Fire, Sam decided, is one of the cornerstones of civilization. He made this decision as he warmed his body in front of the fire in the tent of the twins sisters who had found them.

Beshah and Aaremett had been out on a early spring shopping trip when a snowstorm stranded them in a town across the mountains. The trip had been more successful than they had expected allowing them to buy more supplies than normal while still having an excess of furs to bring home with them. The sisters were now generously sewing these furs into winter clothes for the strange young men they had found wandering around the mountain in their underclothes with nothing but a blanket for warmth.

Aaremett thought that both of the men looked more like warriors than their polite demeanor would have suggested and they had spent much of their time warming in front of the fire speaking in a dismissive tone that she had only heard from the elders as they discussed the mysteries of nature. This tone was the only indication she had as to what the men were discussing as they spoke in a strange secret language

“No, Alex, just because science has no explanation for how we could have gotten here doesn't mean magic is a thing. Besides, you don't want monsters to be a thing. Dangerous beasts make life stupidly difficult. For that matter this could easily be somewhere on earth.”

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Alex shook his head, “No we already decided the only place that could have a harsh winter like what we see would be South America, unless time travel, in which case Russia or America could work. They don’t speak English, nor do they sound Russian or Spanish. And don’t say anything about the Himalayas, they’re too European for that and you're you know it. This is a little too extreme for that I'd of wishful thinking. Face it. This isn’t Earth…. I guess I will give give up on magic for now.”

Whatever language the twins spoke it wasn't English. The two friends were glad for that. Without a better understanding of their surroundings the ability to openly discuss without being understood by outsiders gave them a small measure of comfort.

It took about a week for the small group to make its way back to the village the twins called home. The village was little more than a ramshackle collection of huts with no clear layout. The huts resembled Iroquois long houses . While the conditions didn’t speak of the same kind of abject poverty an American would have seen in them, the conditions were still not a sign of rostering by the standards Beshah and Aaremett had seen in the local cities on their rare visits.

Aaremett smiled at the young men and said, “It isn’t much but it's better than being told how we have to live by whichever king claims to own the village any given year.”