Permafrost Slumber

Chapter 4

The second night's rest brings another dream for the Captain. Again, he sees events unfolding through the eyes of another person. This time, the person stands before a great towering engine, coated with ice and snow that have piled on it over time when it wasn't used. Glancing around, there are many others gathered around the engine; their faces marred with worry and waiting with bated breath for what comes next. All of a sudden the engine comes to life and begins to hum softly, then loudly. The ice and snow start to melt or break off entirely as the towering construction starts to emanate heat. People rejoice and cheer as the engine comes to life and is fully functional. In celebration, a few men roll up a wooden barrel and smash it open with a hatchet after a few well-placed hits. People dive their cups inside and scoop out the liquid contents of the barrel, if they had none then they were offered as it was time to celebrate. The person is then approached by someone who offers a cup that's almost full to the brim with a clear liquid; it's strong to the smell and one whiff already makes a person light-headed. As soon as the person holds the cup, an arm slings around his shoulder and pulls him into an embrace as cheers erupt once again and people shout while raising their cups high.
"To New Preston! To our new home!" shouts the crowd almost in unison as they partake in the strong beverage until the barrel is all but empty of its contents.
As the Captain stirs awake from his dream, he finds himself face down in the soft fur lining of a coat and is slow to get up and start a new day. The fire he lit fared fairly well for the night, it seems that someone has fed it wood recently and is still going. Looking around the darkened room, the Captain fails to see where Kallen is.
After sitting up, the Captain is slow to stand as a bothersome ache in his back takes hold of him. A good stretch fixes the problem for a little bit, but the ache is still there.
Taking a casual look around the room aided by the light of the small flashlight, he's still unable to find Kallen which could only mean one thing, she's very likely outside.
Peeking through the opening in the frame of the door, it was just as the Captain had anticipated; Kallen was kneeling in the snow busying herself as she tried to dig out the now frozen Oath of Judah who didn't fare quite well during the night.
Squeezing through the opening, the Captain is greeted by Kallen with a quick "good morning" before she returns to digging into the slightly frozen snow. As they combine their efforts to liberate the Oath of Judah from its prison, the two companions share a few pleasantries asking about how they slept and how they were feeling on this new day. Kallen admits that she slept comfortably because of the fur clothes used in her temporary bed, but laments that she slept and woke up with an empty stomach. This feeling the Captain can sympathize with since he too feels the lack of food weighing him down, but he is hopeful that they might stumble over something on their way to civilization once they manage to cross the mountains not too far from where they are now.
Once the Oath of Judah is freed from the tight grasp of the snow, Kallen hoists the oversized crucifix on her back and is ready to go. The Captain then briefly remarks that they had no reason to wait considering their only "baggage" is now very likely frozen at the bottom of the lake and Kallen's only belonging is the Oath of Judah. For a little bit of time, the Captain disappears inside the vault one last time saying that he has to put out the fire before emerging again and declaring that everything was ready and should leave.
While slowly making their way toward the nearby mountain, Kallen gives the vault one last glance, with a glint of hesitation in her eyes. Noticing this, the Captain asks Kallen if she wants to turn back for the fur coat she so fancied yesterday since it's not too late, to which he is rewarded with a well-placed snowball at the back of his head. When the Captain turned around, Kallen was already throwing another snowball while leaning down to make another one.
For a while, as the two companions advanced toward the nearby mountain, they were engaged in a short-lived snowball fight where Kallen was the obvious winner as each of the snowballs she threw had remarkable precision and nearly toppled the Captain once or twice as he took the full brunt of the projectile to the face.
The Captain fared poorly at this sport, his aim was off and he barely managed to throw one snowball by the time Kallen had already thrown three that hit their marks. Despite the oncoming onslaught of snowballs, the Captain tries his best to duck or weave but given his companion's cunning mind his efforts are almost meaningless.
After taking two direct hits to the face, the Captain convinces himself he's learned the rhythm of Kallen's throws. He tried to duck an incoming snowball, and as he successfully avoided the projectile, it passed harmlessly over his head, but a second incoming snowball that he failed to see hit him square in the face with so much force it knocked him down face-first into the snow.
As the Captain rolls over and lies on his back in the snow nursing his face and aching cheeks, Kallen strides past him, offering a smug look and a victorious smirk as takes the lead.
A few hours later by mid-day, after the companions reach the base of the mountain, the Captain carefully scans the surface and to their great fortune there are no immediate vertical inclines, a good part of the climb could be easily done on foot although it would be a very long walk to reach the summit. The alternative would be for them to risk climbing an icy surface. Judging by the shape and width of the ice, this might have been a beautiful wide waterfall before it froze up; now turned into a curtain of icicles of great proportions at a perfect ninety-degree vertical incline that would offer the most direct route to the top.
For a moment Kallen offers to use the spears from the Oath of Judah to form a rather crude stairway up the curtain of ice, but the Captain disapproves of her plan. He doesn't doubt the spears could easily support their weight, he is afraid that the ice might be unstable if numerous spears might be lodged into it, not to mention they lost their climbing gear when he lost the backpack of rations.
Having no other choice, the two companions reluctantly start a very long trek up the mountain trying to keep to a traversable path that didn't require too much climbing, except a few inclines that could be easily climbed with a little bit of effort on their behalf.
Their caution is rewarded at the cost of a lot of time but the companions safely reach the summit of the mountain in a few hours, gasping for breath and their stomachs protesting rather loudly for the lack of food. But as the two companions crest the mountain, they are rewarded with a sight any explorer would offer anything worldly to witness; the sight is so breathtaking it staves off the hunger in the companion's bellies and relieves their bodies of fatigue.
From the top of the mountain, the Captain looked forward for a moment. The top of the mountain arc stretches on for miles, topped with pristine and undisturbed snow that occasionally is scattered by the wind giving birth to a short-lived beautiful spectacle of an almost ethereal white curtain dancing in the wind. Following the length of the mountain arc, it is as if this were the jagged spine of a beast of unimaginable proportions that slumbers beneath the snow, like the great serpent of myth that sleeps beneath the sea.
Taking a moment to admire the breathtaking view from the top of the mountain, a vast land stretches out before them. Covered in pure white snow, this land gives the impression that it has never been touched by man. Despite the merciless cold and wild winds, there is a certain beauty in the stillness of this place; one reserved for those who don't shy away from prolonged time of solitude or are weak of heart to take on such herculean efforts to explore uncharted lands.
Nearly an hour later as the two companions press onward, carefully traveling across the top of the mountain arc like stepping onto the edge of a knife as they search for a way to descend safely; Kallen slows her pace as something in the sky gets her attention. She stops walking altogether all of a sudden while the Captain continues onward, unaware that Kallen has stopped.
A series of shouts make the Captain stop momentarily and look behind. Glancing over his shoulder to see what the commotion is about, the Captain sees his companion a few feet away from him, hopping and waving her hands as she shouts as loud as she can, her voice travels across the top of the mountain and echoes into the distance to match her energy. As the Captain looks in Kallen's general direction, something gets his attention. There's a dark dot in the sky moving at a constant speed as it braves the harsh climate. Squinting his eyes and focusing hard, the Captain starts to see that the dot is some sort of flying ship or small blimp of sort.