The Home Stone

It was midday when the weather changed. Shannon felt a slight tingle as she and the party moved higher into the pass. A light snow began to fall making the steep passage more slippery. She called for a stop and gathered the friends about her.

“There is a warding here,” she said, “and I fear that the pass and weather will get worse.” She then asked Shamus to send his two me up ahead to seek out any traps or falls that they could encounter. The party then continued.

The two men, Gilbert and Randall moved up to the head of the party and kept about fifty paces in front. With their weapons drawn they proceeded with extreme caution, not knowing what awaited them around the next corner. As the afternoon progressed, the weather turned for the worse. What had been a light snowfall, now turned into a raging storm. The wind picked up and blew the snow all around them making visibility almost impossible. When the sun crept behind the western peaks the temperature turned colder, chilling they party despite their warm furs. The wind bit into their uncovered faces until their cheeks hurt. When the sun finally set and the pass was covered in darkness the party stopped. The two men that scouted ahead returned and all huddled together to try and keep warm.

Hours passed and the eight grew colder and colder. It was Shamus who spoke over the howling wind. “We might as well keep moving. Staying here will only be the death of us all.”

Everyone agreed that they should keep on going, for soon they would reach the peak and descend into a valley. Hopefully it would be warmer there and maybe even light a fire to warm their frozen fingers that were at least covered with thin gloves. That was the only piece of equipment that the highlander forgot to pack. It was well past midnight when they crested the peak and started their downward trek into the valley far below, but the weather did not ease up. The wind kept on blowing the snow in their faces and covered the path with deepening snow. What had started with a light dusting on the ground, now was waist deep. Their progress slowed and exhaustion began to set in, so that the other seven wanted to stop and give up, but Shannon would not let them. She urged them on and kept telling them that when they reach the bottom all would be fine. The cold would be gone and they would take their time to rest before they proceeded. It was only that promise that kept the party going. They were about three-quarters of the way down when the snowstorm began to break up. The wind died down, the flakes stopped falling and the temperature warmed slightly. They uncovered their faces and with their cold hands tried to rub some life back into their cheeks.

“I have never been so cold in my life,” said Roma. “I’ve been through some severe winters, but not like this. How can people live in places such as this?”

“This was not a normal storm,” answered Shannon. “This was a warding set into place to discourage anyone from trying to pass through here and it may not be over yet. I fear there is still more to come.”

When they reached the valley below, the sun was well overhead. Warmed by the rays of the yellow ball that hung in the now clear sky, the party sat down for a well needed rest. With little wood lying around Shamus managed to light a small fire to brew some tea, but that was all the flames could manage. Soon the wood was gone and the eight friends huddled back together for warmth. They stayed there for the rest of the day and slept as much as they could, for when the darkness came the temperature would fall once more.

“Shannon,” Raven called. “Why don’t you use a little bit of magic to keep us warm, or make the bad weather go away if it comes back?”

“I can’t,” she answered. “There is a warding here and if I use my magic, whether it be a lot or just a tiny amount; the dragon will know and that would not bode us well. Up here he can send down snow to bury us or warm the side of the mountains sending rivers of water to wash us over the edge or something like that. No, it’s better that we endure this now, so we can have the element of surprise on our side.”

At sunset the party stood up and began their next climb. Around midnight Shamus called for a halt and a needed rest. This, the center set of peaks, were the highest of them all and would take them till dark the next day just to reach the top. The weather held out this time and they made good progress, but the tingling sensation that Shannon felt was still there. They had not reached the end of the warding yet. The mage had hoped that the dragon had only set up his defense in the first peaks, but it was clear that he intended for no one to pass this way. The climb took a lot out of them and the friends were running only on adrenalin, when they crested the top. The sun was still high in the western sky, but the downward slope of the range was already shrouded in shadows. Here they stopped and basked in the faint warmth that the sun provided before making their way down into the valley below.

Gilbert and Randall, who had been scouting farther down the path now reported to Shamus. Now a solemn faced highlander turned to the rest of the group.

“My men have reported the there has been an avalanche approximately half way down, blocking the entire path,” he reported.

“Is there another way?” asked Shannon, “for we can’t stop now. We’ve come too far by now to be turned back.”

“No, I’m afraid not,” answered the highlander. “We have one of two choices, the way I see it; we can turn around and try to find another route, or we can continue and take our chances. But remember this, whichever way you choose, I fear that the dragon knows that we are coming.”

“I say that we wait here until morning,” Shannon added. “To attempt crossing the snow covered path in the dark would be suicide when there is enough light to see where we step.”

They spent the night high on the mountain, too tired to go on and too exhausted to even eat. They just huddled together to stay warm and hope tomorrow would bring them some relief from the cold and that they make it through where the snow drift blocked their way.