We trekked across the rest of the plain with minimal problems and were soon approaching the foot of the mountains. We were all still very weary and running on some of the last dregs of adrenaline our bodies could produce, so our priority was to find some sort of shelter or some place to rest. After searching for a few hours, we found a small opening in the grey rock at the base of the mountain. It couldn’t really be called a cave, given that it was only a couple feet deep into the mountain. We piled in anyways and tried to find some room for everyone.

We skinned the creatures that we had just defeated but we were still too nervous about pursuit to start a fire. We wrapped them in snow to preserve the meat as well as we could and decided to finally get some good rest. The fact that there wasn’t much room to move made our little hovel more comfortable in some ways, counterintuitively enough. We practically slept on top of each other, which meant that we were huddling together to conserve body heat in what was already a tiny space. Even with our recent Adaptations, we were far from immune to the cold and the increasingly chilly northern winds had started to wear on all of us.

Now, though, we were piled on top of one another and sheltered from that biting wind. We draped the animal skins over our little pile of people, such that it was downright pleasant under all our blankets. It was the first time in a while that any of us had been genuinely comfortable, and sleep came easily and happily as night began to fall.

We slept for the entire night, of course, but also for half of the next day, only waking up for a single meal and to keep watch. The children needed a lot of sleep, and those of us who interrupted our slumber to hold vigil also needed more time to nap. Even with the extra sleep, I still felt terribly drowsy by the time that midday rolled around. Our long march had taken a greater toll on us than I thought, and I saw that the others were even more tired.

Nevertheless, time moved onward, and we needed to call a strategy meeting. We woke up the people still asleep and sat in a circle in and around the cave’s entrance, the snow having been cleared from the entrance by Lynn a while ago. Victor started us off, as per the usual:

“Alright, gang. I’m glad that we got some decent rest now, but there is still work to be done, and we’re going to have to keep moving. We’ll stick to the plan. We need to send out a scouting party to examine the routes through this mountain. If they seem passable and not too dangerous, we should consider a mountain crossing. I’m not sure if we’re still being chased by either the Neidyr or the Narbacor, but I don’t want to take too many chances. I would rather we put a whole mountain range between us and them before we started thinking about settling down and building a new life.”

He paused at that, letting the prospect of a real future in front of us sink in emotionally, and continued:

“But that’s a gamble, of course. Even with a scouting party verifying that things seem to be okay; they obviously can’t make the whole crossing themselves. There will still be the chance that things will go wrong later, that we will run into some sort of unavoidable obstacle that forces us to backtrack. There is no guarantee that we will be able to find food as easily going forward as well, and no guarantee that there will be a nicer place beyond these mountains that we can make a home in either. It might be safer to pick a direction, either to the east or the west, and simply walk that way, hugging the mountains until we find somewhere more habitable. But similar risks apply with doing that as well. Maybe to a lesser degree, but still. Not to mention the heightened risk of our pursuers catching up to us if we don’t move directly away from them, of course. But those risks also exist if we take the time to scout things out on the mountain.”

He paused to take a breath, for once, and finished in a lower and more somber tone:

“It’s hard to know what the right call is. Does anyone have anything to add or mention? Before we decide?”

That prompted a silence as we looked around at one another, before I spoke up first:

“Not a lot to go on, is there? Don’t you have anything that you can tell us that might make the choice easier? Something you read?”

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He shrugged a bit, before responding:

“From what I’ve read, there may well be civilizations and habitable lands in every direction surrounding Corynth. That doesn’t tell me how far away they are, though. We may well cross these mountains and have a thousand miles of snowfield to go before we find a place to live. Adaptations or no, that would kill us. But the same could apply if we go east or west. I’d say our best bet between those two is east, which is why I wanted to go that way before we were so rudely interrupted, but that is mostly conjecture. Either way, we are moving on very little information here.”

Julia responded next:

“Since we are more able to deal with the cold, maybe we should try continuing to go north. It’s not like we have any special protections in a wasteland, right?”

Victor nodded:

“That’s another thing to consider. Well said, Julia. But going through these mountains will test our newfound protections to their limits. These are far from some snowy hills.”

“I say we give it a shot, though.” Al spoke up, tapping his finger on his knee and swaying slightly with nervous energy, “We don’t even know if we can pass through, so we can always scout it out and choose to go east anyways.”

“But that would mean that we wasted time and energy scouting when we could have been walking.” I cautioned, “We can’t afford to waste much time scouting in the first place, which means that we don’t have time to really verify that we can make the crossing.”

“I say we do it!” Ann interjects emphatically, “I’m more worried about the big freakshow lizard man than the mini snake men. And even he seems like he might have some trouble getting over mountains like these. If we make it too hard on him, he’ll probably give up. Predators are surprisingly lazy, you know. And he’s so slow, we have the time to do some scouting. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.”

This earned an approving nod from Julia, while Al and Lynn looked more skeptical and concerned. Hope didn’t have much to add, so she just looked back and forth between everyone. I was the first to add to that:

“It’s hard to say, of course, but there is no particular reason we shouldn’t be able to find our way through these mountains. We have enough food for a long trek, and we have the strength and agility to navigate most physical obstacles. So long as there aren’t too many menacing predators, we should give it a shot and put these dangers as directly behind us as we can.”

I looked at Al and Lynn, now, before continuing:

“But I can see that you are worried that it’s risky. It is. But we’ve been taking risks this entire time. No matter what, we can’t avoid them. One more gamble, and we should be free. Does anyone have any serious objections to that?”

They eventually shook their heads, and when everyone was clearly in accord, Victor piped up again:

“If that’s the case, then we should figure out who will be doing the scouting. I suggest a team of two. One with a Perception Gift and another with a Might Gift.”

I nodded in agreement and commented:

“You aren’t that strong, Victor. Sorry, but Al is better trained, so he should be our Perception scout. Plus, his hearing will be best suited for finding predators. They will be the real dangers if we decide to do this.”

“And I can be the Might scout.” Ann responded, clearly warm to the idea, “My speed makes me the perfect scout.”

But I shook my head at that:

“Speed is normally useful for scouting, sure, but that only makes sense if your partner can keep up with you. The point of having a Might scout, here, is to protect Al. He will be the primary person gathering all the information, and you obviously can’t afford to leave him behind. I am the best choice for this, since my endurance is better than yours. I can also more easily carry Al if he is hurt, and we need to retreat.”

She rounded on me now, angry:

“But I’m the better fighter! I have more experience, more training, and you aren’t much more skilled than I am. I could do a better job protecting him.”

I shook my head again, though I was a bit irritated at that comment:

“The paths of the mountain will be narrow, so your heavily movement-based fighting style will be seriously restricted. I am physically stronger than you are and able to last longer, so I would be better in this situation. Don’t be stubborn, Ann.”

“Stubborn? I’ll show you stubborn, you little-“

“Ann, please,” Victor interjected, “we know you are very strong, but Steve is right about this. Your strength would be better used protecting the rest of us while they are gone, especially if we get assaulted by more Ice Lights. Those things could prove deadly in larger numbers.”

Mollified, Ann sat back down from where she had been starting to get up. Conflict averted, we set to work planning what Al and I would need to bring for the scouting mission. We had Lynn refill our waterskins and made sure that we had a good balance of anything we might need.

Afterwards, we said our goodbyes and began starting up the trail nearby that wound between the two mountains. We trudged up the sloped path, wind whistling through the foreboding passage in front of us. The mountains promised a difficult road ahead. After a few minutes, we reached the entrance and ambled through it, putting the others out of sight, sending us delving into the bowels of the wintery peaks.