Beyond the North

Remains of the past

— "Yeah, it looks like they started searching the surroundings," Cynna said, looking through a monocular.

— "But... why would they go so far...?" Rejto pondered, intrigued.

Two days passed, and finally, the box began to disappear from their sights, but they decided not to look back. As they walked, the three noticed heavy clouds coming from afar; there would probably be a storm in a few days.

To avoid getting bored, they continued talking about old times or making jokes, just to make the walk less dull. At one point, they climbed a hill to see their progress, and then realized that the box had practically turned into just a line on the horizon. Night fell, and Rejto saw that there was no more translation for the letter, as other attempts only resulted in nonsensical phrases. He searched a bit more, looked in books, but again, the only thing he found were the same things and the same strange maps.

— "Have you ever thought about taking a break, buddy?" Tel asked.

— "Honestly... I think so. I can't find anything else."

— "Hallelujah!!!"

— "Was it that serious?"

— "You were up until dawn yesterday, remember?"

— "... Okay, okay-"

Suddenly, he felt something on his shoulder, which startled him. He looked to the side, only to find Cynna, who had already fallen asleep. Tel looked at the two and gave a suggestive smile, just to tease Rejto. He then lay down and rested his head on Rejto's lap, and soon, he also fell asleep. The young Asian blushed a little at the situation, but soon closed the books and fell asleep too.

In the morning, they noticed something strange in the distance. As they approached, they saw that they were several ice pillars, but upon closer inspection, it seemed like they had been "ejected" from the ground. They noticed that there were several parts that were cracked, so they proceeded with the utmost caution. Over time, they realized that more strange formations were appearing, but all seemed strangely natural and not man-made. The three became even more confused, but this time decided to leave it aside.

Three days later, the reliefs began to appear more and more, unlike before when the snow seemed to make everything flat. Additionally, they found small stumps of dry trees, which ignited their determination to continue. And soon, it seemed to materialize; the three looked at something with a surprised expression, finally giving a big smile. It was a road; they finally found something that wasn't just mountains and snow, and without hesitation, they followed it. With time, they could see signs in Russian, the language they spoke, which intrigued them.

Again the next day, the road unfortunately ended, in the middle of nowhere. They then split up to see if they could find anything else, and they even found some strange things, belongings, toys they had never seen before in their lives. Tel even found something that looked like a cellphone but strangely had only one screen in the middle, which confused him about how to use it.

— "TEL!! REJTO!!"

The two quickly ran in Cynna's direction, who looked surprised by something. They then understood why: there were buildings, it was a small town, fortunately not surrounded by walls.

— "Haha! Good girl!" Tel said, patting Cynna's head, which made her feel flattered.

— "Damn... too bad I don't have a camera..."

The three then hurried and ran to the town. Tel even stumbled and buried himself in the snow, which made the other two laugh, but they still continued. They started walking through the snow-covered streets and began to search fervently, looking from side to side, from top to bottom... yes, everything was abandoned, which made the three feel downcast, but at least they found a place where they could rest.