It took us a little bit to shuffle up the rope, though most of that was me attempting to pull myself up, until Ann cast another levitation spell on me. It made the climb a lot easier.

From on top of the snow mound, we saw the monsters around. Most of them were dead bodies of kamaitachi and a couple more different creatures. Some of them were still lumbering about. We’d heard the sounds of them fighting from inside sometimes, but luckily, with Ann having set up the wards, none of the creatures ever came in.

But now, with us being outside again, they started looking our way. Despite the fact that I suppressed the mirror Qi. I suppose if they were this close, it didn’t really matter all that much.

Luckily, they weren’t exactly very intelligent. While all of us were able to use our variable flavours of magical powers to stand on the surface of the snow, the monsters kind of just ran at us, and sank into the white mass.

“Idiots,” Matt said with a chuckle, as he began hopping down the side of the snowy mound. The building had been largely buried by the avalanche, so we’d have to walk across the snow. At least it would make it easier to stay out of the reach of monsters.

Ann reduced the intensity of her spell on me a little. It still made me feel light, kind of like I was in low gravity, or on the moon, but at least it was possible to use my feet for walking again, without sticking myself to the floor.

Given that I still wasn’t fully healed, I stayed in the back with Ann and the twins. Usually, we’d have liked to stay until I was fully healthy, but every day was another day we risked something we couldn’t handle showing up, especially since this place seemed to attract monsters.

This seemed like the best compromise.

Looking over the valley was strange, since it looked so very different now. Everything was covered in a thick sheet of white. Some spots were lower, some higher, but it was still all snow. White, as far as the eye could see. Occasionally, bits of wood jutted out from the mass, and I was unsure whether that was from buildings withstanding the avalanche, or those that were swept away by it.

At least the gate still stood, standing tall and proud, except that only the tips of it poked out from the snow. Still, it was a landmass for us to follow.

I saw monsters lumbering around the edges of the valley, where there was less snow stacked up. Giant wolves, with thick white fur and red eyes, seeming to phase away whenever I blinked. Further out, I saw long, gangly creatures, their skin flaky and rough like tree bark, and instead of heads they had deer skulls with ethereal light glowing in the sockets.

There were more monsters, none of whose names I knew, and none I wanted to get more acquainted with. Spirits, floating above the others, seemingly having come down from higher up the mountains. More Kamaitachi, scurrying around the edges and burrowing in the snow.

Then, I saw it.

Far, far in the distance, there was something big. When I first spotted the thing, I thought it was a bit of the mountain moving, but it was not. It was a thing, vaguely humanoid in shape, but with multi-jointed arms, long enough to drag on the floor despite the fact that it was taller than a two-story house.

Because of how far away it was, I couldn’t make out many more details, and honestly, I was glad. Its head was animalistic, with antlers out the top, though I couldn’t make out what kind of animal it belonged to. I saw it shift and move, and then take a step.

The noise sounded like distant thunder by the time I heard it, sending a shiver up my spine.

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“Ann?” I asked quietly.

“Yes, Fio?”

“Look for a second,” I told her, gesturing at the thing in the distance.

She turned around slowly, first checking to see if the others had made it too far, and then her eyes went wide. “Fuck…” she muttered.

I was suddenly very, very glad to be suppressing my mirror Qi. Whatever that thing was, I didn’t want to be anywhere close to it.

As I still watched, it suddenly made a swift move, its arm darting forward like a whip, bending at the joints and snapping forward. It grabbed something, and tossed it into a shadowy maw. I thought I could see the sunlight glint off its teeth, but it was still too far to tell.

Ann quickly informed the others, and suddenly our slow march out of the valley turned a lot faster. Where we used to walk, we were now jogging, and I soon began to wheeze for air. It made me truly glad for how light I felt, because my lungs really didn’t enjoy the exercise they were getting, especially since it stretched my skin where my large injury had been as well.

Despite that, I did not stop jogging. Every footstep of the giant rumbled out like thunder against my ears. Liam and Marie ran ahead, warning us of monsters hidden in the snow. I had no idea how the hell they spotted them, but they did, and I was glad for that.

Getting held up by a fight was the last thing I wanted to do, when more bloodthirsty monsters were around.

And so, we ran, very bravely, out the gate of the monastery and down the mountain.

All those smooth slabs now seemed to make more sense, too. Perhaps they had been cut by the giant kamaitachi. Looking out for it, I did notice a lot more deep gashes in the stone. A couple of them even still had blood in there, probably protected from the elements by being so deep in the stone.

I only noted it as a passing curiosity, instead leaning hard on my endurance and resilience to just keep running. A few more monsters now roamed the mountain again, with the aura of the giant kamaitachi gone, but they were still in the process of moving back down, and we avoided them.

Vision was good here, since the area was open, and despite many of the creatures being coloured like snow or stone, the natural camouflage didn’t do a whole lot against Liam and Marie’s supernatural senses.

Soon, we couldn’t hear the giant’s footsteps anymore, but only once its head disappeared behind a different mountain peak did we slow down. Each and every one of us was drenched in sweat. The twins and Ann had kept up by using spells to make themselves lighter and faster, while everyone else had to burn quite a bit of Qi for such a long run, but none of us regretted it.

“Fuck that,” Matt voiced our thoughts. “We’re lucky we decided to leave.”

“It was a calculated decision,” Marie said between breaths, plopping down on the floor. “But I’m very glad it panned out in our favour.”

I flashed her a smile, also letting myself fall to the floor. My abdomen protested at me, sending waves of pain through my body, but I pushed it aside easily. I stared at the cloudy sky, knowing that I was alive. Somehow, despite my best efforts, all I could think was “wow, it’s probably gonna rain tomorrow.”

I shook my head at the idiotic thought, and instead focused on my gratitude for being alive as I took deep gulps of air. Slowly, my breathing calmed again. Eventually, I sat up. Through it all, I still managed to keep my mirror Qi suppressed. It was almost becoming second nature by now.

We set up camp. It was a little early for it, to be fair, but none of us cared. We’d crossed thrice the distance we usually did in a day’s march. Tomorrow we’d already be in the grassland again, dealing with snakes and shitty plants. A longer afternoon wouldn’t kill us.

Matt set about studying the manuals, using training as an excuse to get out of his chores, while I spent my time gathering some firewood. There was sparse vegetation around, but I could still mow down a dry bush or two with my spear.

It was harder than it had any right to be, the vegetation also being infused with some manner of energy, but I got the job down and brought back a large assortment of twigs. Soon, we ate, and then moved to bed.

For the first time in a while, I dreamt again, mainly of little Butterfly. Pushing her on the swings. I was looking forward to it again,

I awoke with a light smile, curled up in the sleeping bag. My back hurt from the rough stone I’d slept on, my stomach growled in hunger, and my abdomen still felt like it was kinda pulling itself apart, and I didn’t care in the slightest.

It let me know I was alive. That’s all that mattered.