Aryanne Levell

The Foot of the Blackrain Mountains, Farrenhelm

IN HER DREAM, Aryanne was flying. Beneath her was the Emerald Sea, glistening bluish-green underneath the warm rays of the gentle morning sun. Out in the distance, she could see the sands of the beaches, turning green at the top where the grass began to grow, and the plains that stretched as far as the eye could see. Above her were white puffy clouds, drifting lazily in a brilliant blue sky. She took a breath, and the smell was intoxicating; the fragrance of a world freshly forged from the embers of the cosmos. She stretched out her arms and legs, but when she looked to see her fingers tearing through the air, she was greeted with limbs of radiating light. Her whole body was made of light, she realized. Flying next to her were five others. Her siblings, she knew, though how she knew evaded her. They flew beside her, each fashioned from light, just like her, except for the one at the end. He was black as the night, and tendrils of shadow wriggled from him. He scared her, and Aryanne was thankful he was far away.

One by one, they all peeled away; one flew far to the north, one to the east, one to the waters below, one to the west, until it was only her and the figure of shadow in the sky. She heard something then. It was a loud thum, like thunder, far off and distant. It was a gentle rumble at first, but it grew louder and louder. Thum, thum. The skies turned black, suddenly, and the air grew cold, so very cold. She could hear the thunder clearly now, so loud that it made her head hurt. Lightning flashed, and she could see the shadow figure before her, completely still in the sky, it's tendrils snapping and whipping at her. She felt as if the thunder were pounding in her ear drums now. THUM, THUM. Suddenly, the shadow figure lurched towards her, it's hand extended, claws growing from it's finger tips and dripping droplets of thick dark liquid. Aryanne felt her chest fill with panic, drowning her with worry. She tried to fly away, but she was frozen there in the black nothingness. Finally, she felt something puncture her, something sharp and cold. She cried out, and she fell from the sky to the earth below.

Aryanne's eyes fluttered open, and she sat up quickly, panting. Seigfreid and Gabrielen were both above her, looking at her with cautious eyes. "Aryanne?" said Gabrielen. "Are you okay? You were having a nightmare."

Aryanne felt her chest, where the shadow creature had torn into her. There was nothing there, only soft pale flesh. She shivered, and it felt as if her blood had turned to ice in her veins. Maybe that's how Valyn feels...

She looked up at the two men, both still staring at her with concern. She shook her head. "I'm fine...I was just having a bad dream."

Gabrielen nodded. "I have 'em too, from time to time. We're all just a little stressed, but we're almost there. Just a little bit more of a climb today, and we'll be there, and it'll all be over."

Aryanne nodded. She doubted he had dreams like her, but still, it was kind of him to try and comfort her. What scared her wasn't the dream itself, it was how real it felt. It didn't feel like a dream, Aryanne realized. It felt like a memory. It was a cold grey morning, made even colder by the harsh winds. It was different up here in these lands than it was in the land they called Jorden. Seigfreid told her he was from these lands, and even he hated them. "The people here are hard, they eat hardly anything else other than goats, and it's always so damn cold," he had told her when they first came across the northern border. "The seasons come and go everywhere else, but the North knows only winter."

They packed up their camp, with Gabrielen tearing down the tents, and Seigfreid tending to the embers of their fire. Aryanne herself went to care for Valyn. She lifted the blanket from his face and put her palm flat against his forhead. Despite the air around them growing colder, Valyn seemed warmer. His face was still thin and gaunt, and his eyes had a hollow look to him. It seemed so long since she last saw him smile, or play with ice at his fingertips. She missed him like she missed her uncle, though it was worse with Valyn. Her uncle had died in the halls of their home, Valadel, while Valyn still drew breath, but both were gone to her. It was a cruel jape, and Aryanne failed to find any semblance of humor in it.

"We'll have to leave the horses," Seigfreid said when there was no trace that their group had spent the night there. His eyes were cast upon the Blackrain Mountain, his gaze fixated where the peak of the mountain impaled the cloudy sky.

Gabrielen nodded. "The slopes will be treacherous. A horse might slip, and take us down with them." He looked to Aryanne. "Mind your footing. One wrong step, and the mountains will show you know mercy."

Aryanne nodded. She was always lightfooted, she had to be to survive her youth. A slip of the foot in the Valadel also meant your life. The cursed ones were fast and unforgiving, and most frightening of all, opportunisitc. Valyn learned that lesson once, and if it hadn't been for Aryanne and her abilities, it would have been the last lesson he ever learned.

"What shall we do with Valyn?" Aryanne asked. Up to this point, they had him slung across the rump of a horse, and took turns carrying him, as to not burden and weaken only a single horse.

Siegfreid grunted. "I forgot about him."

"Maybe we could take turns carrying him over our shoulders?" suggested Gabrielen.

Seigfreid shook his head. "That's too dangerous. It's already a difficult climb to make without carrying someone on your shoulder."

Aryanne didn't like where this was going. "We can't just leave him here."

Seigfreid shrugged his shoulders. "I don't see why not. We're leaving the horses here."

That melted the ice in her veins. "He's not a horse! He's my brother!" Aryanne cried angrily.

Seigfreid met her with pale icy blue eyes, as cold and hard as the mountains before them. "The North knows no compassion, elf. Best to learn that now."

Gabrielen cut in. "Luckily, we do." He moved past Seigfreid and Aryanne, and went to Valyn. He hoisted him up on his shoulder, and left for the trail that went up. "I know the way."

Aryanne could have kissed him in that moment. She heard Seigfreid sigh, and snow crunch beneath his boots as he reluctantly went after Gabrielen. Aryanne followed behind, and up the mountains they went.

*****

Rivers of fire ran through Aryanne, through her arms, her legs, and her lungs. It was so cold around her, but it felt as if the sun itself resided within her. Maybe that's why it's so grey and cloudy out. Her lungs hurt with each breath she took, and the ice in the air did little to cool the burning in her throat. The sweat on her brow froze before it could even streak down her forhead, and her sleeves and pant legs were crusted with ice. They dressed as warm as they could in the woolen cloaks Rickard gave them before they left Howlington, but even then, they weren't warm enoughs. Seigfreid didn't fare much better, and Aryanne could hear his ragged breaths beneath the howling winds. Ahead of them was Gabrielen, Valyn slumped over his shoulders, trudging on through the snow. Seigfreid had grudingly offered to help carry Valyn a few times, but Gabrielen declined. It was important not to stop for anything, Gabrielen said. They had to keep going.

The mountain was blanketed in snow that piled up to the ankle. Bare and lifeless trees sprouted up from the slopes around them, dark, twisted and gnarled. The trail would grow steep at times, but mostly remained at a bearable incline. At some point, snow started to fall, and the wind blew it about mercilessly.

"Are we almost there?" Aryanne heard herself mutter without thought. No one answered her. They just kept climbing and climbing, and after that, they climbed some more. Aryanne wasn't sure how much time had passed; it could've been hours, it could've been minutes. Up and up they went, and the mountain didn't seem to grow any smaller.

Finally, Aryanne was awoken from her trance when Gabrielen collapsed face first into the snow, Valyn with him.

"Get up, half-thing," Siegfreid said weakly. He dragged Valyn off of Gabrielen, and laid the comatose elf next to him. "Up," Seigfreid said again.

Gabrielen struggled to his feet, his face red and burned from the snow. "I'm fine."

Seigfreid shook his head. "You don't look fine. We need to rest. We have to warm ourselves and eat. Otherwise, we'll never make it up this mountain."

Gabrielen shook his head. "We can't, we have to keep moving. If we stay in one place too long, we'll stay here forever."

"We don't have to climb the damn moutain all in one day," Seigfreid near snarled. "There are ways to ward off the cold. A fire would be bloody welcome."

"You don't understand, it's not the cold that worries me. There are more treacherous things on these mountains than the cold."

Seigfreid grew a shade paler, something Aryanne didn't think possible. "Like what?"

"There's a reason the North believes these mountains cursed. There's a reason why no one dares trek here."

Aryanne went flush. The memories of the cursed ones came back to her, and she wondered what it was that prowled these mountains.

Seigfreid wore a grim look. "We should have never come here."

"We had no choice." Gabrielen reminded him.

Seigfreid scowled. "You had no choice. You bloody well didn't have to drag me into it. You seem to know your way about the North as well as I do."

"It was never about you leading us, Whitelocke," said Gabrielen. "Your name alone holds power in the North. Many doors up here would find themselves open for you."

Seigfreid scoffed. "Not as much power as the name Nolan, I'm afraid. And from that source of power, I'm cut off. I'm as useful to my father as a worn out pair of boots, and even then...I think he'd prefer the boots."

"Regardless, the name Whitelocke means something up here, just like the names Cullen, Greyhart, and Keiser. I believe you're of more use to us than you realize."

"Believe what you want, half-thing," Seigfreid said bitterly. "We've wasted enough time talking, we need to get moving again." Gabrielen nodded.That was something they both seemed to agree on.

There was a noise suddenly, like snapping wood. It came from Aryanne's left, deep within the skeletal remains of a long dead forest. "What was that?"

Seigfreid's hand met his sword hilt. His eyes searched the wood, squinted and weary. It was dull, dim, and grey out, but the world seemed to darken. There were more sounds coming from the woods; crunching snow, cracking wood, and howling wind.

"We need to go," said Gabrielen in a small voice. Suddenly, he seemed to find it. "We need to go, now!" He turned around and slung Valyn on his shoulder. "Move!"

Seigfreid found Aryanne's eyes. "Go, elf! I'll watch our back."

Aryanne nodded. She turned and went after Gabrielen. He was moving as fast as he could with Valyn slumped over his shoulders, but it wasn't fast enough. Seigfreid tripped over himself behind her, his steel bared and glowing in the dim afternoon light. His eyes were frantically sweeping, looking back and forth for a threat. The noises were louder now, and they came from all around them. The wood itself seemed to come alive.

Something tackled Gabrielen, something quick. Gabrielen, Valyn, and a writhing brown shape went tumbling into the snow, rolling into the woods.

"Gabrielen!" Aryanne cried out.

"Aryanne!" she heard Seigfreid shout from behind her. "Stay with-" something tackled him as well. It pinned his arms to the ground, and it made the most horrible of noises. It didn't have a face, and it hardly resembled a man. It was brown and rigid, cracking and snapping as it moved. Seigfreid grunted beneath the weight of it, struggling to free himself from it's clutches. "Get the fuck off of me!"

Aryanne spied his sword in the snow, and went for it. She was almost to it, hand out ready to take the hilt, but something grabbed her from behind. It's touch was wood, rough and wild, and it snapped and cracked. She threw her elbows back, and felt the creature's grip loosen. She lurched forward, and freed herself of the creature's grip. She grabbed Seigfreid's sword from the snow, and blindly slashed behind her. The steel bit into the creature, hacking through the it's wooden body like it were paper. Aryanne tore the sword out and swung again. This time, the blade came out the other side, and the creature fell to the ground in two.

Ahead of her was Seigfreid, wrestling with the gnarled wooden monster that pinned him earlier. His cheek was bloody from a scratch, and his hair was matted with blood and snow. Aryanne ran to him, sword clutched tightly in her hand, and swung at the creatures head. She lobbed it clean off, and the creature fell. Seigfreid looked at her with wild eyes that seemed to ask "what are these things?" Then he spied his sword in her hand. "Give me that before you hurt yourself."

Aryanne's mouth fell open, dumbstruck. "I just saved your life!"

"And you could have easily taken it as well, if you had been even a little less careless! You don't just swing a blade blindly like that!"

"You should be thanking me!"

There was a shout from behind them, and it was forged from pain. Seigfreid looked over his shoulder, and then back to Aryanne. He wrestled the sword free from her grasp, shook his head. "There isn't time, lets go!" He went off into the wood where he heard more fighting. Aryanne angrily followed him.

Gabrielen was huddled over Valyn, crouched low with a sword in his hand. There were at least a dozen of the creatures around him, whipping and snapping their limbs of dark and gnarled oak. They shambled toward him, raking through the snow with their twisted wooden legs.

Seigfreid looked over his shoulder at Aryanne. "Now would be a good time for some magic, elf."

Aryanne couldn't agree more.

Light flickered at her fingertips, pale and gold. She worked it between her palms, stretching the light out as it grew brighter and brighter. It was warm too, she realized, radiating with heat. She never noticed before. She found that funny in a way. Her fingers began to tremble, and orb of light she had crafted shook violently between her hands. "Shield your eyes!" she shouted. She meant only for Gabrielen and Seigfreid to hear that, but the creatures of the wood heard that as well. They all looked to her, and then they came for her.

Seigfreid tucked his head into his arm, and Gabrielen had both of his hands covering his eyes. Aryanne let her ball of light fly into creatures of branch and dirt. It exploded in a fury of white, crackling like lightning, and warm as any fire she had ever known. For a good few moments, white was all she could see, and the world was drousy around her. Her visison came back to her fainlty, big blurry shapes and muted colors at first, but in time, the world was as it was again. The creatures were singed and ashy, black splotches on a field of white snow. Their charred corpses hissed and crackled, and glowed a faint red from embers that came to life in the rivets of thier wooden bodies. Seigfreid was blinking away the white still, and Gabrielen looked as if he were in a daze. Aryanne felt bad for them, but being in a daze was better than being dead. She could feel her heart slow to it's usual pace, and relief rushed through her like an ocean wave.

It was then she heard snow crunch behind her, and the horrible sound of cracking wood.

She turned quickly, and there was another one, it's gnarled oaken arm outstretched, reaching for her. She stumbled backwards, and fell into the snow. It descended upon her, and it swung at her with wooden claws. "Get off of me!" she cried out. To her right, Seigfreid worked himself up to his feet, but still could hardly see. She couldn't see nor hear Gabrielen, and that wasn't a good omen either. The creature was strong, and forced itself free of her grip. It wrapped it's thin knobby fingers around her throat, and squeezed. Aryanne felt light flicker at her finger tips, but it wasn't enough.

Suddenly, a spike of ice went through it's head. It's grip around Aryanne's throat loosened, and it fell off of her. She coughed, and lurched herself up. She looked at the creature again, with the skewer of ice in it's head. It was blue and dark, and it was ice she knew well. Her heart flutterd in her chest. "Valyn?" she whispered.

Her brother was leant up against a tree, his palm held out before him, wisps of icy smoke floating from his fingertips. His breathing was ragged, and his eyes were empty. "We're here," he said in a voice that was far away.

*****

How long the rest of the trek up the mountain went, Aryanne could not say. Time seemed to blur when they started up the mountain trail again. Fortunately, no one sustained any wounds worse than a scratch or bruise. She would praise the Gods, but hers either died or abandoned her, and the Gods of Men were not hers to praise. Perhaps Seigfreid was right, she thought. Perhaps we should put more faith in the deeds of mortals rather than the acts of the Gods.

Slowly, they shuffled up the mountain. Gabrielen led the way, with Seigfreid and Valyn in the middle, and her at the rear. Seigfreid helped bear Valyn's weight, allowing the elf to lean on him as they climbed. Valyn was robbed nearly all of his strength, and saved what little he had left to move himself up the mountain. Aryanne was thankful for Gabrielen and Seigfreid. They could easily have left him at the bottom of the mountain, but they didn't, and in turn, Valyn saved her life.

The air grew thinner the higher they went, and yet the wind blew even harder. Aryanne wondered where the wind found the strength to blow as hard as it did. She would gladly learn it's secrets. The snow was thicker up here, and it must have been some time since it was last disturbed. They pressed on, and when Aryanned looked back over her shoulder, she could see almost the entire world from where she stood. She could see the rivers and forests, a small village far to the east, and the faint glow of the sun beneath the grey skies to the west. She felt almost as if she was flying, being able to see the world from up here.

Like my dream...

Sometime later, they were near the summit. Night was fast upon them, and death would follow shortly if they didn't find shelter, or so Seigfreid had said. "We need shelter, and we need it now. And a fire. We need a fire more so."

There were no trees this high up, and they passed the last few a short while ago. Even then, those trees were thin and rotten, and Ayranne doubted they could sustain a fire.

"We'll find shelter soon enough," said Gabrielen. "It's not much further."

"Where's not much further?" Seigfreid argued. "Where is it you're taking us? The journery north, you said you meant to take us to the Blackrain mountains. We're here now, where is it in these bloody mountains that you mean to take us?!" He kicked at the snow with a worn boot crusted in ice. "We can hardly see a damn thing up here!"

Aryanne shared his frustration. They hiked the mountain all day, and they were all tired and chilled to the bone. Valyn finally awoke, and Aryanne was thankful for that, but him waking up wouldn't count for much if they all froze to death. The sky was dark, and the comforting light of the sun was slowly fading away. Soon enough, they wouldn't be able to see anything.

"You have to trust me," said Gabrielen. "He's up here, I know he is."

"Where?!" Seigfreid shouted as he threw up his arms. "Look around, there's nothing but snow and rock. Who could possibly live up here?!"

Valyn's head popped up, his eyes wide. They met Aryanne's, and seemed to ask do you feel that?

Aryanne nodded. She felt it too. It was a feeling she hadn't felt since her uncle last drew breath. She could sense him, he was close by. It was a warm comforting feeling in her chest, especially so with Gabrielen and Seigfreid quarreling. The two elves looked around, and it was Valyn who spotted him first. "He's here," he said quietly.

Seigfreid and Gabrielen stopped arguing, and turned around to face where Valyn cast his gaze. Further up the mountain was a man watching them, dressed in grey robes that blew in the wind. His hair was long and brown, streaked with white, and his beard was similarly fashioned. He had a staff in his hand that he rested against, and he eyed them curiously.

"Is that him?" Seigfreid asked stupidly.

Gabrielen nodded slowly. "Yes. Hello, grandfather."

"Gabrielen," said his grandfather in a soft voice. "Welcome home."