The good news was that I had not been harmed during my little nap. The bad news was that as if to punish me for telling Rosa something bad was coming, the weather had taken a turn for the worse. The biting cold was amplified by the harsh winds, and visibility had quickly dropped. You could scarcely tell that the weather had been causing snowmelt over the past weeks.

  Thanks to my little stunt, at present I was completely exposed to the weather. Worse still, creating sound was a far more taxing sort of magic than I expected, and my whole body ached. If I remained in this environment for much longer, I wouldn’t be able to take it.

  While the avalanche had buried most of the swarm as I hoped, it also closed off my path back to the order, leaving me with two options: Trudging up the mountainside in search of a path back down, or trying to make my way across a nearby cliff face to the south. The low visibility and low temperatures meant that an ascent would be suicide in this weather, so I resigned myself to the cliffside, and prayed I would not lose my footing and fall to my death.

  As I approached, I realized the situation wasn’t as bad as it looked. By some stroke of luck, there was enough exposed rock for me to get a proper foothold, though some parts did look a bit precarious. And I couldn’t spot a single speck of snow or ice on its surface despite the temperatures – perhaps the cliff above had somehow shielded it from moisture, or the slope of the surface had prevented accumulation. In any case, I was grateful for this small stroke of luck as I began to carefully make my way across.

  I tightly gripped the cliff face as best I could and slowly crept leftward, moving my feet one boot-width at a time. The stone beneath mercifully held firm and there was no sign of ice, so my main concern was retaining my balance despite the wind’s best efforts. My hands and feet were already numb, so I sincerely hoped that I would be able to find some shelter once I was back on solid ground, if not an easy path back east to regroup with the order.

  After a few long minutes, I reached out for a new handhold and found nothing. I had either reached the end of the cliff face, or some sort of hole – perhaps a cave entrance. Visibility had dropped to the point where my only option was to continue, handhold or not. I took a deep breath to calm myself (immediately regretting this, as the air was extremely cold) and shifted toward the void.

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  It was a cave, and the entrance was remarkably large. I could feel a gentle breeze coming from inside, perhaps due to the temperature differential. With the risk of frostbite or hypothermia weighing increasingly on my mind, I decided to discard caution and enter the cave instead of continuing across the cliffside. I would at least be shielded from the elements. Perhaps I could muster up enough strength to start a small fire and use my cloak as fuel to dry my clothes and warm my extremities.

  The interior of the cave was indeed warmer, to an extent that made me nervous. As I crept inward, the temperature continued to climb. I had hoped to rest as soon as I was safely inside, but now I had no choice but to explore the interior and ensure that it was unoccupied, lest its residents ambush me later.

  Anxiety built as I crept forward, bracing myself against the wall with my right arm. The cave should have been getting darker as I went in, but I could still see clearly, and the temperature was increasing to an impossible level, as if I was approaching the hearth of an oven. This level of radiant heat was beyond that of a bonfire. Could there be some sort of exposed magma vein in the cave? I was no geologist, but that seemed unlikely. I could think of only one other explanation.

  Something inside the cave was breathing, and it was large. I began to wonder whether Rosa had cursed me. Was she some sort of prophet? I could only hope that whatever it was would either remain asleep, or not react negatively to my intrusion.

  On impulse, I bowed towards the presence around the bend, and as I gently laid my sword down upon the ground, I pleaded quietly.

  “Please forgive my intrusion. I shall leave as soon as I can. Thank you for your understanding.”

  I resigned myself to whatever fate awaited and leaned up against the wall of the tunnel, covering myself with my cloak. It was warm enough here that I was in no danger of passing from hypothermia. The steady pulses of humid air made me feel drowsy, so I closed my eyes and attempted to rest my body, even if the stress and anxiety would prevent me from sleeping. Its breaths were like a metronome, and I felt my heartbeat sync with the rhythm.