The wind howled through the mountains as the pair trudged up the snow strewn slopes. They had left Bleakfort about three hours ago, the captain there insisting that the attacks had occurred along this supply road. Vikram looked about, there was no road to speak of. The only indication that people had travelled here was an indented path in the snow that wound up and down the steep terrain. The icicles on his beard jangled and clinked together as the pair continued up. When he had joined the Fighters Guild this was absolutely not what he had in mind, though the snowcapped peaks were indeed a sight to behold.

    He had been shivering since they had stepped off the boat, his Sukh jingling the entire way there as though he were a child's harvest holiday figure. Vikram blew warm breath into his hands and rubbed them together. Looking at his travelling companion Zarius he could only imagine they werent coping much better. He was from Zeinav right? It was hard to remember if it had come up when they had first met in the Mesa. Zarius was smart, wearing a fur lined outfit that complimented his complexion. Vikram could only be so envious of the choice, having foregone the cold weather gear offered by the forts quartermaster.

    Looking up from his hands he could see a couple of dark clouds further up the mountain range, did it rain in these places? How would that work, would the water freeze when it hit the ground? Vikram supposed so, since he was currently walking in several hands of frozen water as it were, ground to a powder by the harsh winds.

"D-d-do you th-think were close?"

While the human was right in his assumption that the tiefling was more used to warmer temperatures, Zarius had spent enough time in Frost Gale and the Dragon's Cradle to start to get used to the colder temperatures. Still, he did prefer the dry heat of the Ash Lands and the deserts of Zeinav. It was definitely leaps and bounds more comfortable for him compared to the cold of the north or the humidity of the south. 

That said, he had come prepared thanks to his previous experiences in the mountains of the Dragon's Cradle. Frost Gale wasn't too different, so his fur lined coat and the several layers of other clothing beneath it helped keep him warm against the biting wind. The one problem was his head was rather exposed. Finding a tailor who could figure out a hood solution for someone with horns was a tall order and he also hated having his ears tucked away. Vikram's outfit by comparison, stood out like a sore thumb, though the jingling did make it easy to keep track of him. 

"Unlikely," he states as he glances around the surrounding mountains. "If we are looking for a cave it will likely be higher up the mountain side which would make it easier to defend from guards and hunters."

The tiefling squints and pushes forward through the snow until he came across some irregularities in the snow cover. Zarius crouches down and takes a closer look at the windblown trail in the snow. It was times like this he wished he had brought Cyran, Gerhart, or Snow along. They were much better at tracking than he was. The most he could do was spot things, but he didn't have the knowledge to tell how long ago the tracks were created.

The indentations seems to be larger than the ones they were following so far. Perhaps they did belong to this yeti creature. He admits, he had never seen a yeti but the description of a large hairy giant creature seemed pretty hard to mistake for anything else.

    Surely the Tiefling knew how to track. It was he that led them to the site of the cultists camp. Or was that Maude... no, surely it was Zarius. The hunting dogs nose seemed to pick up a scent, they pointed at some spot in the snow a bit off the path. It was remarkably similar to the patterns of sand, despite the temperature. The softer lighter particles fly over the indentations, the bigger harder particles settled on the ridge. Subtle, yet pertinent signs of footprints. Their regularity spoke of something bipedal, and walking away from the trail? The footprints seemed to follow a course up the mountainside, masked by the icy wind.

"P-part of the caravan perhaps? Or our target? How big are these yet-eye meant to be anyway."

    Kicking around some of the lumps of snowdrift, like mini sand dunes from the white desert, Vikram heard a solid clunk. Kicking a bit more of the snow off of it to reveal what looked like a smashed barrel, a small bit of frozen yellow liquid pooled in the bottom. A chunk and a taste revealed it to be some nicely aged cider, presumably part of a raided caravan, A tasty drink stolen maliciously.

"Hmm, pretty good." 

    Standing back up, putting a chunk of frozen cider in a loose cloth and hanging it from his waist, he gestured up the mountain.

"Seems we better get hiking, not like the path did us any good"

“My understanding is that Yeti are quite large. You were at the Black Harvest Ball, correct? There was a large hairy man there dressed as a pumpkin. I believe we are looking for something of similar size.”

It wasn’t a great example, but he had fewer reasonable comparisons. Would Beist be insulted by being used as an example of a yeti’s estimated size? He couldn’t say, he had only briefly met the druid back before the ball when he was traveling with Caedes. Chances were that the Zeinavian human man would never cross paths with that unique individual again anyway.

Then again, he had run into stranger individuals time and time again himself. Hell, even being here with the mage-hating human was strange enough.

He takes note of the frozen cider and chuckles a bit as the man stuffs the sample into his own pouches. To each their own. He had no interest in consuming anything that had been left in the snow for who knows how long. The thought crosses his mind to warn the man about yellow snow, but a part of him thinks experience is a better teacher.

Rising back up to stand, he starts trudging through the knee deep snow up the side of the mountain. The trail was visible enough to follow for the time being. 

“Upwards and onwards, keep an eye for any movement.”

He warns as he glances up at the thick clouds gathering above them. The wind was starting to pick up as well, kicking up loose snow into flurries that roll off of the banks of piled snow. If they didn't move quickly, they would lose this lead in the winds and possibly get hopeless lost themselves. 

"Oh B-Beist? We go to therapy together, quite the height for a mountain dwelling monster man. Would explain why this thing is resorting to attacking caravans. Not exactly a lot of choices on the menu at this height."

    The memory of Sol City was bittersweet, reminding Vikram of a time when he could feel his toes. His joints ached in the cold, not helped by the fact the wind was picking up quickly. The storm clouds were still not right above them, so why were the winds here? In the White Sand Sea, when a sandstorm hit you, it hit you all at once. Visibility here however was slowly dropping, he could barely make out the charcoal Tiefling trudging through the snowdrifts mere leglengths in front of him. 

    The temperature dropped along with the visibility, the wind dragging in cold air from the upper atmosphere that they had been inching towards this entire time. The treeline was sorely missed in the higher slopes of the mountain, at least providing a modicum of shelter from the prevailing winds. Here it was all ice and stone, precious little stood between them and the elements. Their progress was becoming excruciatingly slow, the footprint trail now almost impossible to see to his untrained eyes. In the 

"We must find shelter! I dare say its getting a bit drafty up here!"

    His metal ornaments jangling loudly in the blizzard, the looser parts of his robes whipped in the icy cold air. Surely, they must be close. It was all he could do to focus on his own footsteps, the path upwards steep and treacherous. He looked sharply to the right, a large shadow in the swirling curtain surrounding them dissapearing as soon as he saw it in his periphery. A mirage? It was hard enough to see his own Fighter Guild companion let alone their surroundings.

"Did you see that Zarius? Am I going mad?"

    

“Oh,” the tiefling responds with some surprise. “I was unaware you were acquainted.”

Really, he shouldn’t be surprised. The ball was a place for many to meet for the first time and also reunite with others they had come across in their travels. The human was older, he likely had met many even if he had primarily stayed within Zeinav besides his travels to the Arid Mesa and Capitol Landing. Many adventurers ended up in Zeinav City at some point for various reasons.

As the storm swept down from the mountain tops and caught them in the relentless torrent of blowing snow, the pair soon lost all visibility.

"Agreed!" He shouts over the howling wind. 

The blinding snow makes it near impossible to tell which direction they were headed. Only the slope of the mountainside could tell them which way was up or down as the heavy snowfall and thick clouds obscured the horizon completely. Zarius wipes the snowflakes from his face and tries to see any defining features of the white landscape before them. He isn't looking the same direction as Vikram as the human speaks again. 

"What?"

He turns and looks back over his shoulder at the man. His traveling companion had said something, right? It was so hard to tell over all the jangling and wind. This wasn't going to work. They desperately needed to get to some cover before they accidentally walked off a cliff or were frozen to death. 

    Cold and exhaustion must surely be playing devious tricks with his senses. The wind howled as he turned back to the way that Zarius made before him. "Nothing!" He shouted through the storm, the icicles that made up his facial hair cracking as he moved his mouth. It was a tumultuous situation to be sure, hopefully they would approach the supposed cave entrance within the next few minutes.

    Concentration on putting one foot in front of the other was difficult enough in this scenario, the layer of sweat that had soaked his inner robes on the climb up now sapping the heat from his body. Oddly enough, at a certain point he started to become warm once more. It was as though his body was losing its ability to fight the cold, shunting blood back towards the skin. His desire to remove layers of clothing due to his false sense of heat was incredibly tempting. The only thing preventing him from doing so was the preternatural aversion to dissolving the sanctity of protection before a supposed battle.

"Zarius! Do you see any escape from this chill!"

    His throat grew hoarse in the cold and dry air, burning his lungs with each frosty inhale. A large shadow loomed ahead of them. Cliff face? Or a worsening condition of the storm...

    

Zarius looks up the slope. This climb was getting ridiculous and there was no shelter in sight. At this rate they would get hopelessly lost in the wind and snow.

Trudging forward, the tip of his boot slams into something hard buried underneath the blanket of snow. A string of infernal curses are heard from the tiefling over the howling wind as he kneels down to see what he just stubbed his foot on. Clearing away some of the snow, he finds another broken cask of frozen ale. At least they were on the right track it seemed.

He stands back up as the shadow of the storm descends upon them.

The heavy snow cakes onto their clothing and piles up in any exposed nook or cranny while the bite of the wind ripped through their protective layers. Zarius shields his eyes with his arms against the gale and for a brief moment he spots a break in the storm.

“This way!” He reaches back and grabs onto the human man’s sleeve as he leads him safely around the frozen cask and towards where he swore he spotted some shelter.

Pushing ahead, the wind does seem to break more frequently as some jutting stones provide some windbreak from the blizzard's wrath. It was hard to tell if the stones were naturally formed, or if they were deliberately places there to safeguard or act as some sort of landmark. 

    Were there a moment for betrayal that would have been it. Vikram was tugged towards the supposed safety by the Tiefling, and instead of careening off a cliffside, the wind began to noticeably die down. Out of the blizzardy winds jutted several crags of rock and ice, breaking up the incessant flow of wind from the mountainside. They collapsed into the snow behind one of the larger outcrops, catching their breath. Vikram put his hands on the elemental lamp that lay under his robes, possible the only thing that kept him from freezing completely to death. Peeking at it, even the elemental seemed to be shivering from the ambient climate. He pulled it out, to share some of the heat with Zarius. I mean, if he was cold surely this Tiefling was even worse. Perhaps he had judged them too harshly.

"L-look. Up ahead. The track marks, they've been preserved behind the rocks. The creatures home must surely be close."

    Surely as it was, the indents around the rocks were deep. Clear outlines and toe drag could be seen, indicating large footprints laid freshly not even minutes ago. They were impressively large, a creature rivaling Shaa or even Beist in height and heft. Terrifying. It must have been close, watching them? Why had it not simply eliminated the pair from the cover of the storm. Monstrosities surely did not have restraint.

The thought of betrayal never crossed the tiefling's mind. Despite what Vikram may think of him, he holds nothing against the man. He understands the mistrust of spellcasters and the need to be able to defend oneself against the arcane. Zarius personally does not see much value in betrayal, people were often much more useful alive and...pliable if they could trust him without any concern of being backstabbed.

Zarius catches his breath then follows Vikram’s gesture towards the tracks. The human was on to something. Surely they were close now. The warmth from the lantern was appreciated as the tips of his ears were definitely feeling the bite of the wind and snow the worst. He breathes into his hands and then holds them against his ears to warm them up more.

“Good catch. With any luck it is right around here.”

He checks around a bit more, slogging through the drifts and keeping his tail up out of the snow. Just on the edge of his line of sight through the thick snowfall, he makes out a gaping hole in the side of the mountain framed by icicles like the teeth of a monstrous mouth.

“This way, quietly.” He waves back to the human and lowers his voice as much as he can.

Stepping as carefully as he can, he breaks trail for Vikram to try and keep their approach as silent as possible.^[1] Soon they stand before the large cave entrance which descends into a pitch black tunnel deep into the mountainside.

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[1] Silent Step