Chapter 46

Death on the Mountain

The going was tough as they began their trek across the mountains. On the first day, they had to scale a ten-story cliff. This was made easier due to the large amount of rope they procured from the ship. For all the ice and bitter cold, the climb was especially treacherous.

On the third day away from the ship, they came across fragments of a road that wended its way through the mountain range in the general direction they needed to travel. They decided to stick with the road. The condition of the road got worse the further north they went until it was a little more than a patchy trail.

On the morning of the fourth day, they spotted, in the distance on the other side of a valley, a huge gray building on a hillside, its walls made of large slabs of roughly hewn stone. Despite its size, the building lacked the ornate opulence of a palace; it appeared as something more than a common mansion. A flat expanse of snowy field surrounded the building. Perhaps it had been a mountain vineyard in the climate of another age.

“What is that?” Maltokken asked Theo as he gazed at the building with the sight of a bird of prey.

“I should say it is a monastery of a sort.”

“Inhabited?” Rahl asked.

“I see no signs of it.”

Although the building was within sight, to reach it, the party had to follow a tortuous trail that skirted the sides of mountains. The snow-covered trail was in good shape in this area except for some sections that had been narrowed or wiped out by avalanches. Connie tied the party together with ropes in case someone lost their step.

Compared to the mountains on the south side of the valley, the mountains on the north side of the valley were much more rugged. On this side, a steep cliff over several dozen stories high on average hemmed the road. Most party members walked close to the ruddy wall of the mountain as they followed the trail. Rahl pointed out to the party large dog-like paw prints in the snow on the trail. He said they belonged to thrakes. Though the prints on the trail became more numerous the further they traveled up the trail, no one saw further signs of the fearsome creatures.

The sky was clear when they camped out in an ice cave for the evening. When morning came, the southeastern sky was filled with deep green clouds. After breakfast, Snow disappeared for a short while to cast a spell to predict the weather. She returned with the news that a blizzard was on its way, estimated to reach the valley in full force by noon.

Rahl told the party that it would be a close call as to whether they could reach the structure by the time the blizzard hit them, so they made haste down the trail. Soon, the huge building was in sight, no more than a half hour away at their present rate of travel. Winded from a combination of altitude and walking the trail at a brisk pace, they decided to rest for a bit at a wide part of the trail.

Connie has just gotten done with distributing food from the Threshibian bag she kept tied at her belt when, unexpectedly, from around the blind turn of the ledge behind them crept a pack of thrakes. Most members of the party saw the thrakes at the same time. They jumped to their feet to prepare for their defense. Connie thought this wide section of trail was an unfortunate place to battle thrakes, as all members of the party were vulnerable here.

This was the first time Connie had ever seen a thrake, and these appeared far more fearsome than what she’d imagined them to look like from Rahl’s descriptions. They were large creatures, their shoulders at least as high as her hip. They looked like thrakes with exaggerated features that made them look like they crawled out of hell. Their eyes were swollen and huge, their snouts hairless, and their teeth were more like the toothy maw of a shark than a common wolf of earth. Their fur was white along the back with a brownish-gray underside. Six of these snarling monstrosities crept toward the party. Although they had made their appearance known, they seemed yet unsure of their course of action.

Rahl unsheathed his sword in an instant. Its blade glowed with a dull blue haze. “They’ve been tainted,” he called out to the party. “They’re poisoned by Chaos.”

“They’ve must have eaten tainted meat,” Theo said.

The party quickly fanned out as wide as they could on the icy ledge while still maintaining a safe distance from the precipice. Rahl, Maltokken, and Tristana, with her enchanted axe, went to the front with their weapons drawn. Directly behind them stood Snow, Connie, and Theo.

The snarling thrakes crept toward the party, their heads low, thick brown saliva dripping from their mouths like warm honey. As they agreed upon, Connie cast additional Temper and Keeness spells on the party’s weapons. Snow cast bodily protection spells on Rahl, Maltokken, and Tristana. Theo cast his best Fear spell at the thrakes in hopes of halting a possible confrontation.

“By the gods,” Theo said.

“What is it, Theo?” Connie asked.

“Fear does not work.”

Before Theo could utter another word, one of the thrakes lunged at Rahl. A few seconds later, another thrake leaped at Maltokken. A third thrake charged at Tristana with its fanged maw open to rip out her throat.

Rahl swung his sword. With the firm thrust of his sword, he plunged the blade deep into the chest of the thrake. The thrake whined loudly while it thrashed about on the blade while he jerked the edge toward the neck of the beast.

Maltokken struck the thrake on the shoulder with his blade. Though his enchanted blade cut into the thrake’s shoulder, it did not prevent the thrake from completing its attack. Maltokken fell to his feet with this thrake on top of him. He screamed. The thrake tore at his throat, but each time it thrust its head forward for a bite, a loud blue spark of Snow’s protection spell snapped at its maw.

Tristana stood squarely in front of the thrake that charged her. At the last moment, she slipped deftly to the side. Before the thrake could turn its head to continue its attack, she swung her axe down on the thrake's head, cleaving its skull wide open. Black chaos-tainted blood and brains splattered everywhere. The thrake let out a whimper and fell, convulsing to the ground.

Now the next group of thrakes leaped fearlessly at the party. Connie cast a Bonebreak spell on a large thrake that slipped between Rahl and Maltokken and was headed toward her. The spell went off flawlessly, and the front legs of the thrake collapsed beneath the creature. The thrake let out a loud yelp. One on the ground, and thrake writhed toward Connie on its broken legs with rabid hatred in its black eyes. Connie backed away. She quickly cast another Bonebreak spell on the thrake, this time directing the spell at its ribs. The thrake let out a loud cry, then lay still on the ground for an instant, seemingly unable to understand what had happened to it. Then, to Connie’s astonishment, the thrake still struggled toward her, snapping at the air between them as if she were already within its grasp. Before it could make more headway, she cast two more Bonebreak spells. The thrake let out another yelp. Still, the vicious creature continued toward her on the stumps of its broken limps, seemingly immune to the incredible pain. Now Connie became frightened and kept casting Bonebreak on the thrake until the wood node expired. By this time, the thrake could do no more than writhe whining on the ground helpless with compound fractures in every major bone in its body.

Theo cast a spell on one of the thrakes that had homed in on Tristana. The first thrake suddenly lost interest in the woman. It began whining and snapping at the air around it like a rabid animal. Suddenly, it turned on the thrake beside it. The two confused thrakes attacked each other with all the viciousness of hated enemies. Theo cast another spell, and both thrakes fearfully leaped from the ledge to their deaths hundreds of stories below.

Snow cast two spells during this time. She pointed her fingers at the thrake on top of Maltokken. A white flash of light blasted from her hand. The light burst into the thrake’s body with a muffled thud, sending bits and pieces of the creature flying in all directions. Blood, chunks of flesh and bone, and fur rained on the party. Snow cast the same spell at another thrake running toward them for the attack. It also exploded as if it had swallowed a stick of dynamite.

Maltokken rose to his feet. Undaunted by the deaths of their mates, the last two thrakes were now at the party. Rahl swung his sword at the first thrake. His blade swiped cleanly through its dense flesh. The creature fell to the ground in two halves. Now that Maltokken had regained his balance, he swung at the second thrake. His blade struck the creature along the jawline. This cleanly severed the lower half of the thrake’s head. The creature let out a guttural snarl then fell back. It appeared ready to run when Tristana took advantage of the situation. She heaved her axe down on the thrake’s back. The blade sank into the creature up to its handle. Though mortally wounded with black blood spattered on its white fur, the creature unexpectedly bolted away from the party with the axe stuck firmly in its back. Tristana hung onto the handle. Now the thrake dragged her along the icy ground. Snow quickly cast another white bolt at the fleeing creature. The thrake exploded into a bloody mess.

Now the party sat around, panting and covered with thrake blood. Everyone went about bandaging their wounds. Theo went over to Tristana, helped her to her feet, and then retrieved her axe, which was still buried in the body of the mangled thrake. After leading Tristana back to the party, he cast purification spells on the party to prevent them from catching the dreaded disease of Chaos taint.

Rahl gazed at the carcasses of the dead thrakes and then looked across the ledge to the building, which was still a half-league away along the twisting ledges. “We had best hurry from here. Other thrakes will smell their blood, and more will come. Let us go now.”

The words had no more than left his lips when three more thrakes appeared on the ledge behind them. They glowered hungrily at the party with their dark eyes, snarling. One of these thrakes was almost the size of a small pony. It ran for Snow, who had not seen them.

“Snow!” Connie yelled.

Snow turned around, but the thrake had already chosen her and bolted toward her at tremendous speed. Caught off guard, she prepared a spell, but it appeared that the thrake would reach her before she could cast it. Fortunately, Rahl had seen the thrake at the same time as Connie did. He dashed toward the creature with his sword held high above his head. He swung his weapon just as the thrake leapt for her. His blade found the thrake in midair. With the strength of both arms behind the swing, Rahl’s sword passed easily through the flesh and bone of the thrake’s body. It fell lifeless to the ground at Snow’s feet.

The second thrake was on Rahl immediately before he could recover his swing. It knocked him to the ground and snapped viciously at his throat. He grabbed the thrake by its neck and held it there. Fat, blue sparks from the protection spell jumped out at the thrake’s mouth each time it tried to bite him. The third thrake leaped on the struggling Rahl. Despite the protection spell, it began tearing into his leg. The ground around Rahl darkened with his blood. Connie fumbled for the fire node at her belt. Snow set off her spell first. The thrake at Rahl’s throat exploded into thrake-bits. The concussion blasted the thrake Rahl’s legs off the cliff.

“Rahl!” Snow cried out.

Snow knelt beside Rahl, who lay incapacitated from the attack. Blood flowed copiously from his wounds. He looked pale, close to death.

“Theo!” Snow called out, looking for the spirit mage to staunch the bleeding.

Connie’s heart ached at the sight of Rahl in such a condition, but she did not have time to contemplate his condition for long before two more thrakes appeared. They skittered across the icy trail toward Rahl and Snow.

Snow got to her feet and began the incantation for another offensive spell. This time Connie was ready first. Using the entire power of the eight-power node, she pointed her finger at the thrake closest to Snow. A fat tongue of flame from a FlameBall belched from Connie’s fingertips. The thrake was immediately immolated in hot yellow flames. The thrake made a loud yelping sound as it ran around the ledge, crazy with pain, until it inadvertently tumbled off the precipice, leaving a thick trail of black smoke in its wake.

Maltokken was there with his sword to attack the second thrake. He swung his sword wildly at the creature. When he did, he slipped on the ice. His swing missed the thrake by several inches. The thrake turned leaped upon Maltokken. As he fell to the ground, his sword flew out of his hand. It struck Snow on the hip as she was finishing her spell. The flat side of the weapon bounced off her harmlessly, but it was enough to disrupt her spell. Instantly, there came a loud explosion of white light in the air a few paces in front of Snow’s face. To Connie, it sounded like a handgrenade had gone off.

“Snow!” Connie screamed.

The sorceress tumbled backward, stunned by the explosion, as she clutched her bleeding face. Before Connie could react, the sorceress fell off the precipice.

A few seconds later, a rumbling sound ensued from the mountain. Boulders and giant fragments of ice fell from the mountain above the ledge. Connie felt the ledge beneath her feet. She leaped toward safer ground, but she was too late. The ledge gave way with a brittle, cracking sound. She dropped one story and began sliding feet first down a steep, icy slope just below the ledge. She knew somewhere below, the steep slope fell away to the precipice. She clawed the ice frantically with her hands to break her slide. Somewhere along the way down, the Threshibian bag at her belt opened. Some of its contents fell out. They scattered and slid on the ice along with her.

The cliff dropped off sharply, only a few stories beneath her feet—and there was nothing to stop her descent. In an act of desperation, she pulled out her flaming dagger from its metal sheath. Then, just as her feet passed over the edge to oblivion, she thrust the enchanted blade into the sheen slope of ice. With the hiss of hot metal on ice, the dagger sank to the hilt; it halted her slide. Now her hips and legs dangled over the precipice. The next stop was at least two hundred stories down. Connie’s heart raced, but before she could breathe a sigh of relief, rocks, chunks of ice, and some items falling out of the Threshibian bag struck her on the face and arms while she clutched the hilt of the dagger. Each piece of detritus that hit her threatened to dislodge her tenuous hold on the dagger. Finally, the cascade of equipment ceased.

With the immediate danger of falling having passed, panting heavily, she took a moment to gather her strength while she hung over the crevice. When she felt able, she pulled herself up onto the thin, fragile ledge. She performed a quick inventory on herself. Aside from a slight sprain of her right ankle and a few scrapes and bruises, she was all right.

Connie gazed up at the slope where she slid down. She estimated she had slid almost five stories before she managed to break the slide. The steep, white cliff was strewn with blankets, extra pieces of armor, node cells, food, and other supplies. It looked like the entire contents of the Threshibian bag had been emptied out. With regret, she realized a great deal of their equipment had disappeared over the cliff. Then Connie spied the wood jewelry box where Snow stored the artifacts. To Connie’s horror, the box was open and lying face down on the steep slope of ice. The artifacts had most likely fallen out. The box was about ten paces up. She crawled up to the box, chipping footholds in the ice as she went. Carefully, she lifted the box, ready to catch anything underneath. To her relief, there was still something there. Her relief turned to dismay when she found only one fold of cloth instead of two. She took a quick inventory. The Stellarad Marax was there—but the talisman was missing!

“Damn it!” she shouted, stuffing Stellarad Marax back into the Threshibian bag.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Now she scanned the slope of the cliff for any sign of the talisman. It was nowhere to be found. As a last resort, she checked the bag one more time. It definitely was not there. Now the wind was starting to blow. Dark, angry clouds loomed overhead. The first few flecks of snow fell from the sky. It appeared the blizzard that Snow had predicted was approaching fast.

Connie scaled the cliff to reach what was left of the party. About two stores from the top of the ledge, the slope steeply inverted to the point to where she could go no further. She checked the Threshibian bag; all the ropes had been used for the climbing were also missing.

“Hello! Is anybody up there?” she called out to the top of the ledge.

There was no response at first. She called again. She thought for a moment that her voice was being lost in the increasingly strong wind. Then she saw Tristana cautiously peering down at her.

“Tristana! I need some help!”

A few seconds later, Theo joined Tristana at the top of the ledge. “Connie!” he shouted. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine. Drop us a rope.”

Shortly thereafter, a rope dangled in front of Connie from the ledge above. She climbed the rope to the top of the ledge. Once at the top, she saw that Rahl lay unconscious nearby. Maltokken lay in state with his throat ripped out to his spinal cord. The creature had nearly decapitated him before Theo killed it. Connie noticed a hole cut into Maltokken’s chest from which Theo had removed the warrior’s remaining humor. Dead thrakes were everywhere. Snow, of course, was gone. Connie felt dispirited for losing her mentor, but there was no time for emotion. They were still on a mountainside, and a blizzard was coming. There would be time for tears later, if that time ever came.

“I need the bag—quickly!” Theo said to Connie.

Connie gave Theo the Threshibian bag. While Theo searched through it, Connie knelt at Rahl’s side. She bit her knuckle when she viewed his injuries. His left arm and leg were ripped open to the muscle. His blood was everywhere, and his face looked pale. Incredibly, he still breathed, although unsteadily. Only the frigid air had kept him from bleeding to death on the spot. Connie took Rahl’s beloved sword from his hand and sheathed it at his belt.

“My sweetheart,” she whispered in his ear. And then she kissed him. His lips were cool. “I’ll watch over you as you watched over me.”

“Where are my humors?” Theo asked in a panic as he rifled through the Threshibian bag.

“Probably gone,” Connie answered somberly.

“Gone? How can they be gone? How am I supposed to heal Rahl without humors?”

“Theo, we have another problem greater than the loss of your humors,” she replied without addressing his question. “We have lost one of the artifacts.”

Theo stared at her, his mouth agape, incredulous at the news. “Which one?”

“The talisman.”

“The one we need to safely approach the Atranox?”

“That’s the one.”

“What happened to it?”

“The Threshibian bag opened up when I was sliding down the cliff. It fell out and slid off the cliff. That’s probably where most of your humors are, too.”

“How could you let that happen?”

“Theo, I just about fell off the cliff myself. Aren’t you thankful that I didn’t?”

“But I am completely powerless without those humors.”

“And I lost some nodes, too—some very nice ones.”

The spirit mage looked as though he were going to faint. “We are doomed!” he shouted. “We are finished! The quest has failed!

“Can’t you fly down there to retrieve the talisman along with your humors?”

“I can’t—I need a Choleric humor containing the right spell to change my form.”

“We can find you another humor. We’ll kill more thrakes if we have to. You can take their humors.”

Theo shook his head. “We can’t use them; they’re tainted.” He let out a dry laugh. “And even if I go down there, I’ll have to wait until after the blizzard. Then I won’t be able to retrieve anything from beneath a mountain of snow!”

“Well, then it’s you, me, and Tristana,” she said.

“No, Connie. The quest is finished. We have failed.”

“Are you implying that we should just cut our throats and be done with it?”

At that moment, Tristana, who had been leaning against the wall of ice, sat up, suddenly alert. She removed her dagger from its scabbard.

“What is it?” Connie asked her, looking toward the south part of the ledge. She heard the crunching of ice. Then a white, pale hand appeared at the edge of the cliff. Connie knew immediately who it was.

“Snow!”

Connie and Theo went to the brink of the precipice to lift Snow from the cliff edge. As Connie lifted the sorceress, Connie looked down into the precipice. Except for a rough outcropping of rocks that jut from the wall of the cliff two stories down, there was nothing but a straight drop. Connie thought it was fortunate that Snow had fallen against the rocks; otherwise, she would have most certainly died from the fall.

They dragged Snow over to the flat part of the ledge. Connie noticed that her hair and part of her face and hair had been singed from the perverted spell. The sorceress also seemed unable to walk. The wind began to kick up again. The chilly air bit into their exposed skin.

“That was quite the spell I cast,” the sorceress said once they had carried her a safe distance from the precipice.

“I’m glad you’re all right.”

“I’m far from all right, Connie. I am badly injured. Where is Rahl?”

“He’s still alive,” Connie replied, not wishing to elaborate on Rahl’s lamentable injuries.

“And you, Connie?”

“I had a tumble down the mountainside, but I am fine.”

Connie explained briefly about the loss of the talisman and Theo’s humors. The sorceress listened in silence.

“And where is the Heptakon?” Snow asked. “Was it lost, too?”

Connie pulled up her left sleeve to reveal that she was wearing the bracelet.

“You’re wearing it?” she asked, nonplussed.

“Let’s just say I’ve taken possession of it since we got it back.”

“I’m glad you are, or else it might have been lost along with the talisman.”

“Perhaps so. And we also have the Stellarad Marax.”

“We would have all three artifacts if I hadn’t caused the avalanche,” Snow stated sullenly.

“It was not your fault, Snow. It was an accident.”

“If I had not perverted the spell—”

“You did not pervert the spell. Maltokken’s sword hit you. It disrupted the casting.”

“I haven’t perverted a spell in years,” Snow said as though feeling the need to defend her reputation.

“I’m telling you, Snow, you didn’t pervert the spell through any fault of your own.”

Theo, who had been gazing up at the thick, ice-laden clouds occluding the sunlight, spoke up. “Ladies! We can discuss this later. We need to find shelter. The blizzard is coming.”

“We can make it to the monastery if we hurry,” Connie said.

Snow shook her head. “I cannot go with you.”

Connie squeezed the sorceress’s shoulder to reassure her. “It is all right. We can lead you.”

“You cannot lead me. I no longer feel my legs. I think my back is broken.”

Connie glanced up at the spirit mage, who was now staring down at Snow with a grim expression.

“Can you do anything for her, Theo?”

“I cannot heal her unless I have the correct humor,” he answered.

“Can you help Rahl?”

“His wounds are great. He has lost a great deal of blood. Once again, I can help him only with the right humors.”

Connie sighed. “I wish Jalban were here.”

“Leave me behind,” Snow said. “I do not wish to be a burden to the party.”

“Nonsense,” Connie said. “You’re coming along with us.”

“We won’t leave you here, Snow,” Theo added.

“Ha! I outrank both of you. A blinded and crippled sorceress will slow you down. You will follow my command.”

Snow words were accented by the haunting, low howl of a thrake. Connie, Theo, and Tristana looked into the sleet-filled air around them in an effort to determine the direction of the howl. The thrake sounded close by.

“So what do you propose?” Theo asked the sorceress.

“I want you to take my humors. Use them to heal Rahl and retrieve the bracelet.”

This request startled Connie, for she knew it would result in death. “Snow! Please don’t say such a thing.”

“Hush, Connie. You know as well as I do that our quest must succeed at all costs. Theo, take them from me now. Take them before the blizzard comes, that is, if the thrakes don’t find you first.”

Connie unsheathed her dagger. She pointed the keen, flaming blade at Theo. “I won’t let you do this.”

“Put your weapon away,” Theo said. “Snow and I outrank you in this party.”

“Let him do this,” Snow said to Connie before she could speak. “This is my request.”

“Maybe we can come up with an alternative.”

“I appreciate your sympathy, but I am not fated to complete this quest.”

“Your mentor has spoken, Connie,” Theo said. “She is ordering you to stand aside, and so you must.”

Connie scowled at Theo, the flaming dagger clutched tightly in her hand. Then, realizing she could do nothing, she resheathed it.

Theo reached into his belt and withdrew his humor extraction knife. He knelt before Snow. The celestial sorceress weakly pulled away the fur to expose her robe underneath. Tristana, in seeing what was to be done, went over to Snow. She produced, seemingly out of nowhere, a cell for Snow’s humors. Theo unfolded the robe from Snow’s chest. Next, he cut away the band of cloth that wrapped her breasts—the cloth Cerinyans use instead of a bra.

Snow began to shiver with her chest laid bare to the icy air. Flecks of sleet landed on her exposed skin and melted into tiny pools. Theo hesitated with Snow’s breast bared below him. Connie wasn’t sure why.

“Do it quick, Theo,” Snow said, trembling.

“Patience. I have to concentrate.”

Now tears flowed copiously from Connie’s eyes. “Snow!”

“Don’t watch, Connie,” she whispered. “It will be better for you this way.”

Connie knelt at Snow’s head while Theo hovered the knife over the sorceress’s chest in a circular pattern and whispered some incantation. Tristana held the box close by, ready to receive Snow’s heart and the precious humors it contained. Finally, he placed the knife against her breastbone. A tiny bit of blood rose from beneath the sharpened edge where it contacted her skin and began to pool. Snow closed her eyes and lay still, breathing slowly, seemingly perfectly calm. Connie looked into her face and tenderly stroked her cheek. Her own heart swelled with the deepest love and respect for this woman she once hated.

“If it be of any condolence to those present, I will take no pleasure in what I’m about to do,” he said without emotion.

He squeezed the handle of the knife. Just as he was about to plunge it into her, Rahl shouted to him.

“No!”

Momentarily jarred at the sound of his voice, Connie, Theo, and Tristana turned to see that Rahl had regained consciousness and was now glaring at them from the ground where he lay.

“Do not touch her!”

“Rahl, we have to do this,” Theo said. “We need her humors to complete the quest.”

“Do not lay a hand on her. That is an order.”

Theo scowled at Rahl, then turned back to Snow, his knife still at her chest. “You are weak and delirious from a lack of blood,” he said. “I’m in charge of this quest now.”

“Like hell you are,” Rahl said.

On saying that, with his one good arm and leg, Rahl rose himself to his knees from the pool of frozen blood he’d been lying in. Then, using his sword to support his weight, he hefted himself to his feet. Now he stood looking down on the spirit mage, wobbling unsteadily. His face winced with pain. Connie was at Rahl’s side in an instant. She put her arm around him to hold him up. Rahl raised his sword. Theo looked terrified. He sheathed his knife and stood up and backed away from Snow.

“Who’s in charge of this quest, Theo?” Rahl asked him.

Theo did not reply. Rahl then looked over at Tristana, who still knelt beside him with the open box in her hand. She gazed up at Rahl calmly with a look of subtle amusement.

“And what are you looking at, Tristana? Wipe that smirk off your face and get away from her. You’re not taking any humors from our sorceress today.”

Tristana stood up and moved over to where Theo stood. She helped the spirit mage to his feet. Connie saw the box on the ground next to Snow. She quickly plucked it from the ground and tossed it over the precipice.

“Rahl!” Snow called out.

“Don’t you worry, Elenglea. We’ll take care of you.” Rahl said to the sorceress. He looked to Connie. “Cover up her chest. She should not have it exposed to the cold like that. She may catch an illness.”

Connie did this. Now the wind was beginning to blow harder. The wind chill was intensified. Rahl looked to the building. “We must leave now, or we will freeze to death out here.”

Theo gazed covetously at Snow while Connie wrapped the coat around the helpless sorceress. “Snow has Choleric humors, Rahl. Do you have any idea what we can do with that kind of humor?”

Rahl gave Theo a look of bitter disgust. “I don’t care what kind of humors she has.”

“But she offered them to me.”

“It does not matter, Theo. If you so much as lay a hand on any living party member, I will cut out your heart myself and leave it for the thrakes.”

Theo averted his gaze from Rahl, obviously cowed. Rahl fell back against the icy wall. Connie moved quickly to prop him up. He spoke to her in a hushed tone low enough that neither Theo nor Tristana could hear. His face was deathly pale.

“I do not know how much longer I can continue, Connie. I must rely upon you to see this quest through.”

“I will do whatever you ask,” she replied.

“May the gods guide you, then.” Rahl then addressed Theo. “I bestow upon Connie leadership of this party. From this moment on, you and I will obey her as you have obeyed me.” Rahl looked to Tristana. “And that means you too.”

Tristana responded with a glassy-eyed stare.

“Why Connie?” Theo asked. “I am next after Snow.”

“Because Connie is worthy of leading this quest.”

This implied that Theo was not. The spirit mage stared at Rahl in disgust.

“Don’t even think of casting a spell on me.” Rahl turned to Connie. “What is our plan?”

Connie’s could not answer immediately. Her mind was still reeling from the enormous burden Rahl had just placed upon her shoulders. She forced herself to speak. “We must go to the building,” she said, pointing to the building. Then she realized Rahl would not be able to make the journey. He would have to be carried, just as Snow did—and there were only the three of them. Connie looked to Theo.

“Can you help me?”

The spirit mage nodded once. He went over to Maltokken. He first inspected the body. Then he removed a mummified Melancholic humor a leather pouch at his hip and stuffed the humor into the dead man’s gaping chest cavity. Tristana produced a needle and thick, wiry thread from someplace. Theo quickly sewed up the dead man’s chest with the humor inside. Then Theo stood over Maltokken. He held his hands over Theo while chanting syllables incomprehensible to Connie. To her complete shock, Maltokken’s body began to tremble spasmodically. The spirit mage made some hand and arm gestures like a puppeteer. The dead warrior shambled clumsily to his feet. Connie stared at Maltokken with a mixture of wonder and horror. The man was certifiably dead, with part of his throat ripped out and his lower jaw hanging by a piece of skin.

Theo grinned at Connie, evidently proud of his feat. “What do you think?”

“Disgusting, Theo.”

“I knew you would say that.”

The party wended their way slowly along the slippery, narrow ledge toward the building. Connie, Theo, and Tristana traded off carrying Rahl. The dead Maltokken tirelessly carried Snow in his arms without complaint. This was a bonus. Connie thought seriously that for all the complaining Maltokken had done, they should have done this to him months ago. Secretly, Connie thought it fortunate that Snow was unable to see the creepy, trance-like expression on the dead thing that cradled her in its arms like she were its child.

Finally, the narrow walkways opened to a graded, snow-covered field on which the building lied. The structure was much larger up close than it appeared in the distance. Connie cast a few FlameBall spells on the snow to gain access to a great wood portal at the front of the structure. The wood of the door was in good shape. Connie had to cast a spell on one of the hinges to gain access to the building.

The building turned out to be an abandoned monastery. The accommodations awaiting them turned out to be small, spartan rooms filled with rotting wood furniture. Theo divined that the building and adjoining structures had been abandoned for at least a hundred years.

Leaving Maltokken to shuffle around the entry hall (so he wouldn’t freeze and become useless), they set up camp in an empty banquet hall while the winds of a blizzard wailed outside. They found enough wood to start a large fire at one of the simple hearths that ringed the hallway. Connie laid Snow and Rahl together by close to the fire to keep them warm in the damp, clammy hall. Connie and Theo spent a greater part of the day bandaging the party’s wounds and applying some of Jalban’s leftover healing salve. By the evening, Rahl was in enormous pain. Theo cast sleep spells on him so that he would not suffer. Snow, despite her grievous injuries, did not complain of any pain. She lay by the bright blue fire without speaking. Connie gazed at the celestial sorceress’s aura. The energy she had depleted in the battle with the thrakes was slowly returning, although now her formerly snowy aura had taken on a pale yellow tint. Tristana sat cross-legged by the fire. Its blue ember flickered vibrantly in her dark eyes. Theo spent his time carefully embalming Maltokken’s fleshy, pea-green heart, sealing it within a container when he was finished. All during this time, the room was silent except for the wind outside and the crackling of the fire.

“Phlegmatic,” he said after a while. “Such a humor would not be useful to us at this time.”

“Isn’t one humor like any other?” Connie asked.

“Is a water node like any other?”

“I see your point.”

“Unlike your spells that you memorize, spirit spells lie within the humors themselves. I bind the dead humor to mine so that it may do my bidding.” He gazed down at the mummified remains of Maltokken’s heart within the glass container. “And there aren’t any spells in these humors that I can use to help us.”

Connie pressed her hands over her heart. “What are mine?”

“What do you mean?”

“My humors. What kind are they?”

“You have two Vitriolic and one Melancholic,” Theo replied. “And I should add that it’s extremely rare that a being should possess two different types of humor.”

“Then how can I have two different types?”

“You must have brought the Vitriolic humors from your old existence. I can say with reasonable certainty that your Melancholic humor belonged to Alyndia.”

“So, we can presume that Alyndia has two of her old Melancholic humors plus one of my Vitriolic?”

“Probably.”

“What does Snow have?”

“Hers are Choleric.”

“How about Rahl?”

“His are Melancholic.”

“Hmm. And Tristana?”

Tristana turned to Connie when the name was spoken.

“She possesses no humor of her own. She draws her energy from the negative energy plane. This pure negative energy can exist on our plane only because it is balanced by the coexistence of her amulet, which contains an equal amount of pure energy from the positive energy plane.”

“So, if Tristana’s amulet is destroyed, she will die?”

“Yes. And conversely, if Tristana dies, the amulet is destroyed.”

“That’s why Tristana wants her amulet back. She doesn’t want you to kill her.”

“No, quite the opposite. She wants her amulet because she desires to return to the negative energy plane. If I gave it back to her, she’d probably destroy it immediately.”

“You mean, she wants to die?”

“No, she wants oblivion. She wants to return to the negative material plane where she came from.”

Connie gazed at Tristana, who seemed to be listening intently. “I think she’s more than that, now. I think that being with us has changed her. Maybe she doesn’t mind being with us.”

“That could be, but remember that the nature of the negative energy plane is deconstruction. It is a very powerful force that’s always in her. This force is what drains your humors away if you look into her eyes long enough.”

“Like a spirit vampire.”

“Indeed.”

“What happens when someone loses his humors?”

“All three?”

“Yes.”

“Depends on the creature and the type of humors lost. Most animals appear unaffected. Most people first lose their ambition and their willpower. They no longer taste the spice for what it is. Eventually, they wither and die.”