The strangers sit silently by the fire, sipping their drinks unaffected by the crystalline sounds surrounding the cabin. Their calm unnerves me. How can they ignore the strange noises that have brought us here. I exchange glances with Cliff, Tyler and Sam but say nothing in front of the strangers. As the old man prepares a late meal, I notice one of the strangers has a pendant around his neck. It's shape and size catches my attention as it dangles from under his cloak, a diamond-shaped crystal unlike any I have seen, flashing different colors in the firelight. The man looks at me and tucks the pendant away, for a fleeting moment I glimpse a flicker of movement within the depths. A tiny luminous creature struggling as if trapped, beating wings against its prison. As it does so the chiming sounds intensify and fades. Neither man sitting near the fire seems affected by the sound.
The old man serves us bowls of steaming stew as we gather around the fire. The strangers pick at their food, pale eyes glittering in the firelight as they study us. They seem watchful, like wolves waiting, stalking prey, though we've done nothing overt to raise their alarm. Their weapons show signs of use but gleam as if newly forged. Tyler starts a conversation with attempted congeniality. "So, strangers, what brings you this far into the forest? Your travels can't have been easy."
One pale-eyed stranger smiles thinly. "We have our reasons, as do you."
"You seem well-supplied for such a journey," Cliff says, nodding in the direction of their weapons.
"One must prepare for difficulties. Fortune has been kind to us thus far." They look at each other as if sharing some kind of private joke. "That's an unusual traveling companion, or is it your prisoner?" I gesture to the pendant, a calculated risk.
Their gazes sharpen, tension fills the air. The dark-haired stranger has a tone that holds menace. "The one who travels with us is not your concern." I spread my hands in a show of innocence. "You're right, it's none of my business. Whatever is in that crystal belongs to you." The stranger tilts his head, and smiles slyly. But he says nothing, letting silence speak for him. His pale eyes pierce through me, challenging me to defend myself. Suddenly a loud crash thunders outside the cabin, something massive has fallen. The noise is startling, I hear the others murmur behind me, but the pale-eyed stranger simply continues to hold my gaze. He sits motionless as if the disruption were expected.
"Oh my, another snow laden tree bough, my morning will be busy," The old man says lifting himself from his chair to look out the window.
When darkness fills the cabin, I slip from my bunk as quietly as possible. I wanted to find out what was trapped in the strangers pendant. finding the stone would confirm what I glimpsed earlier. The floorboards creak under my feet as I find my way to where the strangers' are sleeping. I edge into the room. The pendant gleams on a small table. Carefully I cross the room and lift it from its resting place. Colors flicker across the surface of the pale stone. At first, nothing seems to stir inside the stone. But then it moves, a tiny figure, no bigger than a dragonfly uncurls itself and starts fluttering. It glows softly.
"How did they trap you?" I mouth silently to the small being, horror flooding my thoughts. I understand only a sinister enchantment could accomplish such an impossible feat. I know Faerie magic can be is dangerous, but capturing it like this hints at a wickedness beyond anything I have seen here yet. The faerie's glow pulses faster, in its light, a symbol etched on the walls of her confines is revealed, A jagged shape like a crossed ‘X’ within a circle. I stare at the etching with curiosity, the lines suddenly glow brighter and emerge from the surface, hovering in the air before me. The lines fade again into the stone. The markings etched into the stone aren't anything that has ever been made by humans hands. And the men sleeping in bunk feet from me aren't what they seem.
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Carefully I wrap the pendant inside my cloak and return to wake the others. I explain what I have seen in hushed tones. In my hand I dangles the pendant to reveal the faerie inside of it. Her glow illuminates their astonished faces as she flits about in agitation, clearly distressed by her confinement.
"How is this possible?" Tyler whispers. "To imprison one of the fae. Who would do this?"
Cliff shakes his head, eyes shadowed. "We can't leave the poor creature here. Whatever dark magic is behind this we cant leave her here to face it."
Sam agrees. "Faeries have long memories. Freeing one of their own could win us allies."
"I agree but we have to get out of here now. While it's still dark. When those guys wake up in the other room, they'll be furious. They'll take their rage out on anyone they can find here." I tell the others, placing the pendant around my neck.
Sam leaves a few coins on the table by the fireplace, payment for the stew and bunks. Each of us lifts a pack to our back and quietly we slip out of through the cabin door into the forest. We move quickly through the soft snow following the beam of light, that reaches skyward through the trees. We know wrath will follow soon. The cabin and the warmth it provided is far behind us when we hear a roar of rage shredding the night. The pale eyed strangers have awakened to find their prize gone. That fury turns on the only shelter this forest affords. I fear for the old man still inside. They will surely lay him to frozen waste. We hear the cabin groan as a crackling sound fills the air, wood splintering under an assault no axe could ever match. Death spreads through its walls, floor and roof, devouring all in its path. Nothing living could escape that frozen grip. Anyone lingering there would soon be entombed in crystal, trapped. I think for a moment, of the kind old man who welcomed us, and then focus on running as fast as I can.
Primal fear infects seems to infect the forest, trembling though nothing stirs their branches. Some enormous creature is forcing its way between their trunks, smashing through undergrowth in its wake. It's following the trail we left, and I sense it won't stop chasing us until it has what we took. Colorless eyes shone from the shadows like arctic ice, lit from within. The threat is enough to drive us deeper into the forest. The chase has started, and doom is coming.
We ran as fast as we could. The sounds of trees cracking and splitting under intense cold filled the air, so loud they nearly drowned out our panting breaths and pounding footsteps. A coldness bit at my skin, raising goosebumps and reminding me with every step of the creatures pursuing us. The scents of pine and earth were tinged with a sterile, sharp and vaguely metallic smell. It took me a second to realize that was the scent of frost, consuming the life of every plant and creature it touched. My legs ached, my lungs burned, but stopping meant facing the pale eyes that drifted in the shadows between each broken tree trunk.
We ran on, hoping the beacon of light rising up through the trees might guide us to a safe zone, if it existed in this game, and not hasten our end. The sounds of destruction behind us faded, we no longer heard the snapping trees or pounding of the ground as the figures chased us. Their footsteps silenced. I questioned if it were and illusion or some kind of trap. The chase had drained our strength until each step seemed our last. Exhausted, we slowed our pace to catch our breath. We could barely stay on our feet, and each gasp tore at our lungs. An icy sweat covered me and I could think of nothing except breathing steadily and calming my heart. In that brief pause, the woods fell utterly silent A sheet of cerulean light materialized in the air before us, shimmering with a soft radiance. Wisps of azure energy swirled across its surface as words began to form:
Adventurers, proceed swiftly to the Icefall Labyrinth, you will find it beneath the tower of light. Within its twisting paths lies deliverance or doom. The Glacial Star waits at its center. Your only chance lies forward, The maze will hide you but not forever. Move quietly, They are listening for you.
The blue sheet of light flashed one more time then darkness started spreading from the middle as it disappeared from view. A crystalline melody fills the emptiness left by the system message. This time we understand time its meaning. " They are coming, Ice demons, Run!"