Blizzard

The Prophets' master plan would have been going perfectly if the attacks on the other major cities hadn't failed. Port Altalon, Port Vilskameau and the fort cities were too tough for the True Order to chew on. Three other main cities were either too remote or too small for them to care about.

Thus, the focus of the True Order fell on Forest Waypoint and the remaining major cities in the central plains. The True Order even found special helpers to take down Halcyon. This is where their plans went awry. Everything seemed to unravel at Forest Waypoint, as if some deity decided to interfere.

The raid on Nafriton was cut short, and Daren Forolan escaped capture. The special helpers fell short at Halcyon, and without Daren as a hostage the City Lord refused to surrender. The country was galvanized by Halcyon's victory.

The southwestern cities managed to fight off the attempted coups and invasions. Odala City and Caplan City formed an alliance with Halcyon to form a bastion of freedom in the southwest. Though still under siege, the cities were secure. Refugees flocked towards the southwest by the tens of thousands.

Cuoq City in the north fell for a few weeks before military reinforcements arrived to retake it. The reinforcements caught both sides by surprise. The reinforcements kept where they came from strictly confidential. Most importantly, they brought powerful wizards with them.

Though injured, those wizards helped turn the tides of the battle for Cuoq. They helped the residents kick out the rebels and free the imprisoned defenders. The retaking of Cuoq provided the biggest hope for the people. Naturally, the True Order tried to squash this news, but the harder they tried the more it spread.

A planned invasion of North Beti Town through Cuoq City was scrubbed. The Havrevel River and Saintlenee province were no longer in danger of a hostile takeover. With this, the entire war entered a stalemate. The True Order controlled the inner section of the nation, while the outside remained under government control.

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Aayla looked down at the world below. Everything looked so tiny and small from twenty thousand (20,000) feet. She could barely make out the curve of the planet on the horizon. This view only lasted for a few short minutes as the expedition crossed the pass.

Storms had gathered all around them. Dark clouds descended from the towering peaks behind them, and a solid wall of white obscured the path below them. The only good things about the storms were that they scared all of the flying magical beasts away.

The leaders briefly stopped the expedition at the pass to prepare for the blizzard conditions below. They had seen worse before, but a blizzard could easily hide ambushes and the path. Walking off the edge of a cliff would cause a disaster.

Scouts were sent to mark the path below. After they left, the expedition lengthened into a long, thin formation. Ropes with brightly colored flags were tied between the wagons. Lanterns were hung where ever there was room to better keep sight of each other.

Blankets and warmth spells were cast on the animals. Wagons were insulated and the chains on their wheels were changed out to even thicker, spikier ones. Extra coats were dragged out for humans. Soon everyone looked like puffy mummies.

Daren and the fourth-year Nafriton students were placed at the front of the expedition to clear the snow from the path. The scouts' jobs were to search for magic beasts and place down guidelines. They didn't have the time or energy to spare on clearing away the snow.

Before the expedition began its descent, Daren snuck to the middle of the group and placed a couple of warmth spells on Aayla and her horse. They would help ward off the cold for a while. Since the other students noticed, he helped to place spells on the rest of the first-years, too.

After that, the expedition descended into the white darkness. At first, the snow fell calmly and slowly. The next tens of people and wagons in line were easily visible. Then the snow fell harder. Then even harder. Even with the extra layers of clothing and magic, the wind still chilled her to the bone.

Eventually, Aayla couldn't even see her hand if it was right in front of her face. All that she could see was white. Bright spots like fireflies barely shone through the white out. Those spots were all that remained of the lanterns attached to the wagons.

The howl of the wind drowned out the other noises. Her exposed skin stung as shards of ice cut into it. She firmly held onto the rope tied onto her horse. If Aayla didn't have the rope, she could have easily gotten separated from the group.

Her horse nearly tripped over a sudden bump in the path. A log or something must have gotten stuck underneath the snow. Fortunately, they didn't tumble to the ground. The horse nimbly recovered and kept on going.

Another lump suddenly appeared in front of her. This time, it was much larger. Aayla knew that it was coming by the jiggling of the tiny glows in front of her whenever a wagon ran over it. Her horse stiffly hopped over it.

When more and more lumps suddenly appeared on the ground, Aayla had the sneaking suspicion that something was happening. She couldn't see anything due to the blizzard, but she hadn't experienced any similar snow drifts before the blizzard.

Just as Aayla suspected that she was going to freeze to death, the winds began to fade away. Blurry shadow figures and blue sky peaked inside of the snow storm. Unlike its slow appearance, the blizzard disappeared within seconds.

Aayla blinked in surprise as the sun glared into her eyes. She found herself at the bottom of a narrow valley. The tall rockfaces surrounding the pathway quickly fell away farther down the path. The pathway began to sharply turn left and right as it steeply descended down the mountain slope.

She turned her head to look back at the storm behind her. A wall of white hung beneath dark grey clouds. Snow monsters of all different shapes and sizes crawled out of the storm behind her. Oh, wait. Those were people, animals and wagons.

Aayla looked down and began to brush the snow off. The horse continued to wade through the snow, though it had already been pushed to the side by the previous travelers. Down below the wizards in the lead continued to clear a path for the expedition.

Pitiful cries suddenly rang out in front of her. The mercenaries forcibly took something wrapped in a white shroud from a wagon far ahead of her. A middle-aged man fiercely argued with them before someone else pulled him back inside.

As soon as they came to the switchbacks, the wide shrouded thing was thrown off the edge of a cliff. The shroud fell away to reveal a cold body falling towards the ground. For several minutes, the shroud seemed to hang in the air like a forlorn cloud before being blown away.

So, that's how they took care of corpses this far up. It was a distinct reminder that their journey was halfway over at best. She wasn't on Terra anymore. Aayla shook her head then focused back on the trail in front of her. That person should already be dead.

The exhausted travelers were soon led to another campground carved deep into the mountainside. They were too tired to press on any harder, and the leaders didn't push. They had just completed a major hurdle, and going down would be just as dangerous as climbing up.

The descent would take another three weeks. After another meeting, the leaders decided to descend the at first light then take a longer break at a lower height. Just surviving at this level was more than most could stand. The lack of air, harsh elements and malnutrition was taking its toll.

More bodies were quietly taken out of the camp for disposal. The few doctors in camp predicted that more would perish throughout the night. They grimly began the task of counting those who made it over the pass. Those who were missing were considered dead.

As dusk settled onto the northern mountain side, all living members of the expedition were safe and sound in their camps. The losses incurred while crossing the pass were less than anticipated, so even the leaders were in a joyous mood. Alcohol was still banned, but extra food was brought out for a small party.

They had survived what should be the most harrowing day of the journey. Sure, packs of glacial ice wolves, vicious flying beasts and deadly weather events were waiting below. Those were problems for tomorrow. Today's problems had already been dealt with.

Just as planned, the next day started bright and early. No matter the grumbling and complaining, the leaders forced the expedition to move forward. They had to get to a lower elevation while they still could. The clouds had already begun to move in again, and the resident magical beasts were most definitely on the prowl.