Fantasy and Myth

The Woman of the Mountain

The falling snow was a blinding curtain, restricting vision to less than the length of Howard's arm. He'd been warned not to travel by the locals who knew a storm had been approaching, but after dealing with many snowstorms over his twenty-five years, Howard had been certain he could've handled it. Only now was he understanding how wrong he'd been and that his error in judgment might cost him his life.

His thick parka was closed securely, but the cold seemed to be able to pry its skeletal fingers through the very fabric in order to chill him to the bone. His layers of thermal gear didn't do anything to keep him warm, and he was shivering intensely to the point of near convulsions. His previous experiences told him he was on the edge of hypothermia and if he didn't find some place to warm up fast, he was going to die.

Because he'd been unable to see very far ahead through the descending waves of snow, he was understandably startled when he suddenly noticed a woman standing in front of him. Howard stopped so quickly to avoid running into her, he almost fell over.

The woman was hard to see, even with her close proximity because everything about her was lacking any distinguishing color. Her hair was flawlessly straight, waist long, and as white as the snow falling upon it. The kimono wrapped around her might as well have been made from the snow, and Howard couldn't tell where the garment ended and the drifts on the ground began. The woman's skin was just as pale and colorless as her hair and clothing. Raising a slender arm, she pointed to her right with a single, long finger. Saying nothing, she turned away from Howard and began walking slowly in the direction she'd indicated.

Howard was out of options and was willing to take any assistance he could get. He followed without question or hesitation. He had to concentrate to keep moving through the ankle deep snow as he couldn't actually feel his legs and feet. His fingers and face were in a similar numb state. Focusing all his energy on following the woman in front of him, he pushed forward through the blinding curtains of white.

Something dark caught his attention further ahead, and it took Howard a moment to realize it was the opening of a small cave. His strength gave out and his legs slipped from under him. Before he could fall face first into the snow, the woman was suddenly at his side, holding him up. He hadn't noticed her turn around or move back toward him, but since his brain was half frozen and not working at full capability, he ignored the strange occurrence and let her help him forward.

Had he been thinking clearly, he might've noticed her surprising amount of strength as she held him up with only a slender arm wrapped around his waist. Also, she didn't have any trouble finding her footing in the loose snow, even when carrying a nearly unconscious man twice her mass while he stumbled and slipped. She was never pulled off balance or off course, but Howard didn't discern anything as he could only think of the cold and the cave entrance promising shelter from it.

Howard didn't know what happened when they entered the cave as he lost consciousness and everything went black. When he woke up, he realized a considerable amount of time had passed as the snow previously covering him had melted and the puddle it had formed on the cave floor had evaporated. The snow outside had stopped, but he couldn't feel the cold because a small fire was crackling brightly in front of him, its gentle warmth washing over him in revitalizing waves. Two small fish were speared through by a stick and suspended over the flames. He thought the aroma was the best thing he'd ever smelled. A small kettle sat near the fire, a ribbon of steam curling up from its spout.

Unzipping his parka, Howard looked around the cave. The surface of the rock composing the cave was dark and smoothly polished similar to a stone at the bottom of a river. The cave vanished off into the darkness beyond the light given off by the fire, so he couldn't see where it ended. When he noticed the woman, she was kneeling on the opposite side of the fire. She watched him without expression, firelight shown in her eyes similar to the way light reflected off ice.