Scape of the first night

Further and further, the glacial scape seems almost boundless, devoid of any end or beginning, all that we have is this frozen earth touching the sky by the end of our gazes. How much longer will we wander today I wonder, I can feel it, for every minute in passing my limbs, tendons, and muscles loosening up from the constant thrusts through snow and ice, balanced off with the intense pain spreading from within, begging me to stop and rest, but I know that I cannot if we do not find the black spot before the 17th we might miss our window to stop the awakening and to lul Leabaidha back into its deep age-long slumber, I just have to press on until I'm told otherwise. What June said to me before our assembled crew started its journey sends unnerving chills up the core of my spine, that girl, I caught a glimpse of her, I swear I did, she pulled me from that strangling darkness within that one dream some nights ago, was it something more than just a dream? Why is June seeing her so much and constant, why is this faceless apparition divulging warnings to her? Who is she? What's her purpose? And how is she there within the perimeter of our minds?

What could she be? Is she of the same thread as the silent veiled women following the lead our congregated force is molding, stalking certain individuals with their shrouded gazes, I can feel them fixed onto me, I did sort of assuming that they eventually would take to surveillance me to since I'm close to June, but their numbers have increased almost like a dribble consumed by a small flood, so there's safe to assume that is for more than just the two of us? But again I'm only banking this on the fact that they both have shrouded faces, while this "Alice" of our dream realm is ethereal by nature while the veiled women dispatched by what I assume to be the "higher-ups" in Terra Corpus is very much of a physical presence. I hope that I will eventually unveil some of the answers I seek.

Over the duration of the travels, the very concept of time seems to melt into a natural flow, a flow that you feel within and witness around you unbound by numbers and "normal" perception, our shades inconspicuously shifting, the temperatures alternating in even the most minuscule form and the gradual shifts in shade and palette in the frozen scape that we slowly tread, like some image putt trough a timelapse, yet all of its dimensions are experienced trough its tiresome silence, something not even the pain flooding from my scars could surmount, just a dimensional sense of everything progressing, perhaps even to its own end.

"Halt!" A stop, following the impact of deviating from that exhausting flow, argh, I don't even think I can stand upright anymore. The sky, a fleeting purple by the horizon swallowing the flaming remnants of the sun, inviting in the brush of night which would poke million white holes in a realm that would otherwise be of pure darkness.

"Get ready to set up camp, soon as dawn brakes we will keep on to uncover our final destination" Such a strong voice, almost to be expected, coming from someone with a stature draped in black and gold.

"Remember the objective, we are the line that defends the realm of balance and our fellow man, and that objective will we stand and die by" as spoken by a true believer, I wonder, how much do the top units know? And how much of it has been twisted or shrouded in some way? If it's one thing I know, and truly know for certain its the politicization and corruption of power, the more you get the deeper you will get dragged into its entangling web, or is it more accurate to say its belly, the belly of a beast that will break you down and transmute you into something else, almost no longer human. Pressure on my shoulder, June, she's standing there looking at me with an even more worried expression than the one she held at the start of the assembly.

"Straid can you hear me?" That's a strange way to open a conversation.

"Yes, I can, what's up? Still worried about tonight?"

"A bit, but Straid are you feeling alright? You look pale and you didn't respond to my initial attempts at reaching you just a small while before we were ordered to stop" I must have partly shut down due to the pain and the pressure of walking through this barren ice realm, I guess I fell into a natural autopilot while overwhelmed with the flow of things, yea that must be it.

"Not really, my scars ache and I'm just really tired, I guess I zoned out for a bit just to keep going"

"I know that we really don't have a choice in this matter, but I don't like you forcing yourself way too hard, I, I just hope that we can get through this and reunite with the people who make our worlds, just, and I know I'm being selfish here but please don't zone out on me, stay and if it is anything I can do to help you trough tomorrows travels, anything to ease the pain and struggle please tell me, it is just that..." so that's it.

"You can't stand being alone in the silence before the coming storm, it is like it's gonna drive you mad and erase yourself from your own being whisking you away in the coming winds" Her eyes, surprise reflecting back at me.

"Come on June, I know you, how long have we known each other now? Fourteen, sixteen years? ever since we were just kids, and I will try to heed your request, what type of friend would I be if I left my friend all alone in this? And don't feel so conscious or selfish about it if it is something that bothers you, bother me with it" Struggling, guess it is hard to properly respond to that.

"Thanks" A single word, yet carrying both heartfelt trust and sincerity, creating some sort of brittle yet floating feeling.

"ARGH!" Shattered, by several screams and the pungent ironlike scent of blood.