“I’ve been up in these lands several times.” Rolf said, for perhaps the eighth time. For Ezmeralda, he was less insufferable than Axel, but his reaction to the previous nights events was still difficult. He was in a state of disbelief and shock that she couldn’t stand. So many people acted that way about her magic back home. What was so hard to believe about it?

Her annoyed mood was not helped by Axel wrapping her head in a bandage. She had been struck in the head by one of the ice golems that had gotten too close, and had been bleeding till he started bandaging the wound. As much as it was good, and helpful, it also hurt.

“Well, you’ve just not been up here enough.” Ezmeralda said. “These were probably just some of the wizard’s creatures, something that they created to guard them.”

It was a lie. The creatures had come for her, because they had sensed that she was unnatural, and did not belong. Axel and Rolf had supposed that the spring coming was natural - but it wasn't. It had come because of her arrival in the north. The winter had not been done though, and it was angry that it had been unnaturally shortened.

Axel nodded and gave an affirmative grunt. “Alright, that means we’d be getting close to them, wouldn’t we?”

Ezmeralda shrugged. “Hopefully, if they are near where I was told to find them. If this means they’ve detected our arrival though, they may have left. If they did that, we’d never catch them.”

“Home come? Are they a fast runner?” Rolf asked, and Ezmeralda felt her heart jump. Why did he have to ask that question? She thought of an excuse as fast as she could.

“Uh, they have magical abilities that allow them, to, um, move from place to place quickly.”

Axel gave her a puzzled look which made her nervous. “That is, very interesting Ezmeralda. You said this wizard was not too powerful, and that the three of us could deal with them. Are you sure we should not call for reinforcements?”

And he said it, just like she expected he would. Was there no way out of this? Would these two keep following her till the ends of the earth? Well, having Rolf do that didn’t sound so bad, but Axel? Axel would be a problem.

“No, there shouldn’t be a need for that. Besides, when I visited Ursus and asked for help about it, they didn’t believe me. They told me to get out, and that I was a filthy Aerician, Veyorn, and a whore of a mage.” she said. The truth was the story had only been half made up. She had been called those things in the city of Ursus, but this only happened once she had mentioned being a mage and being Veyorn. She hadn’t known it was so shunned, and quickly learned her lesson. The lie was that she had never mentioned her foe.

“If I appealed to the Silver Knights then…but, no, that would take too long. A journey to Verum takes at least three months. I would not want creatures like these ravaging Northrive while I or Rolf are away. And you were the one who destroyed the majority of them among us, so sending you would also be out of the question.” Axel said, and sighed. “It looks like we must press on. Rolf, how many days travel are we now from the Door?”

“About three days.” he replied.

“How fast can we get there if we are moving as fast as possible?” Axel asked.

Rolf shrugged. “Two, not counting traveling tonight. I can guide us by starlight, and if we walk slowly we’ll get to the edge. But climbing the mountain side will take a day whether we like it or not, even on the route you can walk most of the way. We’ll have to rest at a good campsite I know that is halfway up.”

“Do you think that is where we may find our evil wizard?” Axel asked, and Rolf shook his head.

“No. If there is anyone living up there then they are living inside the Door itself. Living on the side of the mountain, even at a place like I know, would be impossible.”

“And it would be possible for someone to live inside that cave? Aren’t caves very dirty and damp, devoid of live? How would they get light?”

“Its a massive cave Axel. Who knows where it leads or whats inside. The entrance alone is as big as Northrive.” Rolf explained. “You’d be sheltered from weather and still have room to spare. There are the ruins to an entire civilization inside. You could live in there easily.”

“Well then it will be quite the sight to see!” Axel replied. “Ezmeralda, do you think you can continue walking through the night, despite how much magic you used?”

“Of course.” she replied. She almost scoffed at the paladin, but held her disdain in reserve. He didn’t know any better, she reminded herself. To this man she was nothing more than a weak sixteen year old girl. “I can go on. But we had best hurry.”

“Very well.” Axel replied. He gave a last tightening tug to Ezmeralda bandage, causing her to feel a tinge of pain run across her head, before he issued another of his I’m-in-charge commands. “Take the most meager supplies we’ll need, and let’s get moving.”

What moving meant, to Ezmeralda’s chagrin, was pushing through the cold dead of night at a shuffling pace. If they moved any faster they would trip and fall, and if she created a magelight for them to see by, Rolf would tell her to stop because it ‘kept his eyes from seeing the stars’. They were both insufferable, Ezmeralda decided.

However her opinion did not stop them from continuing their trek, onwards and onwards. Ezmeralda’s feet hurt, and she complained profusely about them, both because they hurt and because she hoped they would slow down and stop, which would give her time to think of some other way to get Axel and Rolf to leave or get away from them. Neither of these opportunities was granted however. Morning broke, and then midday came. Their objective was brought into sight that afternoon, and

It was a massive mountain, and on the side of it was a caldera-like bowl. The mountain itself showed no signs of volcanic activity, but if one looked closely they could see the top of a dark cave in the side of the caldera. Rolf explained that the cave extended from the middle of the caldera all the way to the side of the mountain. Some say it was where a star had crashed to earth centuries before. Others claimed it was where the mountain had erupted from its side.

Few had actually seen the place though due to how far north it was. Even now, as they neared the middle of spring, the side of the mountain leading up to the caldera was covered in snow. The air was thin here, and Ezmeralda felt her lungs tire as they continued towards the mountain.

When they reached the side, Rolf began leading them up a less steep portion. By now the sun was getting low on the horizon, and Axel was getting nervous. They could not spend the night on the side of the mountain like this, with the wind howling upon them, and both he and Rolf were exhausted. Roilf assured him that they would soon reach a tiny cave, a campsite, where they could huddle up against the cold with a blanket and be safe for the night.

Ezmeralda, for her part, acted exhausted. She acted likes she was cold. To a certain extent, she was cold and she was exhausted, but she didn’t have to worry about those things killing her. She was different than Axel of Rolf. Cold and exhaustion were just things that made her uncomfortable, that was all. So she could shove them out of her mind and trudge onwards.

As they made their way further up the mountain, this gave her an idea. If Rolf and Axel were too exhausted to keep up, she could just outpace them to the summit, and that way they would be safe while she had her battle.

It seemed brilliant till she realized that Rolf and Axel being exhausted on the side of a mountain would probably mean their doom. So that was another plan she had to scrap.

The snow shook and slipped under one of her feet, and she cursed as she steadied herself with her hands. The ground was steep and rocky here, and Rolf was leading them up a narrow path towards the top. That was another thing, she though. How would she get up to the top without Rolf to guide her? The path was treacherous, and was worse for the tiny shakes it was making.

The fact that the ground was making tiny shakes registered in her mind a little late, as she heard Rolf shouting from up ahead.

“Get down and grab on to something!” he screamed, looking down the mountain from his position in the lead. Ezmeralda then looked past him, and saw a terrible sight. A great rush of snow was crashing down the side of the mountain. It was enormous. The avalanche looked like a fog rolling towards them, and the ground shook as it came closer and closer.

Axel and Rolf huddled close to the side of the mountain. Ezmeralda rushed forward. This was it, she had to stop this. She was the only one that could stop this. The roar of the avalanche intensified as it got closer, but Ezmeralda knew she could hear another roar behind the roar of the snow. This was not a natural avalanche.

She slipped and fell in the snow twice before she got beyond Rolf, who continued to shout at her to get down. As she rushed passed him, she took up a stance in the snow, and readied herself. She concentrated on calling up a power she loathed to use. She had to be careful. Even now, if she used this in the wrong way, didn’t control it, or timed it wrong, Axel or Rolf would be hurt or die.

She breathed it, and outstretched her hand towards the coming snow. It was very close now, only a few seconds remained and it would hurt her.

At that moment she felt a hand tug on one of her arms. It was Rolf.

“Get behind me!” he shouted. “So the snow doesn't bury you, and you'll have a chance!”

“Get away!” she shouted back, and shoved him away from her. He fell down, and tumbled a few yards away from her before he caught himself. His expression was shocked and confused, he had struck his head on the ground as he fell, and blood started to run down the side of his head. She regretted the action, but couldn’t do anything else.

“I’m sorry!” she said, and then turned back to the avalanche. It was too late to concentrate now. It was too late to be controlled. So without thinking about it further, she unleashed everything she had within her. She poured out from within herself the very power the sun had blessed her with years ago, a blessing which had been a payment for taking away everything that Ezmeralda had loved.

A flame sputtered to life in her outstretched hands, and then exploded outwards with terrible force. Rays of intense light accompanied this brilliant conflagration, and a wave of fire even larger than the avalanche crashed into the falling ice and snow.