LV.

“For one final time young lass; by the curse, what dost thou plan to find?”

Reeled off the old goddess, nonetheless, the girl listened not,

Merely cursing under her breath as the bitter cold she fought

Chilled her down to the very bones, and whilst her plans had all aligned,

She could not have imagined the prospect of a snowstorm’s surprise.

Yet, slow down she could not, for fear of her tribe’s pursuit unwise.

Her travels northward need-be continued with pace and clear mind,

Even when the snowfall of knee height, demanded all her strength combined.

LVI.

Her slender yet strong build struggled to make solid progress

Through the difficult, icy terrain; all while the grating voice

Of the divine made efforts to undermine the headstrong choice

To persist in the blizzard. Lo! Up ahead she saw something egress

And appear at the edges of her sight. A natural, rocky ceiling

Of a stone-faced, steeply-angled gorge. Winter now revealing

A vast riverbed, humbled to a brook during the white dressed

Moons, awaiting the water’s release of Young Verdure’s excess

LVII.

Thereupon, she could claim a few resting breaths of reprieve

From this raging storm. As she reached the rocky overhang,

A cave’s entrance awaited her further inward as the breeze sang

Along the large grey boulder behind which it hid. Relieved

For long, she was not. With every step, an ominous tension grew

In the flow surrounding her. This entrance made her feel askew.

As anything could be waiting inside, she did her spear-staff retrieve,

Gripping it hard and inched closer, counting on her vigorous heave.

LVIII.

Aurianne uttered with a reserved voice, her demeanour contrasting

Her usual self: “Ríona, please! I know we might not see

Eye to eye on a vast array of matters…” She made a plea.

“However, trust me for once and do so without delay or waiting

On fate! Keep thy wits about thee and do not enter that cave!”

The blizzard’s winds began crashing into the entrance wave

After wave, forcing the duo to rush inwards and hiding

Away behind a stone, as the wind kept over their heads blasting.

LIX.

Then Ríona extended her digits and charmed the flow about her,

Producing a radiant light in the palm of her hand.

Before them shaped a receding wall made from rocklike sand

Slowly sloping downward, further away from the lit up blur

That was the flowlight. Though the howling outside persisted

And a few snowflakes still rushed in behind as if assisted

By a force Innerwordly, they were safe from the cold stir

Of the blizzard. At last, the demigoddess did her thoughts confer.

LX.

“Alas, we have no choice now but go onwards.” She exclaimed

But was promptly interrupted, “Hark thee! Halt still this moment!”

The goddess cut in, having read every nook, cranny, and component

Of the youth’s mind in these past few hours after having been drained

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Of her wakefulness. “Thou hast no plan. Thou wishest to blunder

Thy way into finding this icon thy mind hast built up with wonder

From my tales? The Tsar is a lost man, forsaken and duly shamed

For his madness! I have told thee; he cannot answer thy question pained!”

LXI.

This stopped Ríona in her track as she began her reply

With ferocity: “This is convenient for you, is it not? You with

Your little game of lies, schemes, delving deeper into myth.

Always with remarks, always with scrutiny? I cannot lie,

I know my chances slim, but I’m taking destiny into my grasp,

Forging my own path, damned be all!” she scoffed with a loud gasp

And stood up from her crouched stance before adding a baulking sigh:

“Whatever waits inside; they’ll be more helpful than your false cry”

LXII.

Aurianne now in shock, exclaimed: “Me, unhelpful? All I’ve

Ever done has been me giving my all to thee, dear lass!”

This annoyed Ríona more than ever: “Your tales caused this impasse

At which we stand! Your handiwork, your lies through which I strive

To find the truth! Why did you have the Legend’s Quarry removed?

What lays inside the poor Tsar’s mind?” her mental toll disapproved

With her anger. The goddess knew little would satisfy the girl’s drive

In search of clarity, thus she looked for a ways to contrive.

LXIII.

One plan spurred to her mind’s forefront. If only she could get

Close enough, she’d be able to bury the truth hiding

Inside the elder demigod’s body. With resigning

Inflection she spoke: “All right! I’ll help thee find this Tsar, don’t fret!”

This brought Ríona to a halt. Though often after nagging

At the goddess, she’d give in and amuse such curious thinking,

Yet this was too easy, farfetched after the trickery she set

In motion this past night. In doubt, she took caution as if ‘ere a threat

LXIV.

Alas, before she could even pursue the spirit’s intention,

A reverberating noise came from deeper inside the grotto,

Bringing interruption to Ríona’s mistrustful mind’s flow

Through which she couldn’t untangle the plans of Aurianne’s invention.

The sounding quickly became her priority as it seemed to advance

Ever closer. By mistake, she let go of the light which would dance

And flicker about the cavern, casting light in vast dimensions

Along all the aciculate dripstones, the ground’s fangs now in attention

LXV.

Slowly, the reverberations became three distinct sets of paces;

Accompanied by sporadic earthfall, though one step lagged.

Soon followed peculiar low cackles, grunts and other jagged

Bellows that certainly did not come from any gentle places

Which Ríona would know. Without a doubt not Outerwordly.

Then one of them spoke up to a shout, yet still sound unclearly

Echoed about due to the cave’s natural reverbing spaces,

And continued to leave aural sensations with haunting graces.

LXVI.

The voice was raspy yet feminine with a spine-chilling

Animalistic peculiarity looming about it,

And heartbeat after heartbeat, step after step, bit by bit

The figures approached as the duo waited silently, revealing

Two, not three outlines as Ríona had previously believed.

Indeed, one appeared crouched and missed a front limb, the other removed

And stoic. Ríona now forthwith recognized these thrilling

Beings: The Fox; rabid, and the Maven were now appearing