It took three days for D’Argen to start seeing shapes. They were still blurry and rough, but they had shades to them. When their owners spoke, it was even easier to determine which shape belonged to whom.

Yaling informed him that the reason his eyes were taking so long to heal properly was most likely because he strained them without healing for so long. Abbot apologized a few more times for blinding him as well. D’Argen brushed them both off and focused on Yaling’s whistled tunes or Abbot’s random theories.

Abbot was keeping a fire going the entire time, the scent of his mahee faint under the burning wood and tobacco smoke that surrounded them. The scents kept whatever it was that was making them hallucinate at bay, though they did hear the occasional scream in the distance below.

The fire, however, did very little to keep them warm from the cold snow and even colder winds. Thar, sitting further away from their little camp, had also barely moved in those three days. He spent it all sitting in silence and meditating, using the cold to fill up his mahee and then using his mahee to keep the cold away from them.

For every Never Born, their mahee replenished naturally over time. For a few of them, they could use their mahee to sustain their body, like how D’Argen consumed sound instead of food and drink. For even fewer of them, they could consume other elements to sustain their mahee. Thar was one of those very few. His aspect as a naturalist allowed him to use all naturalist spells but his core element was the strongest. Ice. On this mountaintop, in winter, the cold air around him was probably like a feast to gorge himself on. The only reason he was yet to be full was because he kept using his mahee to keep the cold away from D’Argen and their other three companions.

No.

Not the only reason.

Most likely, it was because of the binding chain still wrapped around his mahee for another twenty years. The same chain that made it impossible for him to have his fill. The same chain that did not allow him to draw his sword from his veins to fight and protect those around him.

D’Argen ran a hand down his sword’s sheath. It had a few scratches on it from years ago but was otherwise smooth. The sword inside it was cleaned before it was returned to him. As had been both of his daggers that he thought were lost to the snow.

A grunt to his side had D’Argen turning to look at Lilian’s shape. They had barely moved other than to drink tea and eat the meat Abbot cooked.

“D’Argen?” Lilian asked.

“Right here,” he replied immediately, reaching out to rest a hand on their leg.

Lilian’s shape shifted around until they were sitting up. D’Argen felt the last of the tension inside him fade away. A bubble of laughter built up inside his chest and then escaped.

“He has gone crazy,” Yaling said over his laughter. She sounded like she was smiling.

When Lilian said his name again, D’Argen felt that bubble inside his chest turn wet. He was glad that he was wearing a blindfold again as it quickly collected his tears before they became visible to the others.

“How are—”

“Come here,” Lilian interrupted and reached out to him. D’Argen shifted around until Lilian was sitting right beside him, touching from ankle to shoulder. They were much shorter than D’Argen so it was comfortable for them to lean their head against his shoulder.

A shuffle behind him had him tensing. Lilian grabbed his hand between both of theirs. A single finger hooked into the strings holding his left armguard closed and tugged gently.

“Ugh… no,” D’Argen groaned out when he felt something hot and heavy and warm drape over his shoulders. “Please tell me you did not skin the bear.”

“We skinned the bear,” Yaling replied with a grin in her voice from over him. She moved aside through the ice crystals Thar must have created. D’Argen appreciated being able to hear where everybody was moving to and fro.

He was not, however, appreciative of the gift draping his shoulders. “You are a menace,” he said. “You didn’t have time to treat it and now I will smell like the dead for days!”

“And there is a hole right here,” Lilian added in a much more subdued tone. D’Argen could not see the hole in question.

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“Would you rather you freeze to death?” Abbot asked from the other side of the fire.

“With Thar here? It would never happen.”

“Shut up and cuddle me,” Lilian mumbled into his shoulder.

They sounded better. They sounded like they would not be needing any more of that horrible tea that Abbot was brewing. They were calm. D’Argen was itching to ask what caused the screams and fix the problem, but a gentle tug on his armguard had him snapping his mouth closed.

He shifted under the untreated bear skin until he could wrap his free arm around Lilian and tug them in closer. Lilian let go of his armguard long enough to grab the edges of the bear fur and close it in front of them. It created a foul-smelling pocket of warmth.

“You should sleep,” Lilian muttered to him again. “It will help your eyes heal faster.”

“It’s day.”

“Better to be awake at night. In case the… screams start up again.”

D’Argen groaned but he agreed. He shifted around again, pulling and tugging at Lilian until they snapped at him in annoyance. He could barely hold back the grin at hearing Lilian getting back into their usual mood. He shifted around a bit more until he was more comfortable. With Lilian between his legs, D’Argen draped himself over them completely and used them as a bed to sleep. Lilian only grumbled a few more times before leaning back into him, giving him support.

When he woke up again, it was still bright. Lilian shifted under him, signifying they too were awake. D’Argen immediately shifted to get off them but then strong fingers clutched tight and kept him from moving. He froze. They let go of his arms and one finger hooked back into the strings of his armguard. It tugged gently. Three times.

“How are you?” D’Argen whispered through a smile right into their ear.

“Not good,” Lilian replied slowly.

D’Argen felt his smile wavering only for a moment before he forced it still and wide. His eyes were getting wet again. He sniffled once then cleared his throat and said, “want to talk about it?”

“Not yet,” Lilian answered. All was good. They would talk.

“Got it. You know I’m here for you. Always.”

“I know.”

“Good.”

Silence lapsed between the two and only then did D’Argen realize it was too quiet. He lifted his head then one hand to thumb up the edge of his blindfold. All he saw was white, white, white, and a blazing fire.

“Where are the others?”

“Your eyes are still not working properly?”

“Rough shapes only. I don’t see them.”

Lilian took his other hand and folded all of his fingers except the pointer. They then guided that hand to point at a random spot of white to the side of the fire. “Abbot and Yaling are sleeping,” Lilian said then moved his hand to point to a field of white. “Thar is meditating.” They dropped his hand from pointing but kept it between their own.

“Thank you.”

“Why are your eyes taking so long to heal?”

“Maybe… Yaling said because I stressed the injury.”

Lilian hummed and pushed back to burrow deeper into his embrace.

“Tell me,” D’Argen started in a quiet whisper, not wanting to wake up the other two, “what do you see?”

“We are above the clouds.”

“Oh! I wish I could see it! Is it beautiful?”

“It is bright,” Lilian replied with a mocking tone and an obvious smirk in their voice.

“That… does not tell me anything.”

“I know. I guess you will have to wait until you can see it for yourself.”

D’Argen grunted when he felt an elbow jab into his side.

“And you, you idiot, you should have told the others you were wounded earlier.”

“What?”

“Your leg? Abbot did not notice the wound until he smelled it. It could have gotten infected. Personally, I think that is why your eyes are taking so long to heal. Your legs are more important.”

D’Argen grinned wide. He loved hearing Lilian speak like this. The soft scent of dew that came out of them revealed that they were the reason the fire was still blazing strong, but it was that jab and their tone that told him Lilian was fine. Or, at least, better than before.

He would wait until Lilian was ready to tell him what happened. He could be patient.

Sometimes.

“I will make you a tea later. Something specific for the eyes. I have a herb on me that may help.”

D’Argen only nodded in reply.

A few hours later, Abbot and Yaling woke up. Lilian pushed out of D’Argen’s embrace and started pulling together some herbs. Abbot took to the bear meat and placed huge chunks over the fire.

As horrible as the tea that Lilian brewed smelled, it was still better than the meat cooking over the fire. D’Argen had shuffled further away from the fire to try and avoid the stench of torn flesh roasting.

When the sun started setting, D’Argen felt it. Abbot switched out for Lilian in keeping the fire going strong and blazing. The cold wind returned for a moment before Thar’s mahee corralled it into a warmer breeze.

D’Argen breathed warm air into his cupped hands and muttered, “This is not normal.” Lilian had yet to voice their displeasure about the cold so D’Argen decided to make up for it. “How soon can we go down? During the day is best, yes?”

“I think,” Thar started from right behind him, startling D’Argen. He thought the man was still meditating somewhere and blending into the white landscape. Thar released his mahee even more, removing the scent of cooked meat and herbs from around D’Argen, and his next step crunched ice under him. “I think we should wait for your eyes to heal.”

“Why wait for me?”

“We were talking earlier,” Yaling started, “and we think you should run us all down. As fast as possible. No stopping at all, if you can make it. Otherwise, whatever was causing us to see and hear things, it may affect us again.”

D’Argen nodded. It made sense.

Lilian shoved another cup of the horrible tea into his hands and then shoved their way under the bear skin beside him to keep warm. It was as close to a complaint as he would get and he loved it.

“I have added in something to help you sleep,” Lilian said after D’Argen took the first sip. He almost spat it out. “Tomorrow, your eyes will be better by tomorrow, as long as you sleep and rest.”

D’Argen swallowed the bitter tea, grimaced, and then downed the rest of it as fast as possible. He wanted to be out of here.