God of Discovery [high fantasy, slow build, mlm]

Northern lands, part 4

The party moved as one, with purpose, to find a new spot for their camp. Nocipel was against camping anywhere near the red snow and so they had found a clearer patch further east and mapped out a much bigger spread for their shelters than those on the ice.

Borianna, the mortal woman that the others looked up to, took up leading the construction of snow houses. They were short and squat, barely tall enough for D'Argen to stand upright in, but they were surprisingly warm. And it took only one day to build a handful of them, even if they were small enough for a maximum of four people.

Once Haur had made their announcement, ten of the mortals agreed to go back. Unfortunately, one of the Never Born had to go with them. In the end, it was decided for Nocipel to return to the ship and then help guide it back through the large northern ocean to try and reach the new land. The choice fell to his ability to control the waters and the fact that he had not wanted to get closer to the pillar from the beginning.

The day before they were due to leave, Nocipel and Haur were pouring over multiple documents and doing calculations, sending D'Argen out on short runs to map out their progress. In the end, they calculated at least two months before Nocipel returned to them. Another three mortals volunteered to return to the ship when they heard this.

"Go to Olde," Haur was saying as his final goodbye. "There is no point in going back to the White Cliffs. I know the trek to Salem may be uncomfortable, but it will still be faster than going back to Evadia."

"I know," Nocipel agreed.

"And watch yourselves on the ice. It is bound to be even thinner."

"I know."

"And be careful with—"

"Haur. I know. Do not worry about me. We will see each other soon, I promise."

"Stay safe," Haur finally breathed and the two leaned in, resting their foreheads against one another. "Please do not leave me here with D'Argen longer than that, I will probably kill him."

"Hey!" D'Argen voiced from the side where he had said his own goodbyes already.

Nocipel chuckled and pulled back. "Make sure to hide the body."

"That is just rude!" D'Argen called loudly again.

"I will task Thar with burying it under the ice. Even he cannot escape from that."

"Okay, that's it!" D'Argen went up to the two and placed a hand on each of their shoulders, pushing to separate them completely. "Nocipel, be safe and see you soon. Haur, we have something else to talk about."

"Alright, alright," Haur rolled his eyes but finally pulled back. "Safe travels."

"Safe stay," Nocipel replied and with a final wave to those gathered, he turned around to lead their small party back to their ship.

Once they were out of sight, D'Argen decided to corner Haur. D'Argen was happy that Nocipel was the one to leave. He was the most reasonable of the lot. Without Nocipel there to keep Haur in check, it would be easy to convince Haur to continue toward the mountains. D'Argen could not explain, even to himself, why he wanted to go there so badly.

D'Argen had prepared an entire mental list of points and reasons to continue. He did not have to use a single one. As soon as he stepped into the tiny snow house Haur had claimed for his own, Haur asked, "How many people do you want?"

D'Argen stumbled at the question, hesitated, and then shrugged. "As many as want to."

"I want us to keep at least half here, in case we take longer to return than Nocipel."