Soldiers tried getting rid of the ice in all kinds of ways, with no tangible results. They achieved nothing, besides damaging their tools and weapons.

“All right, we are wasting our time here. Let me try something.”

Peratha said as she started chanting a new set of incantations.

“Are you sure you can cast another spell while maintaining this one?” Hazelmere asked, worry in her voice, “If your current spell fails, we will all freeze to death!”

Peratha paid no attention to her words, concentrating on the incantation. Eventually, she opened her eyes, extending her left hand in front of her and pointing it at the icy ground.

“Everyone, step aside!”

As soon as other mages heard that, they moved behind Peratha, including Hazelmere and Mizette who supported her spells with their mana. Seeing the mages move aside so quickly, the soldiers did the same.

A continuous jet of fire shot out from Peratha’s hand, hitting the ground below. It persisted for some time before disappearing suddenly.

Peratha turned her face towards Hazelmere, a satisfied, self-important smile on her face: “Who do you think you are talking to? I am perfectly capable of casting several spells at the same time.”

“There is always a risk,” Hazelmere instinctively tucked her head in, “and you couldn’t walk last time you were casting this warming spell over us. A soldier had to carry you.”

Peratha’s smile broadened before she turned her face away to look at her work: “I was exhausted back then, and my mana was drained completely. Still, this didn’t help,” she poked the ice with her staff, “that did melt a little bit of ice on the surface, but we won’t get far like that. We will run out of mana long before we reach the hill, let alone the plateau.”

“I had no idea ice can be this tough,” Mizette said, “the ice I know melts as soon as you hit it with some heat.”

“This ice is pure, no doubt about that,” Peratha stated with a solemn look on her face, “this isn’t your regular, magical ice. This ice is created in legendary frost. It is the purest form of ice you can imagine.”

“You are forgetting one more thing,” Cybil joined them in the discussion, “it is not just the frost, the water isn’t regular either. Have you already forgotten what has happened back in the camp?”

She gave them some time to think about it.

“Yesis?” Peratha raised her brow questioningly, making Cybil nod her head in confirmation.

“This ice isn’t made from the regular water either. It is the water created by Yesis himself. It certainly makes the ice much more durable than it is supposed to be. The legendary frost combined with the water of Yesis’s storm … there is no way we can make our way through it!”

“Nail it,” Peratha’s said in a low, defeated voice, “then what are we supposed to do? Go back?”

“I don’t see how we can move forward.”

“You mages are too quick to give up,” Heartwell teased them, “there is a way to move across it.”

---

A very strange procession moved across the ice. It moved slowly and clumsily, but it did move, and that was all that mattered.

Soldiers set on top of their shields, which they dragged across the ice. They used their weapons, mainly their spears’ butt ends, to push the shields forward on the smooth ice, like a fisher would paddle his boat across the water. Those soldiers who didn’t carry any shields set on top of the other soldier’s shoulders, the spears they used to drag the shields turning out to be very useful in maintaining their balance. The same applied to the mages, who used their staffs instead of spears.

“Never before have I ever been so desperate for a wind mage before,” Hazelmere complained as she sat on top of Vukasin.

“Now that would be useful,” Peratha agreed, “we would slide across this damn ice in a few moments.”

That drew out a grunt of protest from Kortan, who carried Peratha on his shoulders.

“What are you complaining about? It’s not like you’re the one who has to suffer,” He grumbled.

“Oh, shut up, we both know you like this! We all saw your reaction back in the shelter.”

Kortan kept quiet as his cheeks flushed.

“Just shut up, paddle, and enjoy the sensation of having a noble lady sit on top of your head. You would think that would be a peasant’s dream come true, but nooo, you have to complain!”

“Heartwell, I don’t usually protest against your orders, but are you sure that putting this hussy on top of me is a good idea? I could lose my balance at any time and send her flying. We certainly don’t want that to happen.”

“You have the broadest shoulders of us all, which makes you the most stable mount. And, since our lives depend on her maintaining the spell, she gets the privilege of sitting her noble ass in the safest seat.”

“Bear with it just a little bit more Kortan, we’re almost there,” Vukasin tried to calm his friend.

With an annoyed grunt, Kortan barred his teeth and continued paddling forward.

But, as soon as they got near the summit, the fatal flaw in Heartwell’s plan revealed itself. The lead shield, which had two soldiers on top of it, started sliding back. The soldiers paddled vigorously with their weapons, but it was futile. Slowly but surely, they slid back towards the rest of the group.

“What is going on?” Hazelmere asked, sounding a little bit panicked.

Peratha realized what’s causing the problem immediately: “The ice is making it impossible to move uphill! We can’t slide uphill on a slick surface.”

The others tried moving forward, with no success. No progress was made, regardless of how hard the soldiers paddled.

“Any more bright ideas?” Hazelmere asked, irritation clear in her voice.

“Maybe it’s time for you mages to be of some use?” Heartwell spat back.

“Excuse me, but I think you’re forgetting one teeny-tiny triviality! We’re only alive because we’re inside the spell!” Peratha didn’t bother holding back.

Heartwell’s face was full of disdain, but he didn’t respond immediately.

He did respond after a few moments of awkward silence: “Perhaps some other mages could also be of use? Maybe fire isn’t the only element we can use against the ice?”

“I don’t think so,” Cybil shook her head, “the rest of us didn’t specialize in elemental magic. Our magic is completely useless here.”

“Magic isn’t used just for fighting,” Hazelmere sounded quite defensive.

“If we had some hook with a chain attached to it …” Vukasin thought out loud.

“It wouldn’t stick to the ice, it is too thick,” but Peratha shot down his idea immediately.

Some time passed with everyone keeping quiet. Half of the group was lost in thought, while the other half was simply just lost.

Peratha finally broke the silence: “Oaf, put me down.”

Kortan didn’t respond.

“Put me down, you oaf!”

Still, no response.

“We don’t have the time for your damaged ego! My magic is draining rapidly! The other mages can’t lend me their mana as long as I’m on your shoulders so, if we don’t do something, we’ll all freeze to death!”

“You could be a bit nicer to him, though,” Mizette’s said in a reprimanding voice, “you had your payback several times already. Don’t you think you should cut him some slack? At least you could call him by his name.”

Peratha rolled her eyes as she let out a small sigh.

“What is your name, oaf?”

“That’s not how you do it!” Mizette protested.

“Kortan, can you put the hussy mage down? We don’t have time for this.”

Hearing Heartwell’s orders, Kortan obliged. And, as soon as Peratha has stepped outside the shield Kortan was sitting on, she came crashing down in a heap.

“Watch your step, hussy mage. Our lives are dependent on your spell,” Heartwell smiled with great joy.

“Shut up! I want all the other mages to come to me! I’ll need your mana! And you, peasants, get on your feet and follow closely behind!”

Nobody liked her tone or her words, but nobody protested either. Even though the soldiers were peasants, they weren’t as stupid as some people might think. Just because they didn’t get any education, that didn’t mean they couldn’t judge a situation properly.

And besides, even if she sounded petty and arrogant, she didn’t say anything that wasn’t true.

“I want all of you to lend me your mana!” Peratha ordered the mages as soon as they’ve gathered around her.

The four mages put their hands on her. As soon as Peratha felt their mana coursing through her body, a fire jet flew out of her hand. Although it had the same size as the one before, this one was much more intense. Its force made the mages’ hair fly up into the air.

She concentrated the jet in one place, and it wasn’t long before the ice started melting. As soon as she noticed the ice was replaced with the scorched ground, she started moving forward while maintaining the spell. Slowly but surely, she was creating a path of scorched earth through the icy ground.

But, maintaining such a powerful spell put a lot of strain on both her and the mages supporting her. It wasn’t long before Hazelmere had to stop for a moment.

“I can’t… I need to use the crystal …” she said with a heavy breath as she took a crystal from the bag she carried on her hip.

“Oh, you already have to use the Crystal?” Cybil gloated, with a shit-eating grin on her face.

“Nail yourself! I was supporting her all along!”

Cybil just deepened her grin, saying nothing more.

The supporting mages took turns recharging their mana via crystals, even Cybil had to do it at one point. Meanwhile, Peratha didn’t lower the spell’s intensity, not even for a moment. She continued clearing the path uphill while maintaining the existing heating spell that still surrounded all of them.

After way too much effort, they eventually did reach the summit. All the mages leaned on their staffs for support, completely exhausted. Mizette tried sitting on the cleared ground, but the heat made her jump back in an instant.

“Is that it … do we need to clear more?” Hazelmere asked between her ragged breath.

“I … I think that’s what we’re looking for,” Peratha pointed in front of them.

When people hear a word portal, they usually imagine some glowing ring, some noticeable, obvious gateway into the other world.

But, as always, the reality is far less impressive.

There was no glow. In fact, the portal didn’t even have any outline at all! The only reason why they’ve realized they were anywhere near the portal was that they knew that big, tall trees don’t grow on Treadmondo’s plateau. And those trees stuck out like a sore thumb in the landscape. It also helped that the portal wasn’t tall enough to show the top of the trees. So, they looked at the rows of giant trees whose top halves were missing, standing tall in the middle of the ice-covered plateau.

If the sight on the other side looked anywhere close to their surroundings, they wouldn’t even notice the portal.

But that wasn’t the only odd thing.

“Am I the only one, or does someone else has an uneasy feeling about this?” Mizette asked.

“It is an aura,” Peratha stated.

“You think?”

“I am absolutely certain of it. The aura of dread is emanating from the portal itself.”

“That’s a relief,” Vukasin said, “I started wondering if I became a coward all of a sudden.”

“Let’s do this quickly then! I don’t want to stay here for one more moment,” Hazelmere appeared to be in the biggest rush,” Let’s find the proper place for our magescope and get out of here!”

“Just throw the damn thing towards the portal!” Peratha’s voice was devoid of patience, “It will be fine, wherever it lands!”

“Won’t it break if you throw it?” Vukasin asked, looking more than concerned.

“No, it won’t!” Peratha’s answer was quick and sharp.

Hazelmere opened the bag once more, pulling the magescope out of it.

“That looks like a medium-sized, regular stone,” Vukasin noticed.

“Because it is.”

Noticing the confusion on Vukasin’s face, Hazelmere gave a brief explanation.

“All objects can be enchanted with magic. Not with all kinds of magic, but some magic can be cast on any object. Magescope is like that. Magescope is the spell, not the object, and you can enchant it to any object you want. Sometimes, people enchant fancy stuff with it to show off but, in our case, a simple stone will do.”

“So … throwing that stone won’t damage the magescope?”

“No, it won’t.”

“But … if that’s the case, then why couldn’t we just throw it up at the summit? Is there a reason why you had to clear the path all the way to the top? You could’ve cleared just enough of the path to get us within the throwing distance. You didn’t have to go through all this trouble.”

That made all the mages exchange glances of regret.

However, they didn’t have to wallow in pity for long because Moana’s extended hand, coupled with her frightened expression, got everyone’s attention:

“Umm … what is … that thing?”