The Mythos Trials

Chapter Twenty, Part Two

When Gwen came to, it was to the sight of slick, glistening walls of ice surrounding her. Orange firelight flickered from only a few feet away, basking her in its warmth and casting streaks of red and orange across the divots in the ceiling.

Slowly, she sat up, blinking the sleep from her eyes. When an icy draft caressed her cheek, she ducked back down into the feathery cloak surrounding her, shivering.

Wait...cloak? Gwen ran the tips of her fingers across the material, marvelling at the softness of the glossy black feathers fringing the edges. Last she remembered, she'd been...

"How are you feeling?" Forneus's voice startled her into a sitting position. Realizing he was sitting farther back against the wall, settled into one of many uneven pockets, Gwen released a sigh, allowing her head to fall back against the softness that had been cushioning it.

"I'll let you know when I can no longer taste my heart," she replied, closing her eyes.

There was a chuckle from her other side, followed by the squeak of leather as Phenex shifted. "I think it's safe to say she's back to normal."

Gwen cracked an eye open, her lips tugging into a sleepy grin. Then sitting up and pulling the cloak tighter around her, she took stock of her surroundings again. "I guess this is the cave you saw?' she asked, glancing at Forneus.

He nodded. "And not a moment too soon. You lost consciousness just before we crossed the threshold." His legs were crossed at the ankles, straight out in front of him with his arms loosely folded across his midsection. "I doubt the storm will be over before morning. We'll just have to remain here until then."

"Good thing the Nixia sent us with extra supplies," Phenex said, rifling through one of the larger satchels the villagers had given them. "Good call on the cloak, too. Though considering they live here, they must've seen the storm coming."

"You say that like it ever stops," Gwen replied, taking the handful of dried fruit he offered her. "And people back home complain about Canadian winters..."

Forneus chuckled at this, the sound muted by the compacted snow surrounding them. "Hard as it may be to believe, Gelida Vix isn't always covered by permanent snowfall. It's just dumb luck that we happen to be here during its winter season. Do you not remember when we covered seasonal changes and climate?"

When Gwen gave him a disbelieving look, he laughed again. "No, I suppose given all that's happened, it would be folly to expect you had."

The three of them spoke for a while longer, mostly about small, unimportant things; things Gwen expected were intended to distract her from the howling winds outside of their makeshift shelter. Eventually, when her eyelids had begun to grow heavy, Forneus advised her to get what rest she could.

"But what about the pure ether?" she asked, absently throwing a thumb over her shoulder, indicating the direction it was in. "It's so close. Shouldn't we just get it over with?"

"In this weather?" said Phenex. "Are you out of your mind? Gwen, you lost consciousness just before we got here. Unless you want to catch hypothermia, we're staying here until the storm passes."

Whatever protestations Gwen might have made were quieted by the exhaustion seeping into every muscle and bone, her head suddenly seeming too heavy for her neck. With a half-hearted huff, she agreed, and allowing her head to fall back against the folds of the cloak, drifted into deep, dreamless sleep.

*

It seemed to Forneus that the night had passed far too quickly.

One minute, he had been watching over Gwen, the slow, even rhythm of her breathing lulling him into a sense of calm. The next, Phenex was awaking him with a nudge to his side, head cocked toward the snow cavern's entrance, where soft yellow light could be seen pooling through the opening.