Frank felt like a pile of hot trash. He didn’t know if he didn’t remember much after focusing his Aura of Health into the Embers deep within, or if he was trying not to. There were flashes of terrible pain, and about the only thing he could remember was thanking any Gods listening that Pain Management was a Skill.

It had helped with the aches and burns, after taking in the fires on that field, but without it, he felt certain he would not have been able to stand, let alone walk, when those frozen flames burst out of him. Everything ached. He didn’t even want to check his Lifecord, fearing what it might say. But while the animals were docile, he couldn’t count on it. Frank at least had to check his Health.

Health = 5/42

Mana = 4

He winced. That wasn’t good. “Deli!” He called.

She looked dazed, sitting on the ground, next to him.

“Deli?”

“Ah!” She jerked, looking at him. “Yes?”

“How are you doing?”

“I, I’m fine.” She hurried to reassure him. But he could see nasty red welts on her chin, and down a little bit of her neck peeking out of her robes.

“Did I… did I do that?”

For a moment, she didn’t get it. Then she waved her head side to side. “Some. The fire wouldn’t stop. It only burned the living and the dead.” She shrugged. “I had to smother it somehow.” Deli then grinned. There was pain in it, but she was trying to push past it.

Frank wasn’t going to be a jerk and undermine her efforts.

“Is that why my ribs hurt? Did you throw yourself at me? Do you know how heavy you are?”

Her smile dimmed for an instant, before she rallied.

Frank cursed his own foolishness for bringing up a painful point.

“Not only that, but I know how heavy you are. Sleeping in the snow? Irresponsible of you Frank.”

He couldn’t help it. He chuckled. It was good she could joke about it, no matter the waver in her voice.

“Well.” He forced himself to sit up. It wasn’t easy, but he managed. “Health, Stamina?”

“Low, better.”

Frank paused. “Better?”

“Better.” Deli said with satisfaction. “I earned a title.” She looked conflicted about it.

It was probably something to do with near death, or survival. He didn’t press. Everyone had bad memories. “At least you got something from the experience?” He tried to joke.

Deli giggled. Looking at him in a way she never had. Like she didn’t know what to make of him.

“I got something alright. I got a man that doesn’t know when to give up.”

That deserved only one answer. “I do know that.” Far too well, but that wasn’t the line. “It’s never.”

***

They packed up and set out on the trail, not long after. While low, the conditions would only get worse. The snow had stopped for the moment, but any day another storm could come. If they were caught in the open, Shades or no Shades, they’d die. Of course, this being the wonderful lands of the The Ilvir mountain range, just because it wasn’t falling, didn’t mean there was no snow. The winds had come back strong after their lunch break, and now carried flurries over the ground. Which was worse, as it erased all trace of passing from the caravan.

Frank had no idea how to track it. Deli wasn’t much better. But she was better. The broken branches helped a lot, but they couldn’t always be relied upon. They lost at least an hour backtracking at one branching of the path, for taking the wrong road, but Deli was confident they’d catch up. In time.

Time they didn’t know if they had. Deli’s stamina hadn’t improved much. What had improved was her recovery. Frank knew the signs and it made sense. A pilgrimage, a boon still developing, a trial? Those were the kinds of things that might count as meeting conditions for something to happen. Improving her Stamina recovery was well within the domain of the God of Endurance.

It meant taking more breaks, but shorter ones. It should also help her recover exhausted Stamina during the night, or a nap. It was a quirk of Stamina. It could be spent, or exhausted. Resting for a few minutes to an hour would usually be enough to recover spent Stamina, depending on the person and their Abilities, Skills. Exhausted Stamina needed bed rest, through sleep was better. That, or concoctions.

Energy drinks had nothing on their counterparts here.

About halfway through the day, they started running into marks on the tress. Cuts on the trunks pointing the way. It made him hopefully they’d reach the town soon.

***

They didn’t.

Still, he figured they’d made good progress that day. It was an odd day. Snow Shades started coming after them, but not until the place where he’d burned the Sticks was long behind them.

Frank kept looking for another Sticks to show up, but their luck held. At least till twilight, when they had to stop anyway. It was a hard decision to make. If the caravan was to take another day, after his departure, then they should be reaching the same town soon. But they saw no smoke on the horizon, and had no way to tell what was around the next bend in the hills.

So they climbed a tree again, and settled in for the night.

***

Frank was woken by an elbow to the side. He stirred to find fingers on his lips, and Deli’s concerned eyes up close. Once she knew he was awake, she softly shuffled aside and whispered: “I think I saw something move.”

Frank was thankful for his Reaction and Will, and tried to keep still. She must have either bad night vision, lower Reaction, or was more affected by that little insistent feeling that was telling him there was nothing to worry about.

Oh, he was worried. The feeling came from thin, almost invisible pale strands, woven around their tree. There were dozens, hundreds of them, just out of easy sight, a massive web everywhere he looked in the surrounding treetops. At least the ground was still clear.

Worse yet, Frank saw some of the weavers. Spiders the shade of dark bark, almost invisible in what moonlight filtered through the clouds, scuttling every which way. Some as small as his pinkie nail, some as big as his palm. A swarm of them, all around them. Skittering unseen, unheard, because if Deli had seen them setting up, she would have woken him earlier.

They were closing in now, slowly weaving webs closer.

“Deli.” He whispered. “Spiders. A swarm.”

She lost what little colour she had. “We’ve no kindling for the smoke.” She whispered back.

“We don’t need kindling.” He reminded her.

She grabbed his hand and squeezed. “You’ll never get them all.”

“I don’t need to. We’ve no reason to fight them.” “How had she put it?”

“Break and Run?” Simple commands, easy to follow.

Deli pursed her lips, but conceded after a moment of thought.

“It would be better if we could sneak the stones into the branches.” She said, her eyes straining to see them.

They shuffled around, careful not to shake the tree much. Frank was watchful, looking for any sign of some sneaking up on them, or reacting.

Once they were ready to drop?

He had a new trick to try. The stones might miss, but he didn’t have to use them anymore.

He called the fire, and this time, he thought of what it would be like, to be stuck, helpless, paralyzed from the poison. To watch as they went after Deli next and be helpless to stop them. And as the swarm in his mind rose up to swallow her, his blood boiled.

Frank felt it strain against his skin and raised his palm, sweeping it around them. A long gout of flame, at least four spellmarks long, if not six, washed over the surrounding treetops, setting light to all of them and the webs.

They leapt off the branch, landing in the soft snow with loud crunches. There was no sound, no screech. The swarm moved in near total silence after them, descending from the burning trees, much of it on fire.

Frank and Deli ran under the falling sparks, Frank unleashing another burst above them to clear their path. Deli had to steady him. Channelling and running at the same time was nearly impossible. He all but tripped over his own feet. But the moment the gout of flame was done, they rushed after it to freedom.

A few spiders got on them, but the instant she was past the now lit up webs, Deli dropped and rolled in the snow, and Frank followed suit. He felt several harder pin-pricks on his arms and back as he did. When he got up, crushed spiders were left in his wake.

“Are you alright?” He asked, once he saw the spiders weren’t chasing them down.

Deli hung her head. “No. I missed them sneaking up on us. I’m a poor watchwoman, to allow it.”

Frank blew out a breath. He wasn’t sure how to help with that. “So what did you do wrong?”

“That is the issue. I’ve no idea.” She squared her shoulders. “How am I to fix it, if I do not know what needs correction?”

Frank had no answer.

“You could see them?” She tried to confirm.

“Yes. Not easily, but yes.”

“Damn. I will have to train much harder if I am to keep up with you.”

“You don’t need to do that.” It did not get the response he was hoping for. “Oh no, she has that look to her.”

“Frank Ebner.” Frank felt a rush at hearing his full name spoken like that. It was the same way his mother would call him when he’d made a mess in the kitchen.

“After these last few days, I have realised I am unable to stop you from looking after me. Or following me. I’ve settled on my vengeance for this slight against my right to choose my own Fate.” She said ominously.

He swallowed at how serious she spoke.

“If I cannot be rid of you, you will not be rid of me.” She announced.

Frank blinked. He blinked again, feeling wrong-footed.

Watching him take it in? Deli started laughing.

***

After relocating, and deciding to wait for the dawn by a fire since their sleep was ruined, he tried to dissuade her. But Deli would not be moved. “It does not matter where you go Frank. I’ve decided how I’m paying you back. You’re stuck with me.”

Frank was a bit put out. He understood it, but he didn’t appreciate suddenly having a follower. Or an annoying, adopted little sister. Depending on which mood struck her. And he was still pulling bits of spider from his robes.

Deli was not at her best herself. Neither of them was. Whatever boost she’d gotten, she still had a small pool of Stamina, for all it recovered faster. She did reassure him the tittle hadn’t taken away her boon, when asked.

“Thirty-seven days Frank. Just thirty-seven more, and I’ll have Body two. Then I can be a proper axemaiden.”

“Wouldn’t it be dagger maiden?” He’d asked, tired of arguing a point on which she wasn’t moving. At all.

“No. I wield a dagger because it is light, and easy on Stamina. But with Body two, axes would be much better. I have Strength three Frank. It is wasted on daggers.”

“But doesn’t Agility four favour them?”

“With Strength two. It helps now. But it would help more with an axe.” She seemed to consider it. Frowning, she admitted:

“If the songs speak true, someone with my Abilities would be more suited to an axed-staff. Better able to keep foe and monster at bay. Using my Agility to manage its balance and gift it speed. But I’ve never tried one. They’re far too heavy for my Stamina. In the songs, they also have Body three to manage it.”

Frank followed her line of thought. “But if your title and the Boon work together…”

“It should work.” She sighed. “It is simply something I have no practice in. I’ve held and swung axes, but axe-blades are another matter.”

“We’ll figure it out.” He reassured her.

It’s only later he realised that it also meant he’d accepted it.

Frank felt conflicted over the whole thing. He didn’t want to be responsible for another, not after the battles he’d seen.

Except this time, he was his own Captain. It was his party.

If he didn’t like the fight, all Frank had to do was not pick it. In that light, it almost seemed manageable. Not that he’d gone out of his way to pick fights with Shades or spiders, but he had a feeling the monsters wouldn’t give him a choice either way.

Give them a choice. “Oh, that’s going to take some getting used to.”

“Are you sure you’re fine taking orders from a man you’ve barely known a few quarters?”

“Certain.” She replied, and Frank could see no hesitation there.

He supposed that was that. As the sun rose, he pulled Pilgrim out and slotted Command back in. Might as well let her get the benefits of being in a party. Though that would take a month, the sooner he started, the faster they’d be back.

Aspects (Limit)

Physical (18)

Mental (18)

Mystical

Agility: 4-2

Body: 3-1

Reaction: 4-1

Strength: 3-1

Instinct: 3 (4/40)

Logic: 5-1

Presence: 4-1

Will: 5

Destiny: 10 (10)

Fortune: 1 (10)

Magic: 0+1 (8)

Soul: (4-1) 2

Gift of Life

Health = 42

Recovery – 3/day

Gift of Heart

Mana = 8

Recovery – 15/day

Gift of Self

Guiding Light

Warm Smoke

Skills (+Applied,-Inactive, Unable,)

Traits, +Skills

Agility = 2

-Basketball 2

+Smooth 2

-Reflex 2

-Deflect 3

-Riding 1

+Carving 2 (8/30)

Instinct = 3

-Empathy 1 (0/20)

-Reflexes 2

+Bargaining 1 (9/20)

-Survival 1 (4/20)

+Channel 2

+Frostfire 1

Destiny = 10

Summoned Hero (Divine Blessing) (143/352 days) – Destiny 4

Scorched (Creational Curse) – Destiny 3 (94%)

Outsider (Invited Invader) – Destiny 2

Foolish beyond Reason (Achievement) (143/352 days) – Destiny 1

Body = 2

-Conditioning 1

+Soldier 1 (0/20)

+Pain Management 1 (11)/20)

Logic = 4

-Ecology 4

+Biology (5) 4

+Science 2 (0/30)

-Mathematics 4

-Tactics 4 (0/50)

-Strategy 2

+Runes (Red Sun) 3

+Runes (Eversnow) 1

Fortune = 1

Reaction = 3

+Awareness 3

+Search 3

+Ignore 2

-Riposte 2

Presence = 3

+Extrovert 2

+Public relations 2

+Command 3 (30d)

-Pilgrim 1 (4/20)

Magic = 1

Banked Еmbers I (Scorched)

Strength = 2

+Lift 2

Spearman (Red Sun) 2 (0/30)

+Medium Armour 2 (0/30)

Will = 5

+Temptation 4 (3/50)

+Resistance 4

+Principle 1

+Persistence 4

Soul = 2

The Wonder of Magic II

+Pale Gate Greeting I

The extra Skill tier in Channel was a surprise. at least until he remembered an old lesson, from near the start of the academy.

“When cultivating a new Skill, it is best to take it into battle or an appropriate trial once it nears a threshold. Such can push it over the line, and save quarters, or even months of fruitless practice. The other case is in linked Skills, where the advancement or first use of one, may shed new light and progress another. If the Skills are sufficiently intertwined, they may integrate, creating a superior Skill.”

A less pleasant one was the Curse. If he had to guess, he’d spent six Health on Frostfire, and it had been a terrible experience. But that was battle, and trying to force it.

Maybe it would be better if next time, he limited himself to one?

The only thing helping his mood was that the Curse was weakening. So it wasn’t all for nothing. Looked at in that light, while the fire was bad, it wasn’t “spend months in hellish training” bad. More like a week of it, condensed into a few minutes.

Maybe he was just trying to make himself feel better about the whole thing, but looking at it like that did help come to terms with it, at least somewhat.

***

A few hours after they set out in the morning, they started running into a thicker layer of Snow Shades. They hurried, for by now, Frank knew what it meant.

He hadn’t expected to run into her first, but following the noise, they found a patrol. Deadbeat’s patrol.

The whole party looked at them in surprise, before grinning. The loudmouth of the lot started it. “Well, look what the snows spat out! Check my forehead boss, I think I might be running a fever, because I could have sworn we’d be seeing those to back only as ghosts, yet here they stand, as living and breathing as you or I!”

Deadbeat punched him to shut up and walked over with steady strides. Frank couldn’t read her.

“How close was it?” She asked bluntly.

Frank considered both their Health together barely breached two digits. “Close.”

“But you made it.” She said firmly. “And the difference between a trial and death in ignominy…”

“Is survival.” Deli said, squaring up like she was bracing for something.

Deadbeat slapped her, hard enough to nearly down her. Before Frank could step in, Deadbeat pulled Deli back up and hugged her.

“Well done. Both of you.” she said earnestly. Deadbeat then grabbed both their hands and raised them up to cheers from her party.

***

That was the thing about them, Frank realised as they were greeted by happy voices in town; guards, pilgrims, merchants.

They had their issues. Problems and disagreements. But from the start, it wasn’t about them not wanting her to survive, or thinking her unworthy of life. It was about them judging she wouldn’t, with the choices she had made. That him going after her alone was a death sentence as well, and trying to save what they could salvage without trampling all over her, their choices.

Deadbeat’s fists? They were a trial put before him to prove it was no whim, no weakness of the moment. That he was committed. As Deli had proven in refusing a place among the firekeepers, in tying herself to the cart to keep up.

They wouldn’t risk their lives on what they saw as a doomed endeavour, saving someone who did not wish to be saved. But if another did? Overcame the odds and beat the doom they foresaw, If someone proved them wrong?

They’d celebrate it.

That was the difference between the Confederation and the Empire. In the Empire, he’d be blamed for showing someone up and losing others money on bets made against him.

Here?

Everyone wanted to shake his and her hands and hear about their adventure. It wasn’t one for the ages or the Bards. But in the fight against the Winter Winds and the dead, every survivor was an ally.

Even if they disagreed on the means and lengths one should go to, to help another.