Emily and Alex took turns carrying Ashe as they moved through the frozen forest. After they’d gotten away from the burrows they hadn’t stopped to rest for the last couple of hours.

Ashe had been out of commission since. Alex said she had already been near her limit before they crossed and with that large working of magic, it had taken its toll.

Emily wasn’t sure what the repercussions of overusing magic were, but from how Alex looked at Ashe, they weren't good.

Before they cleared the remainder of the burrows, they had encountered a few more elves but Emily had made short work of them, even managing to ‘eat’ two of them.

By the time Alex thought they were in safer territory Emily had been looking for an excuse to stop and rest.

They found a small space free of snow, tucked away between three large trees, and set Ashe down.

Seeing as this was the first time they had managed to rest since their escape, Emily took a moment to inspect the woman.

From the outside, she looked pale and was completely unresponsive, but Emily lay her down on the dry patch of ground.

Alex frowned as he looked at them, taking a shallow breath he nodded in her direction.

“Emily, I need you to look at her bridge and see if she’s suffering from source exposure. Describe to me what you see.”

Emily looked up at him in confusion.

“What? Why can’t you?”

Alex was resting up against a tree and she noticed he seemed to be panting harder than usual from their travels.

“Please? Just check for me, tell me what you see.”

Shrugging, Emily shifted the woman to expose her back. Alex turned to look off into the forest.

Emily was about to ask what she was looking for when the woman’s bridge came into sight. This was the first time Emily had seen an actual bridge, other than the glimpses she managed to catch of her own. Ashe’s bridge was a brilliant deep green diamond, situated at the base of the neck. It seemed to flicker with a gentle glow from within, but she got the feeling that wasn’t normal, because of the surrounding skin. Nasty pockmarks of flesh had taken on a deep grey. The blisterlike protrusions looked like rock that had grown from her back, a soft touch confirmed they were cold and firm.

Pulling more of her clothes aside, Emily could tell most of the skin on her back was littered with this calcified skin.

“Shit, what’s going on, is this because she used too much magic?”

Looking up at Alex, she saw he was now looking at her, but avoiding glancing down at Ashe.

“Is she presenting physical changes?”

Emily looked down and then nodded describing what she was seeing. It looked like stone was eating her back.

“Damn. Yes, she drew too much power. I thought that last attack looked too powerful for a single title.”

Emily frowned at this.

“What does a title have to do with this? Is she going to be okay?”

Alex readjusted himself and then grimaced in pain.

“Does she only have one bridge? If she had two then she should be fine, but with every title you gain another bridge. This means one can draw and handle more energy, the two of us are kinda in the same boat at the moment.”

Emily quickly searched for a second crystal on Ashes back but froze when she comprehended what Alex meant.

“Wait, you’ve been looking bad for a while now, are you okay?”

Alex snorted.

“Yeah, I’m fine, I’m nowhere near as overdrawn as her, I just need some rest.”

Emily blinked slowly.

“But what magic did you use…”

She suddenly remembered the incredible speed Alex had exhibited during the fight. It was unlike anything she’d seen him use before.

“Wait, you're saying your bridge is the same? Let me see, If it's bad maybe there’s some way to treat it?”

Emily got up and was moved in Alex’s direction, but he was suddenly up and backing away.

“Hold on, I’m fine. Plus you shouldn’t go around trying to see people’s bridges, they may get the wrong idea.”

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Emily cocked her head, there was something she wasn’t understanding here. The memory of Claire checking her bridge came to her and the sudden awkward looks both Alex and Vail had gotten suddenly made sense.

“Wait.. are you shy.”

She couldn’t help it, a wry smile bloomed on her face.

“That’s not it, I’m just saying there are some things you should keep private.”

A laugh escaped Emily’s lips, but she held up her hands in surrender

“Alright, I understand, I won’t push you, but are you sure there's nothing we can do to help either of you?”She hadn’t noticed it before but Alex's face was redder than usual, she thought it was from exhaustion, but now that she took a closer look it was more of a sunburn. Or perhaps a light fever? Either way, he was sweating profusely.

“Not unless you have a siphon just lying around.”

Emily didn’t say anything, but Alex saw the question on her face and sighed.

“When we draw too much through our bridges a siphon can help us to regulate the amount of energy we hold onto, otherwise we have to wait until it can dissipate naturally. For some, that's faster, but it depends on how much over our natural limit we draw.”

This made sense to Emily. It sounded similar to a balloon, one could inflate themselves with energy and as much as they could handle, but then they had to wait for it to naturally leak away. A siphon must be like an additional release valve.

“And what do these siphons look like.”

Alex shrugged.

“Anything really, some set them on staffs, while others wear them as rings, but all of them have to have the respective colored gem for each bridge.”

“Mmm, you mean like a fancy magic crystal?”

Alex seemed to weigh this up and nodded, while Emily dug through her cloak's inner pockets to find the item.

“What color bridge did you say you had again?”

Alex was looking at her with a wary look now.

“...My bridge is… red.”

Emily smiled as she pulled the broach from her pocket, its warmth gently encasing her hand.

“Like this?”

The moment Alex’s eye fell on the broach he stilled.

“...Are you telling me you had a siphon this whole time and you…”

Alex stifled a sigh.

“Well, I mean it makes for a wonderful little hand warmer. And how was I supposed to know you needed it if you never told me this.”

Alex began spluttering with indignation.

“Do you have any idea how expensive those things are, easily a hundred times the tonics, and you were using it to warm your hands? You know what, I give up, may I use the siphon?”

Emily hummed.

“How long are you going to need it?”

“I’m not sure a couple of hours?”

“Mmm, okay you can hang onto it till we get to the keep, but I want it back then. I can’t have you running off with my property.”

Alex’s brow twitched but he simply held out his hand towards her, at which point Emily placed the broach in his palm.

The relief on his face was instantaneous as the gem on the front began to glow.

Emily's amused face shifted when she looked back down at Ashe.

“What are we going to do about her, what will happen if she doesn’t get a siphon.”

Alex pursed his lips.

“We’ll need to get her to a Healer at this point, they can siphon off enough energy. There’ll be some at the keep, but we’ll just have to hope she lasts till then.”

Emily nodded and bundled Ashe up against the cold. It was a strange feeling for Emily to be caring for another. She was so used to only watching out for herself that helping people felt out of place, and yet since she’d gotten to this world she’d helped two people.

Emily was just using their remaining blankets to fasten Ashe to her back when Alex began advancing again.

Their biggest problem became finding the road in the dark, trudging through the undergrowth in the early hours of the morning, making for a hard mission.

Emily only spotted that beautiful red brick wonder as the light began to enter the world again and the natural sounds of wildlife returned.

At this point Emily was ready to marry the thing, she’d left its side twice and regretted it both times.

Alex rolled his eyes when Emily patted the road ‘hello’, but kept his thoughts to himself, and as if it were welcoming her home, the road made for a much more pleasant journey.

Alex was convinced they’d somehow wandered past to secondary blockade, as the elf burrows were almost non-existent here.

The morning hours were brisk but neither of them slowed their pace. Alex had begun to look better as the time moved on and Emily could only assume the siphon was working. Ashe on the other hand had begun to groan in her sleep with sweat beading on her forehead.

Emily hadn’t stopped to check, but she could feel the calcified flesh in Ashe’s back creeping toward her ribs, each hardened mass pressing painfully into her side. The weight of Ashe's body against her own was more noticeable now, an unyielding pressure that made every step harder. Emily wasn’t certain, but she was almost sure Ashe was getting heavier too, as though she were turning into a chunk of stone.

Alex saw her struggling and traded places with her, shouldering her weight without complaint.

Emily took up the lead, mostly just to guard against ambushes, because if she’d learned anything, it was that disaster could strike at any time out here, even on the road.

As luck would have it her caution was unfounded when they crested over a rise and the very tops of the trees gave way to a massive valley.

Emily’s eyes widened as she took in the scene. Gigantic mountain ranges ate the horizon, choked with trees and frosty vegetation, stretching off into the distance. The base of both mountains formed a valley. Nestled in their shadow was a humongous structure.

Where Emily had expected to see a small fort or village at the bottom, she instead saw a colossal red-bricked dome. It stood out against the whites, browns, and grays of the landscape. Its architecture reminded Emily of an igloo, but it wasn’t quite right. Four large columns stretched up and around the curve of the wall, but they never touched it, nor did they cross at the top. It made Emily think of four large claws rising from the ground to grab hold of the keep and drag it below the surface.

From her vantage point, the half-sphere seemed to have all manner of protrusions. Upon closer inspection, Emily realized they were balconies or walkways. Similar to the road, the snow seemed to have a hard time settling on the structure, with only the barest hints of frost clinging to the tallest parts.

The road they were on led to the keep, along with dozens of other roads stretching off in all directions as they cut through the landscape.

Emily was still staring in awe when Alex came to stand beside her. He had a sour expression on his on his face.

“Listen, we want to avoid sticking out in this place, so no blood magic. They may have a ruling title in there but that is by no means a guarantee of safety. They don’t call this the prison of the north for nothing.”

Emily just rolled her eyes.

“Got it, keep things under wraps, but all things considered, I’d take just about anywhere that can offer me a warm bed for the night.”

The fact that Alex didn’t immediately argue was proof enough that he felt the same.

“You may feel differently soon enough, but for now let's find a place to stay.”