____ “‘Made it to Det’thekel. Weather really bad. Mel in bad condition. Hunkered down for now. Amber is scaring everybody saying she saw something. She is paranoid. Bad for us while we’re out here in the dark for two days. People who crack under pressure shouldn’t go on these expeditions.’ ____ “‘Weather really bad. Still stuck here waiting it out. Don’t know how Mel is doing. Don’t even go check on other tent right now.’ ____ “‘Weather cleared up today. Mel recovering I think. Jensen says we can continue tomorrow. About damn time.’” I frowned, “That’s the last entry.” ____ Joshua came back around, “No sign of a camera.” ____ “Obviously their plan to continue didn’t pan out.” Sel said, “We should follow those tracks.” ____ “It’s a ways to go.” Havir replied, “I don’t know if we’d find anything before he have to camp. Detective?” ____ “I think it’s worth a try.” I said, “I’m not seeing anything else of note here, and if anyone is still alive we’d best use the time Guk gave us to track them down. Anyone surviving likely wouldn’t be far, hiding somewhere.” ____ “Hopefully not feeling cannibalistic—they left their rations here.” Joshua said. ____ We travelled down the slope in the direction Havir pointed us, exploring the wide swath of snow-covered lands below. The terrain of this side of Det’thekel was uneven and full of nooks that could house either survivors or bodies. The quick-setting sun watched us waste our efforts for a great many meters downward. ____ Finally Havir cried out and rushed down the mountain. He ran to a snow bank, gesturing us over, and began digging. In his elven sight he’d caught a glimpse: there was a human toe poking out of the snow, riddled with ice. We set to clearing away the cold blanket hiding the body and had soon uncovered two corpses, untouched by scavengers or much decay at all. ____ “Dear God!” Joshua exclaimed, stepping back as they were uncovered. Sel merely handed the shocked man his flask and set to work on the bodies. ____ Both were human males too young to be Sir Dubold. They lay contorted in the snow, completely naked for some reason. It didn’t dawn until Sel rolled them onto their backs, but their faces were frozen in locked looks of complete terror. As if they were killed and frozen in an instant rather than gradually succumbing to the cold. ____ Havir struggled to maintain his composure as he withdrew his file and opened it, comparing its contents to the grim remnants of the humans lying in the snow, “Hugo Intendiv and Wesley Jakobel. It’s them. No sign of the other six.” ____ I carefully examined the bodies, looking curiously at their eyeballs which were singed to a crisp, “Severely burnt retinas. Cause of death, doctor?” ____ Sel sat up, “They both died from the severe cold, very likely the same night as they abandoned camp if Havir’s dating is correct.” ____ “Do you know, uh,” Joshua sipped from the flask and grimaced at the flavor, “Do you know why they were running around blind and naked seven-hundred feet from their campsite?” ____ Sel ignored him, quite suddenly pulling out a knife and cutting one of the men’s stomachs open. He leapt back, quite surprised, as generous amounts of blood poured out into the snow. Blood and something very much like blood, just of a thicker quality. The Halfling held his scarf over his mouth and nose, “Severe, severe internal bleeding. No signs of food in their immediate system. I can’t quite tell when exactly they died.” ____ “Few details. Many questions.” I said, “This only deepens the mystery.” ____ Adigo stepped forward, “Perhaps I can help with that. It may be dangerous, but this begs for answers.” ____ He stepped over and stooped low before the bodies, slowly reaching out his hands and groping one of them by the forehead. ____ I didn’t know much about this medium stuff the man claimed to possess, but I wasn’t above him trying his thing if it meant clearing up the case. His psychic abilities could make or break it. ____ It was quiet for only a moment, then suddenly Adigo’s eyes were thrown open wide like drapes before a vicious gale. He flew back as if jolted by electricity, thrown across the snowy plain and landing hard on his back, straight and stiff as a bone. ____ “Adigo!!” Everyone was quick to sprint over, finding the man shaking violently and drooling profusely. He now possessed the same look that the corpses had, looking past us to something none of us could see. And he looked terrified. ____ We couldn’t share in his experience, merely trying to snap him out of it. Our efforts half worked, his expression finally relenting into that of nothingness. He went limp and didn’t get up or respond, stuck in a coma-like state. ____ “Come on, come on…” Sel stuck him with two different needles, neither substance doing anything, “Shoot! Pitch a tent here! Let’s not move him tonight.” ____ “Here!? Are you serious?” Joshua stammered, “There’s dead people here! Dead people with burnt-out eyes and freaky faces!” ____ “Welcome to our expedition Mr. Gobb.” Havir said, stripping generous amounts of thin cloth from his pack, “Help me bind these two up. We’re expected to bring them back to town.” ____ Only accepting because it would mean not having to see them anymore, Joshua helped the Ranger with the morbid task while Sel and I pitched the tent over Adigo. Night had beset us quickly, and soon we were amidst the dark without any fire. We reluctantly left the bodies lying outside our tent and hid inside with our comatose patient. ____ This time no stars or open skies or polar lights were there for us. Every now and again I poked my head out of the tent (having no need to worry about letting the warmth out) just to check the surroundings. But there was nothing to be seen. Pitch black surrounded us in all directions, utter darkness where a wall could very well be three feet away or three million feet away and one couldn’t tell the difference. Wind was all there was to give any signs of existence out here. It was impossible to say with any conviction that there could be anything living out there. ____ DAY 4 ____ “He’s awake.” Sel said. ____ Adigo lay there limply, staring up at the top of the tent which they’d left up for too long to accommodate him. His gray eyes seemed to look beyond it, staring off into space lost in the swirling winter gales all about them. It was as if something had dawned on him for the first time in his life, a realization that made everything else irrelevant. ____ “How are you, old timer?” I asked him. ____ His gaze didn’t shift, “I saw black winters on the mountain. I saw myself holding the silver cord. But it wasn’t me. It was dead. It was pulling on the cord, pulling at my end.” ____ I glanced worriedly to Sel then back, “Uh, anything else?” ____ Adigo finally gave me his attention, looking my way. Truly looking at me for the first time, “I couldn’t see their silver cords: the two dead boys out there. I can’t see anyone’s cords on this mountain.” ____ “So you think all eight of them are dead?” ____ “No, you don’t understand… not anyone’s…” ____ Joshua was outside, kicking at snow that had built up overnight and gnawing on another breakfast sausage. He looked over at me as I floated out, looking for something to say, “Do you miss food?” ____ “I miss good food sometimes.” I said, “Where’s Havir?” ____ “He went out.” ____ I frowned, “That’s dangerous.” ____ “I mean he’s the Ranger.” Joshua spoke with his mouth full, “How’s the medium?” ____ “Adigo is awake. Not altogether there, but awake.” ____ “We’re all gonna die. I can tell so. You’re gonna be the only one out of here, mark my words.” ____ “Keep your head on.” I said, muttering the rest to myself, “Besides, I’ve got just as much chance of biting it as the rest of you.” ____ Crunching snow heralded Havir’s return, the Eladrin trudging his way back to camp. Even he in all his experience looked out of his element, tightly hugging his arms together and clearly shivering in the intense cold. Nonetheless he made it up to us and doffed his scarf to speak, “I found more tracks. Leading west.” ____ “So what? Let’s get out of here!” Joshua said, “Adigo’s unwell! Didn’t you hear what happened to them in the journal? The man can hardly move! He needs a doctor!” ____ Adigo slowly exited the tent, followed by Sel. The Halfling was just finishing up packing his medical bags, nodding to the group, “Sorry for keeping us. We’re good to go.” ____ “Ah dammit.” Joshua muttered. ____ Havir pointed west, “The group kept moving west, and not turning back. The tracks suggest a more evened pace. They were organized. They were still looking for Norinth!” ____ “Adigo thinks they’re dead.” I pointed out. The medium nodded slowly. ____ “What do you think, Detective?” ____ I didn’t answer. ____ Havir shrugged, “These people have families! Their chances dwindle with every passing day! Now it’s only been four days and we have provisions for fourteen! If there’s even a one percent chance they’re alive we have to try and find them! If they’re holed up somewhere they’re counting on us! Nobody else is coming! ____ “Now I trust Adigo’s senses just the same but an investigation like this can’t rely solely on psychic conclusions! We have to try! Now what do you say, Detective?” ____ I grimaced, “Very well. Lead the way, Ranger.” ____ We left flags marking the bodies and continued west along the slopes of the mountain. The winds themselves tried to push us back at every turn, fists of air constantly buffeting at our torsos. We’d suffered the harsh gusts for days before but this morning brought snowfall with it. The tracks wouldn’t last long. ____ “We must keep moving!” Havir shouted, “For Jensen! The weather will destroy the trail! We must move quickly!” ____ Day lasted only a few short hours, yet even into dusk Havir pushed us onward. A sea of black lay along the side of the mountain ahead, a large swath of forests before us, bowing before the harsh winds as if caught in a hurricane. The Eladrin pointed towards the trees. ____ “In there!” He shouted, “The forest will have preserved a trail!” ____ “We should camp for the night!” I said, “We should’ve camped a while back!” ____ “No! Once we’re in the forest. It will shelter our tent!” ____ Havir was stubborn and wouldn’t relent on his decision, so we pushed ourselves just a bit further and fought our way before the doorstep of the treeline. Adigo required Joshua’s constant support just to walk in the squall, and Sel could barely move through the increasingly thick snowfall. ____ Havir, being an Eladrin, crossed the snows with more ease and made it to the forest first. Without waiting he immediately darted into the dark labyrinth of wood, shouting madly to be heard above the din of the weather. Even so I could not hear what he was saying, for he was too far off. ____ “Wait up! Wait up!” I shouted, helping the others into the woods and then following behind. Even here the snow was thick and dense, and the trees were tightly knit together and offered little room to pitch a tent. Nonetheless I phased through all of it after the Eladrin. ____ Faintly his voice returned to me, “Over here! Over here!” I flew over hurriedly and finally found my companion. ____ He stood in the dark, able to see better in it, standing above three more twisted humanoid forms lying in the snow below. Gradually I took out a lantern and struggled to light it, finally succeeding and illuminating another grisly scene before me. ____ Two Kyrie men and an Elf woman lay there, viciously contorted and coated in frozen wounds. Havir pointed to each of them, “Chuchan Brightbeam and Amber Lightstep. And Jensen Arrowhead. The expedition leader didn’t make it.” ____ I stooped down and examined the bodies. Once again all three had expressions of horror knit permanently onto their expired faces. Once again their eyes were burnt out. I held up Amber’s arms, which were already frozen raised. Her elven nails were different to the one I’d found at the tent, but they were nonetheless damaged, as were her arms scraped. I looked to Havir, “This one’s got dirty and wounded arms and nails. She was trying to dig or climb or hide somewhere.” ____ “I’ll check the trees around here for scratches.” Havir said. ____ Finally the others caught up, Sel sighing and wasting no time examining the bodies with me. He looked closely at their wounds, “Well they’re actually clothed for starters, mostly. Still died of the cold. Notably wounded. Severe internal bleeding, same as Wes and Hugo. Jensen is severely wounded, most notably. They were tussling with something. No signs of animal activity… no fur, no tracks…” ____ Havir snapped at Joshua while the doctor announced his diagnosis, “Don’t just stand there, pitch the tent!” ____ “Here!?” Joshua exclaimed, "Something butchered these people!” ____ “It’s already way past dark! Pitch the tent!” ____ Joshua looked around, “Someone—Adigo—back me up on this!” ____ The medium didn’t reply, staring down at the bodies, “Your face changes so much over time in life. But just the same you die, you die with that one face. And that face is your face for the rest of eternity. If you saw that face while you lived, surely you would die…” ____ “Everyone’s gone psychotic except me!” Joshua shouted, continuing to shout as he set up the camp, “Everyone’s psychotic except me!” ____ The wind drowned out his complaining, only growing fiercer. Joshua shouted louder to compensate, but no one replied to his ranting. I thoroughly searched the bodies while Sel cut one open (to the same results as the first). In the breast pocket of the younger Kyrie I unexpectedly found a photographic camera. Such things were somewhat rare in Valhalla, and twice the golden find here. ____ “Found a camera on Chuchan.” I announced, “Nothing else of value.” ____ “Take it inside!” Havir commanded, “See what you can find. Sel, help me wrap up these bodies. There’s still three more survivors out there.” ____ “Survivors, ha!” Sel laughed, taking a dire swig of his flask, “I don’t know if we’re surviving in this weather!” ____ I ducked into the tent where Joshua and Adigo were sheltered, showing them the machine I’d found, “Found a camera! Care to take a look?” ____ Adigo shook his head. “They steal your soul.” He said. ____ Joshua reluctantly scooted over and sat next to me while I turned it on. It was some kind of digital device the likes of which I was unfamiliar with, part of the screen permanently off from damage. I checked out the library of images and scrolled through them. ____ Familiar images of Innorth overlaid with a pretentious desaturated blue filter appeared on the tiny screen, blurry with the carelessness regarding the focus. Pictures showed a group of eight huddled around the entrance to the town, six young men and women and two older men. One Kyrie and one knight. ____ “Holy hell.” I said, “Sir Dubold really was wearing his plate mail out in the cold during the trek. Lugging around the broadsword and everything. What a champ.” ____ “What a bloody loon like the rest of everyone who decides to come up here.” Joshua replied, “If I’d known what I was in store for, I’d have told my boss to shove it. Or triple my numbers.” ____ “Would you believe these kids probably did this for free?” I said, scrolling through more images of the group trudging through the snow. The weather was deceptively pleasant in these shots, almost looking inviting coupled with the happy faces on the people in the photos. They didn’t even look remotely the same. Compared to now. ____ The rest of the images were equally quaint, showing little more than a simple trip among peers through the mountains. Only toward the back of the library did the pictures show heavier weather or nighttime shots without the polar lights. The very last picture was simply one of the woods they were in now, briefly illuminated in the dark with a flash feature, but showing nothing more than additional trees stretching on and on. No clues. ____ “Damn.” I muttered as Sel and Havir hurried into the tent, their macabre task completed, “No luck.” ____ “We’re almost through.” Havir said, “Get some sleep, people.” ____ That was easier said than done. Once again the black of night set in around them as they hid in their shelter, accompanied by the sounds of wailing winds rampaging through the pines about them. Crunching, jostling pines mimicking the sounds of movement in the forest, hidden in the dark. There was no light out there. But there was something out there, something besides the bodies lying outside the tent. More than once I reluctantly peered outside, almost forced to do so with uncertainty and nameless terror, knowing what they had seen was still out there. Slowly raising the camera and taking a shot, the flash lighting up the wood for but a second. ____ If there was anything out there staring back, I could not have seen it. And even with it potentially captured on film, I could not bring myself to look up the shots I had taken and pore over them searching for something watching back in the dark. For the fear of actually seeing it. ____ It took a long time for any of us to sleep, in spite of the terrible fatigue. But eventually all of us did, succumbing to it one at a time. And a restless sleep it was. ____ DAY 5 ____ “Wake up! Wake up!” Joshua’s screaming was a rude awakening to the other three as he barged into the tent the next dark morning. ____ Sel and Adigo practically bonked heads as they jolted up, I spared of such things, “What is it? What?” ____ Joshua breathed frantically as he tried to relay the information, “Okay, I got up early this morning ‘cause I had to take a leak. Took me like ten minutes to work up the courage to go out there because I knew, I just knew something freaky would happen! Like those bound up bodies out there all facing me with their bags torn open so I could see those faces and it’d scare me so bad.” ____ “Well, were they?” I asked. ____ “Uh, well no. But that’s beside the point. At any rate I mustered the courage because I noted that Havir wasn’t in the tent so he was already outside just like yesterday and so I went out and he wasn’t there! He’s gone!” ____ I floated out of the tent and looked around, seeing nothing but trees in all directions far as the eye could see. The edges of my lips nosedived, which is to say I scowled, and I turned back to the others, “No sight of him. This is very bad.” ____ “It’s happening to us, see!” Joshua stammered. ____ “No, it’s bad because it doesn’t follow the pattern of the deceased. They did not have individual disappearances. It gives us very little to go on.” ____ Sel walked out of the tent, “I don’t know if you’ve been paying attention, sir Swaddou, but we haven’t had much to go on with the pattern of the deceased.” ____ Joshua shook his head, “Well we don’t have long to find him; we’d better get looking!” ____ “No.” I said, “I don’t see any tracks whatsoever. Sel, are his belongings still in the tent?” ____ The Halfling glanced over his shoulder and then back, looking quite taken aback, “They are!” ____ It stung to say but I had to make the call for the group, “I’m not risking any more of us. We take the bodies we do have back to Innorth and lick our wounds from there. Havir really wanted us to find as many as we could for their families. We have, and he’s gone. Let’s turn back.” ____ “Havir wanted us to find everyone.” Sel said. ____ “We did all we could. Get your breakfast and gather everything up.” I turned and hovered off aways to collect my thoughts. ____ It was a stiff defeat for my Detective work, but my skills were clearly outmatched in this place. A retreat was the only option, especially with the weather worsening by the day. The longer we remained on Det’thekel, the more it would punish us. Perhaps one or more of the remaining three lost were still alive, but the most I could give them was my pity. Same went for Havir. A damn shame. ____ We solemnly yet hurriedly (as the forest had snatched up one of us already) packed our things and prepared to leave. The bodies were loaded onto a terribly makeshift pull-sled that simply slid by the grace of the ground. The snow was good for one thing, after all. With that, we withdrew from the forest and began trekking east. ____ The weather jeered at our shameful retreat, the snowfall increasing by the hour and the wind blowing it against us, somehow always managing to be pushing against whichever way we wanted to go. It wasn’t simply the terrain that had worsened either, the temperature had continued to plummet. Aided by the wind-chill, cold seeped through coat and flesh alike and froze the group to the very core. Everyone but me was violently shivering only an hour into the trek. ____ Dark came rushing back with a ravaging vengeance. The days were short beyond comprehension, a black frozen hell coming in to punish those with hopes of progressing across the tundra. Such evil weather must have been breathed from the lips of Utgar himself, or some greater evil still as the Archkyrie existed so far away in lands that knew no such perils. ____ I cursed under my visible breath, knowing how little progress we’d made in the short day, knowing how fatigued we already were simply trying to back out of a failed mission. The black of night had come already, and we couldn’t see three feet in front of us. I could only imagine what had spurned those first boys we found to flee the comfort of their tent and run out naked into the dark cold, to die within the hour. What else was out here, hidden under shadow? ____ “We can’t…” I muttered, having to shout above the din of the ever-raging storm, “We can’t continue! Set up camp!” ____ “This gale’ll blow the tent clean off!” Adigo replied. ____ “We have to try! I’ll, I’ll try to build a bank of snow for the camp to hide behind!” ____ I fell to my ghastly knees and began bunching snow while the rest of the group struggled to set up the tent’s structures, finding even the first step near insurmountable. I struggled to get even a little snow in place without the harsh winds blowing it over. It’d be easier to assemble a house of cards next to a fan. ____ “You’re dead!” I heard Adigo shouting behind me. I looked back to see who he was arguing with, but he was looking right at me, not helping with the tent at all. He stood straight and tall in the squall, glaring down at me, “You’re dead! Lie dead! Escape this hell!” ____ “Set up that goddamned camp!” I shouted back at him. ____ “You died! You met your fate! You’ve seen your dead face! And you’ll see it again before the end!” Adigo continued ranting, screaming his lungs out to be heard amidst the storm, “Your corpse is out here stalking you! Disappear so it doesn’t find you! Let go of the cord, damn you! Doom is upon this mountain!” ____ I threw snow at him, “Shaddup! I’m trying to build this bank!” ____ “Your family and ancestors are waiting for you, and you’re out here playing with snow!” Adigo started laughing, “Like a child out suckin’ on mud when there’s a cake inside for him! You’re pathetic!” ____ “Shut up! Shut up!” I got up and stormed over to him, willing my hands to grasp his neck. Terror filled his eyes and he began choking out muddled shrieks, trying to point behind me. But I paid him no heed and shook some sense into him, finding nothing where he’d motioned after I dropped him and turned back to my work. ____ Finally the other two erected the tent, hiding inside immediately and abandoning the bodies to the storm. Adigo and I ducked in shortly after, every man inside constantly looking up as the tent billowed and was battered by the winds, constantly fearful of it ripping off and flying off into the night forever. ____ I awoke that night upon the other side of the mountain. Before me was a wide bridge leading north to a town, though it wasn’t Innorth. The entire setting was drowned in that fuzzy faded blue filter of the camera before, making me seriously doubt my senses. But the lack of wind here lured me in nonetheless, just to escape from it. ____ Others dwelt in the town, walking about peacefully and looking my way. All had the same contorted faces of the damned dead upon the mountain, but they meant me no harm. I heard them breathe but when they spoke without moving their frozen mouths I could not make out the words. It was ghastly company, but that made it good company for a ghost. ____ Some held long silver strings stretching up into the sky, lost among the clouds and bright polar lights up there. Others did not, and looked satisfied. ____ As I walked I saw a familiar set of forms: Havir and Adigo were there also. Their faces I hadn’t seen on them, just as contorted and horrified as the others, but they too meant me no harm. Havir did not have a silver string but Adigo did, and he was pulling on it. At first subtly and listlessly, then with increasing violence. I could hear thunderous movement in the clouds above where the string stretched, like something moving in deep water. ____ Then I saw myself. Not me as I was now, but when I was human. When I was dead. This face I did recognize, for I had seen it when I was first raised in Bleakewoode. I had fled back to the Alliance’s lands soon after that, and it was the last I’d seen of it, until now. Strange that it would be here again, so far north. North beyond north. ____ Then I saw with horror that this form of me did not have a silver string either, and it moved to me. And it spoke, and I heard it unlike the others. ____ “Fate. Doom.” ____ I screamed but neither words nor noise came out. Instead out of my mouth was the flash of the camera, and once more as I tried to cry out again. ____ DAY 6 ____ The next day we awoke to find yet another among us missing: this time Adigo nowhere to be found. No signs of struggle, no tracks, all of his belongings left behind. Even the tiny totems he’d worn were neatly laid out on the floor of the tent. ____ While Sel and Joshua bickered over the disappearance I set out, floating above the feet of snow and looking for something. Anything. In the far distance I could see disturbances in the snow to the northwest. ____ Beneath the sharp jut of a cliff was more tracks, kept safe by the wall beside them. I sighed and looked off, mentally following the directions. ____ “We’re doomed, we’re doomed.” I could hear Joshua ranting as I returned, pacing back and forth and refusing to help Sel uncover the bodies from last night’s snow. ____ “Thank God you’re back Swaddou.” Sel said as he spotted me, ignoring Joshua completely (who was still talking), “We’ve got a lot of ground to cover. A lot.” ____ “I found more tracks.” I said solemnly. ____ That snapped Joshua out of it, “Oh no, oh no…!” ____ “This is something I have to do, while I can.” I explained, “Just for the sake of those who might still have their lives left to live.” ____ “You mean like us.” Joshua said. ____ “I want you and Sel to take these bodies back to Innorth.” I replied, “I’m going to try and find the rest of them. I have to try.” ____ Sel shook his head, “There’s no talking you out of it?” ____ “Afraid not.” ____ The Halfling scoffed and tried to drink more, but his flask had run dry yesterday, “Well screw this. I’m coming with you! I feel safer with you. I’m not splitting up.” ____ “No, no!” Joshua shouted, “Screw both of you! I’m going back to Innorth.” ____ Sel frowned, “C’mon Josh! Splitting up’s a bad idea.” ____ “Then you two come with me!” Joshua insisted, “I’m—I’m going back to Innorth. I’m not lugging these freaky corpses along with me! And I’m going back no matter what! Even if I have to do it alone!” ____ “Josh, c’mon!” ____ “No! No! Go to hell!” Joshua threw his arms down and laughed rather uncharacteristically, “Oh wait! We’re already in hell! Lucky you! I’m going! I’m going!” ____ He began trudging off westward, clumsily shoving his way through the deep snow. Sel looked from him to me and back, shrugging and sighing. ____ “You really ought to go with him.” I said, “This is very much a suicide mission, save for a miracle.” ____ “Even so, I feel safer with you.” The Halfling replied, “You’re the only one who’s not losing or lost it. Besides, if you do find anyone, they’ll need a doctor.” ____ We trekked back to the newly discovered tracks and began wading our way northeast. The weather did not approve of our valiance, doubling down as the hours passed. Still I wouldn’t give up, continuing the journey as long as there was a direction given. ____ Snow piled high around us as we hugged the mountain, enduring the storm while there was still light to be had. There wasn’t much for long. ____ DAY 7 ____ The two of us continued the trek, spending more and more time fighting our way through winds and walls of snow and ice. It pained me to imagine the progress that the survivors might have made compared to ours just because of the amount of light they had and the lower (comparatively) amount of snow. We were barely moving. ____ And yet just as I was about to give up and call to turn back another sheltered set of tracks appeared. Even without our Ranger progress remained in the worst of times. ____ DAY 8 ____ “Get up.” I prodded Sel, “We have to keep moving.” ____ “I don’t want to.” The Halfling doctor replied, “I feel bad.” ____ “So do I but we’ll be buried if we don’t keep moving.” ____ The storm still refused to relent as we packed up and continued the trek. Visibility was so low amongst the flurry that we constantly had to call out just to keep track of each other. Snow piled ever higher and higher, and fear of an avalanche began to well in my undead heart. ____ “I’m beginning to think we should turn back!” Sel called out. ____ “We can’t now!” I replied, “It’d be better to wait out the storm at this rate! I’ve never seen it so bad!” ____ “Wait for another overhang!” I heard him call. ____ “I have seen two in the last two days! I’ll let you know if I spot one!” I shouted back. ____ “Swaddou!” ____ “Yes!?” ____ “…!” ____ I looked back, “Yes!? Sel!?” ____ Snow everywhere, blowing everywhere, stacking everywhere. So much of it. Even our own progress in the terrain was being undone at all times, leaving little trace of where we’d been. And I couldn’t see the Halfling in the vicious storm or in the snow around me. ____ “Sel!?” I cursed his Halfling status, easily lost in this weather and with the ice piling up so high. I moved about, looking through the snow and phasing through it. But there was no sign of him. I let the etherealness leave my arms and manually brushed the snow around trying to find or uncover him. But no trace. ____ “Sel! Sel, dammit!” I shouted. Even an hour of searching yielded no results. He was gone. ____ “Damn… Damn, damn!” I spent as long as I could spare trying to find him, but nothing would come of it. Not knowing how long was too long to spend looking for him, I cursed the time I had and continued on, only able to hope he’d somehow pop up again down the road. ____ DAY 9 ____ I hadn’t seen any more hints or tracks today, huddled up in my tent that night waiting for the next day to come. Solitude was a terrible thing for a ghost to have, but I hadn’t seen sight or sound of Sel all day. So alone I was. ____ “—addou!” A faint voice half-hidden in the constant wind caught my attention. I listened and heard it again, coming from far outside. ____ I waited it out, wanting to discern fact from madness the weather was creating. But when I heard it a third time, I picked up the Halfling’s voice and snapped out of my hesitancy. ____ “Sel!?” I poked out of the tent, looking to the dark and feeling stupid for expecting to find anything but pitch blackness out there before me. Again I heard the voice call for me though, so I reluctantly fetched the camera and with baited breath aimed it out in the dark. ____ A flash of light illuminated the endless snows for only a moment, but in the brief glow I thought I saw a figure. A rather short one at that. ____ “Sel! Sel!” I rushed out, hearing the voice again and following it. Blindly I moved about in the snow, eventually taking another shot and seeing him again. I moved as fast as I could, trying to interact with him. ____ “Ah!” My form passed through something as I moved down the mountain, catching my attention. The voice was gone. Again I raised the camera and bathed the area in light. ____ Light reflected off steel in that moment, blinding me right back. Squinting, I instead looked at the photo I’d just taken, seeing three bent twisted carcasses on the snow floor before me. A man, a woman, and a man unmistakably in a suit of silver armor. ____ “Silver, yuh…” I muttered, feeling my ghastly leg burn faintly from passing through the armor. I couldn’t let it bother me though, having found the last three victims. All dead of course. ____ Feeling around the ground, I felt up the two I could safely touch. I got the picture from feeling their faces, and their bodies again were wounded. But this was different. Big gaping blade wounds were on their torsos and legs, obvious handiwork of a sword or similar weapon. ____ “Hm?” Along the woman I felt a pack, her being the most well-dressed out of the eight victims. Inside was another camera: a video camera. I opened it and found that it still worked, giving me a little light to work with. A sticker on the side when illuminated said “Tessel Koyav”. ____ “Ah yes, Tessel was the chronicler.” I mused. A light on the camera could be flipped on, finally giving me something to see at the scene about me in the dark. Indeed the victims had suffered severe sword wounds, as well as the now-usual look of terror inscribed on their faces. These ones however were plainly missing their eyes, as if they’d been cleanly plucked out. ____ “Tessel and Sir Dubold… This last one here must be Mel.” I mused, “Let’s see what’s on your video camera.” ____ Perusing the library of contents this time gave me more animated results: grainy images of various videos strung together. The images were blurry and bouncy as the cameraman (or woman in this case) handled the device rather carelessly, moving it this way and that and talking all the while. ____ Images of a snowy path and two young adults slowly trudging up it, “Day 1… of the hike… I’m Tessel, here with Amber, and here with Hugo. Hugo, do you think anything exceptional is gonna happen?” ____ “I think… that… there will be a hike.” ____ Images of the knight, “There’s Sir Dubold, rocking his armor. What do you think we’ll find? Wes says that statistically a Village out here is impossible.” ____ The knight replying with a rather strong French accent, “Impossible is a word only in the dictionary of fools.” ____ “Dictionary of fools! Wes’ll love that!” ____ Images of more of the victims around a fire at night, trying to mimic the way Dubold had said Impossible, “Impossibull! Impossibell!” ____ Images of Mel in a tent, “How are you feeling there, Smittee? A or A+?” ____ “Tess, my dad died in a war, got saved by Jandar, almost died in Laur, met my mom in the field hospital, and died for real against a dragon. And I’m gonna die on a hike. As a virgin.” ____ “Well I can’t help you with the first thing and I’m not gonna help you with the second there, bud.” ____ Images of inside the tent, the night of what happened. ____ “Turn the camera off! Turn it off!” ____ A blindingly bright orange light on the other side of the tent, “What is it!? What’s that?” ____ “Get out of the tent! Get out!” ____ Screaming, “Don’t look! Get out!” ____ “I don’t have my shoes on!” ____ The image shaking violently as Tess runs down the slope, “Mel! Mel! I’ve got a light! Run! This way! Run this way!” ____ Image of Mel looking at the camera, illuminated in the dark, “I don’t wanna get seen. Turn the light off.” ____ “I don’t know how. I want the others to find us.” ____ “It’s coming this way. Turn it off!” ____ “I can’t! Just keep running! ____ Image of Mel running in the dark, howling wind all around. Image of something else in the dark. Tessel screaming and running faster, camera down, “What was that!? What is that!?” ____ It looked vaguely familiar, more so than the strange orange light I’d never seen before, so I paused there and rewinded, then going frame by frame until I could see what it was she saw. ____ It was her. It was very difficult to see in the dark and with the video quality but I knew her picture and I knew her lying right there next to me. And it was that her that appeared in the video, cut up and eyes missing, staring at the camera during this video that was made while Tessel was alive. ____ There was nothing to be said, so I silently finished playing to see the end. The video resumed, Mel vanishing somewhere along the way until it was just Tessel running in the dark with the light on by herself, using the camera as little more than a flashlight. ____ Something else appeared out of the dark, a large naked man standing in the snow wielding Sir Dubold’s sword. He stepped out, almost as if from nowhere, and with one slash caused the camera to fall to the ground and cease playing. ____ That explained the wounds at least, but little else. Then it dawned on me. Painful as it would be, I turned to Sir Dubold and stooped to his side. Though it burnt to touch, I removed his helmet. Nothing. ____ It was just the armor laying there, empty as a husk. I stood up and backed off, realizing I was fairly certain I knew who the man in the video was. ____ “Fate.” I heard to my left, turning and shining the camera in that direction (relieved to finally be able to see more clearly in the dark). There he was, skin black with frostbite, eyes also missing. Yet in spite of all this he still seemed to draw breath, still looked right at me even with nothing to see with. ____ “Sir Dubold.” I said, carefully eyeing the silver sword he held in one hand, knowing it among few things could actually hurt me, “You’ve gone completely mad, haven’t you?” ____ “I have found the path to immortality.” The naked knight replied, “Up here you see who you’ll always end up being. And that’s who you’ll always be forever and ever and ever.” ____ “There’s another word for that…” I muttered. ____ Without another word he simply roared with rage and charged straight for me. I turned and fled as fast as my incorporeal body would take me. I could hear him not far behind, bounding through the snow as if he himself were a Dzu-Teh. The intent of his madness was clear and put fire into my flight, sprinting despite the fatigue of days and days of misery. ____ In the stretches of snow before me was another brambly forest, and I didn’t hesitate to barrel towards it. No matter the speed his madness granted him he couldn’t phase through trees and thorns, and I planned to make the most of it. Shooting straight through, I darted through the forest and didn’t look back. ____ I could hear his screaming echoing through the night squall, growing fainter as I fled, “I’ll cut your cord! I’ll do it! The cold will preserve you forever! Forever! Your Doom will get you all!” ____ In the light of the camera I could see the tall barren trees in the dark. Upon each sharpened branch lay impaled my former company. Havir and Adigo and Sel and even Joshua. All sliced up, all without eyes. I fled faster than my fastest, trying now to escape the woods before Dubold navigated them. ____ Eventually I made it through the expanse of trees and slowed to a halt. I had no idea where I was and was out of survivors. No real means to retrieve them and a crazed man roaming the area, preserved by whatever evil destroyed his mind to begin with. ____ Slowly I halfheartedly pitched my tent and crawled inside, praying for a peaceful night which I would not receive. Howling winds and the wailing of the damned assailed my tiny shelter, the ever-so-faint screaming of Dubold in the distance keeping me ever on edge. Something worse than death was up here on this accursed mountain, north of north. Fate and Doom lay beyond the peak of emptiness. ____ DAY 10 ____ For the first time in many days warm light awoke me. I gradually crawled out of my tent, leaving the forest behind me and looking north. A sunrise was something I’d taken for granted in my life and undeath, but never again. There it was, glowing in red beauty, shining across the sky where light snow gently fell. There was only a faint breeze. ____ I walked across the expanse, following the mountain’s slope down towards the sun which crawled across the horizon to greet me. I did not have the strength to resist it. ____ It grew brighter as it neared, blindingly so. But I didn’t hesitate to look into it just the same. I was a ghost, after all. I couldn’t be blinded without mortal eyes to blind. ____ And so I looked unburnt into the light and saw through it. Within, washed in warm orange, was a tiny village. It looked pleasant, and I was tired of snow, so I stepped into the light and went there. ____ It was a nice place, people walking about looking at me, smiling but saying nothing. It was warm, and others were there. Havir and Adigo were there, as were Sel and Joshua. And the missing explorers were there too. Tessel and Wesley and Mel were there. Amber and Chuchan and Hugo and Jensen. Sir Dubold was there as well, but he was holding a silver string in his hand, and it stretched high into the sky. He didn’t look as happy as the others. ____ “What’s wrong, Sir Dubold?” I asked him. ____ “I’m still out there.” He said, “Holding onto this, despite it all. Still not letting go, because of the war. The silver string stretches on and on over the peak of the world, which is in the very farthest north.” ____ “I see.” I said, “That’s too bad he went crazy.” ____ “You would have gone blind or mad too if you had the eyes to see it.” He said, “But you still have your string too, until you let go of it.” ____ I looked down. Sure enough, like a child holding a balloon, there it was clenched in my ethereal hand. I was surprised, “I don’t know how to let go, to tell you the truth. I never have.” ____ Sir Dubold pointed, “Just give it back to him.” ____ I turned and saw my contorted dead face looking back at me. It was enough. My spirit shattered, equal parts horror and sadness. Everything went black, all the noise went away. ____ All the noise except for the wind, that is. Enjoy it? Let me know what you thought! That is... if you can actually bring yourself to finish it (both in a scary sense and in a people-don't-finish-my-stories sense)! ~TAF TAF was the Storyteller... in THE ENEMY'S LAST RETREAT Last edited by TheAverageFan; June 18th, 2021 at 12:21 PM. Reason: fixed some minor spelling & grammar issues |
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Re: Beyond the Peak of Emptiness
Happy 1000 views to this one. Only a little fewer than Creeping Evil in 1/12th the months; not bad if you ask me. Halloween stories seem popular with Guests. Cheers nonetheless
Also don't forget--if you don't wanna comment because you feel bad about leaving exclusively-negative feedback, you can always anonymously voice your displeasure by Rating this story and others like it. Simply PM The Grim Reaper's Friend with your Score out of 10. ~TAF, may whip something up for Christmas TAF was the Storyteller... in THE ENEMY'S LAST RETREAT |
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