"Nice to go about without the rucksacks." Sam comments, rolling his shoulders as our team follows the trail of the river, "Feet are still pretty tired though."

"We can take a break once we reach the package." Carol answers in a muffled, "Though if the wind keeps increasing like this, I'd recommend we head back to camp immediately."

I click my tongue as my face is pelted by another wave of snow flurries. We had been walking for a good part of the day, and the closer we got to the package's location, the worse the weather became. Carol and her fox are still taking point, leading us through the Reality Shift, but sometimes are needed to squint to see her past the curtain of descending snow.

"Are you scared we might get cut off from camp?" James asks, holding his arm to his mouth to prevent snow from getting in.

"Uh huh." Carol says, brushing off the snow plastering her clothes, "The Rift Mapper doesn't help with weather reports, so I'm just going to roll with my ranger instincts on this."

"So your ranger instincts." I ask from the side, "They telling us anything about what's ahead. Is it dangerous?"

"All I sense is snow, snow and more snow." Carol quips, "No wildlife, even the most bloodthirsty bioform, would venture out in this weather though."

"If you say so." I settle down, trying to ignore the sense of unease smothering me.

"Do you suffer from paranoia, Adam?" Sam suddenly pipes up.

"Of course not." I scoff, "I just like being careful."

"No. Your behavior is far more than that." Sam shakes his head, "Its like you're constantly on edge ever since we entered Winter Rift."

"Don't forget last night's freak out." James unhelpfully adds.

"Who freaked out?" I object loudly, "Certainly not me."

"You were tossing and turning in your sleep." Carol says, looking back at me, "And growling like an animal. When Bobby tried to sniff you, you went and slugged him on the snout."

"We're in the middle of a Reality Shift." I deny, my brow scrunching up in consternation, "Its normal to be slightly tense."

"No. There's been no danger so far in this expedition, Adam." Sam disputes, "What's going on with you is not normal. You might need to get a psych eval for PTSD."

"I'm not crazy." I say with finality, indicating that this conversation is over.

"I'm not saying you are -" Sam tries to get a word in, but James quickly shakes his head, having noticed my fuming expression.

"Let's stay focused, yeah?" James quickly defuses the situation, and I give an affirmative grunt. Carol returns to navigating us through the snowstorm, and silence reigns once more.

But what Sam said remains uncomfortably stuck in my mind.

I've been having visions. And conversations with my 'heart'. It made sense while I was experiencing these events, but talking about them just sounds crazy, doesn't it? Any bystander would probably think I was talking to myself while hallucinating. And the worst part of it all? Other people might believe them and have me committed to an asylum, no matter how much I protest.

Crazy people always think they're not insane after all.

Hold it together. No matter what happens, I need to hold it together. I know what I experienced to be true. That fact will never change.

"How much longer?" Sam complains, "My feet feel like they're going to fall apart."

"We should be getting close." Carol answers, peering into the whirling snowfall, "That's what the Rift Mapper says anyway."

"There's something up ahead. We just need to keep walking forward." I grunt, as my eyes pick up a pair of halos, the same kind that James and Sam have.

"How would you know?" Carol questions, "I'm a ranger and I can't sense anything through the snow."

"I've got a sensitive gut." I shrug, not bothering to engage in any far fetched explanations.

"Or your paranoia is acting up again." Sam flatly states.

"No wait. Adam is correct." Carol suddenly picks up the pace, "I smell something in the air. Blood, I think."

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"Weapons ready everyone. Sam, stay behind us." James immediately takes charge, "Adam, with me."

Huh, someone's being very take charge today. I nevertheless hold my peace and follow James's lead, advancing alongside Carol and her fox. All of us have our weapons out as Buddy starts to yiff agitatedly. The curtain of snow parts, revealing a metal coffin partially buried in the snow. A pair of men wearing those strange halos have draped themselves across the coffin, their eyes closed in deep sleep.

"What the hell?" I curse, noting the extensive injuries both men bear as well as how incredibly posh their clothes are. Those suits the corpses have on would be worth a fair few credits, given how much fine silk had gone into their manufacture.

"No signs of struggle." Carol concludes as she sweeps the area with her rifle, "Whatever happened to those guys, it didn't happen here."

James stalks forward cautiously before taking the pulse of both men. A quick shake of his head tells us what everyone had already guessed. Both men were long dead.

"The package is this coffin then?" I rap the object's side, the metal feeling surprisingly weak, "Those guys sacrificed their lives to bring it here. Real dedication there."

"And they still protect their charge even in death." James sounds both morose and to my amazement, slightly inspired by this observation. He begins prying both corpses away from the coffin, respectfully laying them on the ground and giving us an unimpeded view of the coffin itself.

"Wow." Carol mutters, taking in the coat of arms stenciled on the coffin.

"Yeah. Wow." I dumbly agree. No wonder the Grandmaster wanted this coffin retrieved so urgently. That's the personal coat of arms of Icepolis's imperial family. Were those corpses once palace servants?

"Stop gawking you two." Sam pushes both of us aside before bending over and feeling up the side of the coffin.

"What're you doing?" Carol asks as Sam's fingers trace their way along the coffin's smooth surface.

As Sam continues to grope about, James gets on his knees and starts to pray in silence. First we saw the corpses at the station, now another pair with the package. The morbidity of it all is probably starting to get to James as well. He wasn't this solemn when we were burying the corpses at the station.

"Got it." Sam finally says, her fingers tapping rhythmically against the coffin, causing a panel on the side to slide open.

"The coffin has a secret compartment?" I comment.

"Its not a coffin." Sam responds as she shows us what's inside the compartment. There's a screen showing various diagnostics as well as a number pad.

"Can't make sense of it, sorry." Carol apologetically states as I nod along in agreement.

"This is a life support capsule." Sam explains, "And its been loaded with a patient inside. My guess is that the patient is the real package we need to get back to the Guild."

"And I don't suppose the patient can walk back under his own power?" I ask, expecting the worst already.

"No, otherwise the capsule wouldn't be required." Sam throws up his hands helplessly, "I can release the capsule's locks, but it wouldn't do us any good."

"Can't you heal the patient with your medic powers?" I frown, "You fixed me up just fine after the battle against the Primal Ape."

"This is different." Sam demurs, "The patient's suffering from severe lung damage from smoke inhalation as well as several busted bones. I don't have the supplies to fix this level of injury. We need a hospital for her."

"The patient is a 'her'?" James suddenly blurts out as his eyes widen in surprise.

"Out of everything I said," Sam scowls, "That's the only thing you were paying attention to?"

"Sorry. Sorry." James looks down, chastised.

"Whatever. The point is," Sam continues her explanation, "the capsule is what's keeping the patient alive. If we remove her, my guess is that she would quickly suffocate thanks to the lung damage."

"So it looks like we need to lug the whole capsule back then." Carol sighs, playing with the pair of handles mounted on both sides of the contraption.

"Will this affect our departure?" I query worriedly.

"It won't be easy carrying something this heavy under a snowstorm," Carol muses as she experimentally tugs at one of the handles, getting a feel of the capsule's weight, "We do have James with us though, and he's got that Warrior class enhanced strength."

"Hear that James?" Sam crows, "Its your time to shine."

"Uh, yeah." James says distractedly, getting up from his position next to the pair of corpses, "Will be there with you guys soon."

"Hoh." I grunt, narrowing my eyes at James.

"He's not as bad as he seems to be." Sam under a mistaken impression, whispers to me, "You'll get used to James. Eventually."

Unlike what Sam thinks, I don't have a bad impression of James. He's been impressive for the entire length of time I've known him. I'm just surprised that he's able to make one of the corpse's halos disappear. As James bends over to bow to the corpses one final time, I focus all my attention like a laser on him. James subtly shifts his body to block us from seeing the second corpse and the moment the bow is complete, that corpse's halo disappears as well.

But not before I notice one of James's hands tightened into a fist. I crack a grin at this realization. James knows about the halos as well, doesn't he? And he just grabbed whatever item causes it.

The halos exist. I'm not seeing things. I'm not going crazy. This is possibly the most relieved I've ever felt in my entire life.

"Get going James, use those muscly arms of yours." Carol pokes James in the arm, "Two people to a handle should do it."

"Its not easy maintaining the Warrior class transformation, y'know?" James says in a very aggrieved fashion.

"I'll feed you well back at Camp, dear." Carol grins as she stands behind James.

"You'll be feeding all of us." Sam grouches, prompting Carol to stick her tongue out playfully. Without another word, Sam gets in position behind me. Buddy stands at the head of our little formation, eager to depart.

"And let's go!" Carol cheers in high spirits.

You are in danger.

My breath catches harshly and right on cue, my heart starts thumping like mad. Not now. Please, not now.

Trust this feeling.

My senses begin to ratchet up and I can almost feel my muscles tighten like springs, the pent up energy within overwhelming.

Because if not -

"C'mon Adam, stop daydreaming and get those feet moving!" Carol complains.

- you will die.

My willpower breaks and I throw myself to the ground, knocking Sam off his feet as well.

Just in time for a gunshot to ring out.