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"How are you feeling?" Theo lingered back from Mina and Heath who were a couple steps ahead of me, matching my pace.

We had yet to embark on the entrance of the path, the severity of our choice still hanging heavily around us. Theo was the only one brave enough to break the silence. Meanwhile, I was holding my breath with each step.

The left path was visible from where we were, the transition of gravel to dirt signifying the beginning of the final leg of our journey. Snow covered the top of the mountain, but it was not cold enough – even though my body felt otherwise – for the snow to trickle down to the base. For that, I was thankful. Even though I had trained with Heath for a couple days, I knew my body was no match for what lay ahead.

"Cold," was all I could mutter out, my hands pressed firmly into my coat pockets.

"Sage," he said lightly, his steps becoming smaller than mine.

"Yeah?" I looked down as I walked.

"You don't have to do this if you don't want to," he stopped completely, but I paid him no attention as I trekked on. He lightened his voice, "Sage."

"I want to do this," I uttered, and I was telling the truth. We were so close to finding out what happened to Ma. I was also so close to being in the presence of a witch; I would have to accept this as my fate. It was the only chance I had left, and, as a result, I had no choice but to continue forwards. The weight of the Borderlands was on my shoulder. The weight of Pa's future was on me.

Heath turned around, walking backward with ease. "You are not about to convince her to head back now. We're too far along for that."

Mina smacked Heath on his arm as we came up to the start of the path. We all stopped right before the path began, and then, wordless, we took the first step over the threshold of the path together.

"There's no going back now," Heath whispered out, just barely loud enough for me to hear.

As we started following the dirt pathway, Theo still walked by my side. For a while, we all walked in silence, not knowing what to say to one another. The path, so far, had been an easy feat. The elevation was still low and un-treacherous, but the path started to twist and turn further up the mountain, the air becoming hard to breathe in. Trees started to pop up and thicken as we marched on, my small statue preventing me from having to duck when a dangling branch hung in the way.

"Have you heard anything from Flynn?" I asked Theo, trying my best to keep the form Heath taught me during our training, lengthening my strides. My limbs still ached from all the training Heath subjected me to, but it was manageable. At least, it was manageable for now.

Stay positive, I told myself, knowing my pessimism peaks out when I am anxious, a static fuzz bubbling in my chest.

"I haven't been able to mind link since we arrived at Mystaria," Theo reported. I gulped, knowing that would mean all their senses were dulled. Theo, Mina, and Heath were not able to sniff out the right path earlier, and Theo could not mind link. It was not a comforting sign. What was comforting, however, was the fact their stamina did not seem to be affected.

"This is going to be a long hike," Heath moaned out, looking up at the sky. "I can't shift."

"Shit," Mina grumbled, her body tensing up as if she was trying to shift herself.

"As I said, Vanessa must be putting some sort of block up," Theo remarked, picking up his pace. "We'll have to rely on our human abilities for the time being."

"What a nightmare," Heath complained, leaning his head back. "No offense to you, Sage. It's nothing personal."

I managed a frail smile, even though I knew Heath could not see it. I understood where he was coming from, but even with their weakened state, I knew they were still leaps and bounds stronger than me. They all had muscle packed onto their arms and thighs that would take months to form. They were used to running long distances and navigating rough terrain. All while I got all huffy and puffy walking to and from the market back in the Borderlands.

The day began to wear on, and the temperature in the air dropped to a bone-chilling frost. Heath complained about not being able to shift into his fur coat, regretting wearing shorts instead of pants. The sun was beginning to set, reducing visibility. Once the sun was replaced with a shining sliver of a moon, Theo declared that we should camp out for the night, wanting to preserve some energy for the snow-covered path ahead.

To find a place suitable for shelter, we had to veer off the path – only slightly. Mina spotted a shallow cave, and we all made our way over to it without complaint. Heath quickly gave himself the assignment of finding any stray branches to start a warm fire.

Snow started to barely coat the trail, and I knew the worst of it would be ahead of us. While we waited for Heath, Theo handed me a granola bar. Hastily, I finished it in a couple bites, my stomach still rumbling afterward. We would need to preserve the rest of our food for later, uncertain of how treacherous the path would get, uncertain of how long we'd be on this mountain.

Once Heath came back, he piled up all the wood he found and pulled out a lighter from his bag. It did not take long for the fire to illuminate the cave, and, for the first time since we had been on the path, I was no longer cold. Before long, I passed out like a light only to be woken up the next morning by a low rustling noise.

Turning over in my sleep, I assumed the noise had just been Hearth causing some sort of low commotion, but when Mina shrieked, my body shot out of its slumber.

"What is that... thing?" Mina cowered away from a small figure that was hunched over, its long, slender fingers rummaging through a backpack.

"Give that back," Heath growled, lunging for the unknown figure, but it just snickered at him, clutching the backpack and running away with it. Both Theo and Heath went to track down the creature, but, without their heightened senses, they came back empty-handed, leaving us with one-third of our supplies.

"Well, we're fucked," Heath kicked the side of the cave, wincing at the impact. He hobbled over to the ashes of the fire that once had roared last night. "At least, we're all fucked together."

"Heath is the first one we sacrifice if it comes down to it," Mina gave Heath the side-eye.

"Agreed," Theo commented as he slung his backpack over his shoulder.

Heath was all up in arms about the unknown creature that paid us a visit. In the dull visibility of the cave, I was not able to see what the creature was, but Heath swore it was a mutant rat with a human head attached. Somehow, I did not take his word for it.

With low morale, we all headed back to the path, our footsteps from last night still prominent in the snow, unlike the creatures. The creature's footsteps were non-existent. I tried not to question it, but I could not shake the feeling of wanting to be at the top of the mountain already.

As we resumed our spots on the path, the snow started to get thicker and thicker. Soon, my feet were completely drenched from the snow seeping through my shoes and socks. Half of my jeans were wet as well, and it took great effort to raise each foot out of the snow that now came up to my waist.

A couple times I had to hunch over, trying my best to not have my face touch the snow, and take several deep breaths in. Not that it helped, as my body was not too fond of the ever-changing elevation. I had to use all the force left in me to stop moaning out, my body shaking violently.

I stopped yet again, but I didn't have enough bandwidth to continue marching on. My lips had frozen shut, and I could not yell out to Theo, Mina, or Heath that I had been frozen in place. I attempted to shuffle my feet, but it was no use.

"Come here," Theo's voice was warm on my face. "Do you think you can hold on to my neck?"

I nodded my head as a response, and Theo handed his backpack over to Heath before hoisting me on his back. My hands latched together around his neck, not tight enough to choke him.

Once my body had defrosted a bit from the contact, I muttered, "thanks."

That was how I spent the rest of the day, latched onto Theo's back as he trudged on through the snow. Despite carrying over an extra one hundred pounds, Theo's pace did not begin to slow down until night again began to fall upon us. Soon, this became our routine. I would walk as much as I could during the start of our journey, but then when my body would shake and give way, either Theo or Heath would carry me on their back.

After a couple days of this, our food supply was running low, but, with each step we took, we were getting closer to reaching Vanessa.

"One more night," Theo stated as he helped remove me from his back, my fingers turning to ice.

"One more night?" I questioned, teeth chattering.

"I predict we have one more night before we reach the cabin," Theo looked ahead, squinting. "The top of the mountain is not much further. We also coincidentally only have one more night of food."

"Let's hope we picked the right path," I said, my voice almost getting drowned out by the rattling wind.

"We picked the left one," Heath stared at me.

"I picked the left one," Mina butted in, scowling at Heath as she did not want Heath to get the credit for choosing the path we took. I did not blame her for feeling that way.

Heath turned to Mina. "Yes, so that means our life is in your hands, Mina."

Theo whacked Heath's head. "We all chose this path together."

Mina followed Theo's actions, and she too hit Heath atop the head. "I also work in medicine, so someone's life is always in my hands."

"She has pretty capable hands, if I do say so myself," I squinted my eyes at Heath while his own eyes bulged out like a bug.

"Thank you," Mina nodded at me. "If we run out of food, Heath is the first one we eat."

"Hey! You can't eat me first and sacrifice me first. That's not fair," Heath whined.

"You should have learned by now that life is not fair," Mina walked away from Heath.

With the snow now almost to my chest, we had to take cover in the trees. Trees, however, were starting to become hard to find, with no suitable place for them to grow at these altitudes. Luckily, each night, we managed to find at least two trees, which could house us all – maybe not comfortably but comfort was a low priority at the moment.

Mina blew some heat into her hands before scaling up a twiggy-looking tree. Theo helped me climb up a thicker tree, allowing me to use his shoulders as a step stool. Meanwhile, Heath wandered around before he decided to swallow his pride and climb the same tree Mina was in.

Once I reached some steady branches, I stopped climbing up the tree. Theo soon followed behind me, eloping me in a warm hug. Instinctively, I snuggled closer to his body, savoring his body heat.

How could someone who hadn't showered in days smell so good? I thought to myself, inhaling Theo's natural scent.

Theo rationed out the last of the food, chucking a granola bar over to Mina and Heath while I munched on half a granola bar Theo had handed me. I tried to savor these last few bites, but my stomach was gurgling so loud, I couldn't help but consume the food fast.

Lightly, Theo stroked the top of my head before he rubbed his hands over my coat-covered arms to provide me with more heat.

"One more night, I promise," Theo whispered in my ear, pulling me close.

One more night. I hoped he was right. I did not think I could handle much more; I was sure my body would give in, freezing me to the side of the mountain as a permanent fixture.