Eternal Beasts

Chapter 26: Destiny's Impetus

It didn't take much griffon magic for Jared to weave a sphere of golden light large and bright enough for Gereth to see several meters in front of him despite the driving snow and sleet. Binding it to Gereth so the wind wouldn't affect it, Jared then instructed them to bundle up in whatever extra clothing they had as protection against the biting cold and slicing sleet.

A quick look at Nikeera, already shivering in the rapidly dropping temperatures, the big man grimaced. Then he was pulling over her his rider's cloak.

"Here," he said in a no-nonsense voice, wrapping it around her and pulling up the hood.

"No, my love, you need ..." Nikeera began before her eyes flew wide. "Maker bless me ... it's so warm!"

"Protective rider magic," Jared said, holding up a hand. "And before you start telling me I need it more than you, I have my coat, remember?" He then flipped up the coat's hood and pulled the protective mask it had over his face.

That done, he looked over at Wren. Who was also quick to hold up a forestalling hand.

"No need, Lord Jared," she said. "My faith will keep me warm." She then said a soft word of command and her armor began to glow with the golden light they now associated with her clerical abilities at work.

"Along with a little protective magic!"

Jared chuckled.

"Fair enough." He then looked at Gereth, who had wrapped clothes around his hands and face, leaving only his eyes uncovered. "Whenever you're ready there, my friend."

Nodding, the muuler turned and plunged out into the seething storm. Jared then sent Nikeera behind him and Wren behind her before he followed up in the rear.

Going at first was slow as Gereth carefully worked them out of the crevice and back to the path. Then, as he grew more confident with the globe of light and his knowledge of the path, they began to move faster and faster. Still, they crawled in comparison to the pace Gereth had set when the weather was good. Not that Jared could tell; walled in on both sides as well as front and back by storm-driven snow, he couldn't even tell if they were moving.

But Gereth, his eyes trained by long years of life in the dim tunnels of Muul kerKerath, easily found the landmarks that guided him along the trail by the light of Jared's summoned ball of light. Deftly using them, he steadily worked them forward. Still, even he was surprised when he recognized the signs that they had managed to cross the remaining distance and into the mouth of the Nar Shava Pass.

Quickly he called the other three together for a quick break. Huddled against the driving wind and snow, the four of them munched on half frozen travel bread and drank icy water, Gereth trying to slap warmth back into his frozen limbs. Thanks to the griffon magic, both Jared and Nikeera were still fairly warm and comfortable despite the conditions. And Wren, even though her eyelashes were miniature icicles on her faces from the wind wiping into the visor of her helmet, still moved easily with the golden light around her armor keeping her warm.

"This storm is no joke!" Jared grimly noted as he carefully slipped his rider's gloves onto Nikeera's shaking hands to warm them up, her own gloves no match for the mountain storm.

"No, it is not," Gereth agreed, his eyes almost iced closed from being at the front. "At least we've reached the mouth of the pass." He reached up to rub the ice out of his eyes.

"From this point on, you must step where I step. One wrongly placed foot and the next thing you hit will be the bottom of the valley, a good six hundred meters straight down."

"I don't have a problem with that," Jared indicated.

"Me neither," Nikeera quickly added, Wren nodding in agreement beside her.