Where Hath The Snow Hidden Them?

by: William Luna

Art by William Luna Where there once was green, snow had taken its place. Several miles from the Sheridan forest, two figures were crossing a vast white plane on dog-pulled bobsleds. But as a snowstorm approached from the east, the two figures made their way to a great hill to rest at its base and be shielded against the violent winds. 

Evangeline Bancroft was the first to scream, necessary due to the sheer volumetric power of the wind. 

"Are you sure this is the right direction?"

Diixo waved his arms before nodding.

"Certainly, for was this not the path the travelers said they would take?"

"I don't know, the snow's covered all their tracks."

Evangeline dug through the snow, only to find more snow beneath that. One of the dogs whimpered, and Diixo petted it. 

"It is an unfortunate probability, Bancroft. But in this weather, dressed for summer, their fates are tied."

"You seriously think they haven't sought out shelter?"

"Look about you Bancroft. We are in the midst of an open field, there is no shelter! The forest is at least a day out from here, they're defenseless against the storm!"

Evangeline growled, and began to climb the hill. 

"What are you doing?!," Diixo exclaimed. 

"This is a steep hill. If there is truly nothing but white out here, then the bodies of the travelers will stand out with no issue." 

Diixo did not follow Evangeline as she struggled to climb the hill. She tripped several times on the way up, but as if through sheer force of will alone, she made it to the top. And looking across the land, with her hand blocking the snow attacking her face, she felt a great dread in her heart. 

Indeed, the world was pure white, cut in half only by the slightly darker shade of a cloudy sky. It looked like a desert of pure light; perhaps more beautiful, but certainly more dangerous. Evangeline looked left to right, searching for anything indicating the lost traveler's way. And then her heart skipped a beat, and she smiled. For in the distance, only barely visible between two snowy hills, was a dark entryway. 

"I've found a cave!" Evangeline cried down the hill. 

...

The cave was pure ice. Both trackers walked carefully along the slippery ground, lest they should fall with a crash. Evangeline had her sword at the ready, Diixo had his spellbook open behind her. Yet as they drew closer, the world grew darker. 

"Could you get a light on?" Evangeline asked.

"Unadvised, Bancroft. Less we compromise the integrity of the cave's structure and cause a cave-in. And I wish not to rely on the odds of your patron coming to our aid."

"She's more generous than you think."

"That's what all warlocks s-"

Evangeline brought an arm up, stopping Diixo in his tracks. Looking at him, she brought a finger to her lips, then pointed before her. Diixo promptly looked to where she pointed. 

Below them, in a small room, rested a great ice giant. It slept upright, with its back to the wall of an ice cavern. And across from him, frozen in massive blocks of ice, were horses, a cart, and several humanoids ranging from humans to dwarves and halflings. Yet despite their freezing conditions, movement could be seen within each ice block.  

Diixo whistled. "Well, there they are."

Evanglenine turned back to Diixo and whispered, "You mentioned torches would ruin the structure of ice?"

"A bold idea, but not a safe one considering the giant's proximity."

Evangeline stood up, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. Her breath danced, forming clouds of twirling shapes within the cavern. 

"Here's the plan. I take the giant, you free the travelers."

"And how do you intend on taking on a giant on your own?"

Evangeline looked up, and noticed a large ice stalagmite hanging precariously above the giant. Evangeline pulled her sword from its sheath and pointed it at the stalagmite. Her weapon began to glow. 

"Improvise."

A blaring shot of purple light streaked through the cavern, striking the base of the stalagmite. It cracked with a great roar, and careened down towards the giant. The giant awoke, but only in time to have the great piercing streak crash onto him!

"Go around, I'll draw his attention!"

Diixo began sliding his way down to the room. Evangeline, emboldened, ran off the edge and hopped onto the giant's back!

"It's me! Strike me!"

The giant roared, clawing at its back to get to Evangeline. And despite her best efforts to hold on, the monster grabbed her! Diixo, having gotten to the lower floor, saw this and realized that a crushing death awaited his ally. 

"Damnation!" Diixo, with a motion of his hands, shot forth a blaze of green light at the giant's forearm. And so powerful was the blow that Evangeline was dropped, and she crashed onto the ice below. The giant roared, and stomped towards Diixo. 

"Bancroft, Bancroft, Bancroft!"

The giant raised his fist, and Diixo barely rolled out of the way of a great punch against the ice. But the roll was miscalculated, and the mage could not regain his balance on the icy floor. But Evangeline rose to the occasion, and after encroaching on the beast, she slashed at his ankle with a furious cry. 

The giant reared its leg back!

"Bancroft, look out!"

CRASH! A kick of such powerful fury sent Evangeline flying, right through the thick ice of the cave, and even higher up through the roof of the cavern itself!

Diixo at once hid behind one of the person ice blocks, and his terror did not subside even when the giant, beating at its chest, climbed to the higher section of the cave, charging towards the exit. Diixo held his breath for several seconds, before gasping for air. Then he looked up, and noticed that the dwarf inside the ice cavern had its eyes centered on him. Diixo knocked on the ice with his knuckles, before pulling the pack from off his back and rummaging through it. 

"Sorry Bancroft, but I'll need more than torches to burn these people out."

...

Evangeline awoke in the middle of a white desert, with snow biting at her face and her jaw feeling particularly cold. But even stranger than that, there seemed to be a set of horse legs before her. Evageline looked up, and saw that she was being confronted by a unicorn. She face-planted back down the snow. 

"Hi boss," A muffled Evangeline said. 

"Greetings. How goes the perilous rescue?"

Evangeline lifted her head slightly, just so snow wouldn't get in her mouth.

"Well, for a moment I was high enough to see that the forest was about a day or two from here, and then I saw nothing. As for right now, I can't feel anything from the waist down."

"Ah, truly a pity. Please, allow me."

The unicorn bent its neck low, and touched the tip of its horn against Evangeline's head. At once, she felt a shock through her system, and her legs kicked all on their own. And although she struggled with the sinking snow, Evangeline was back on her feet in a few moments. 

"All better."

"Uh, thanks boss."

"I quite like you, you know that? I can't have you dying as a failure on me."

"What if I die a hero then?"

"Oh, that I'm all for, my little knight. But you may want to stop talking to me."

"Wait, why?"

"Look sharp."

There was another roar, and an ever expanding shadow growing around Evangeline. The unicorn disappeared before her, so she looked up, only to see a massive form swiftly approaching like a meteor! Evangeline hopped out of the way, as a shockwave of snow flew into the air. She reached for her sword, but to her horror she realized it was gone!

She had little time to contemplate this, as the gigantic form of the ice giant made known its true form. It grunted, taking hold of its shoulder. Then it spoke.

"Trespasser..."

Evangeline’s fury grew.

"Trespasser?! Says the one kidnapping people off the road!"

"If you knew the warmth that came from eating the little ones, you'd understand."

"You sick bastard!"

Evangeline thrust her arm out, and a mighty bolt of magic power flew from her fingertips! It struck the giant's chest, and he flew backwards, crashing onto the snow!

Evangeline looked about her, but the thick wall of the storm made finding her sword impossible. Still, she had to try, and she began to dig through the thick snow looking for it. But once more, a shadow grew above her. She turned, and the giant's chest was now smoking. 

"Your magic is warm...I can't wait to consume it."

Eva took a powerful stance, and both her hands glowed with resoundingly bright magic. 

"Oh don't worry, I have much for you to try!"

...

Inside the cavern, the ice blocks were strapped with long, leather straps. Each of these straps were attached to small red cylinders. And each one of these cylinders was connected to a long yellow line which Diixo held. But he was only holding it with one hand at the moment, as he held a small rule book in the other. 

"-And once all the charges have been set, pull on the main cord. Be sure to stand at least 5 meters away whilst pulling while also wearing eye protection, less the blinding flash of the thermite should blind you, potentially permanently."

Diixo sighed and put the booklet back in his pack. 

"Trebel, you can never make anything safe."

Diixo shut his eyes, whispered an apology to the ice blocks, then pulled on the cord.

...

The world was flaring up with bright flashes of pink and blue, piercing through the wall of snow like a spear through cloth. Although the giant did all he could, Evangeline knew to keep her distance, and with every step the giant took towards her, she took two steps back. 

The giant's body smoked like a burning tree, covered with marks of all of the strikes made against it. Its movement became slower, more labored and inefficient. But Evangeline also grew weary, as she could sense the magical stores within her draining. 

"Your warmth fades. Soon you'll be no good to eat!"

"The less enjoyment for you, the better!”

Evangeline reared back to cast another bolt of magic. She stepped on slippery ground beneath the snow, and for a moment she felt weightless. Crashing into the snow, she could hear the giant encroaching towards her. 

"Your warmth is mine!"

Then the earth shook. Evangeline thought that perhaps it was the steps of the giant, but upon raising her head, she could see a look of confusion across the monster's face. Then there was a mighty crash! The giant fell through the snow as a mighty rush of steam bellowed out from the ground. But the giant did not fall at once, for its mighty fingers grasped onto the edge of the ground which had just fallen below him. 

Evangeline at once stood up, taking steps backwards as the giant reached to climb back up. But all around her, it was clear that whatever had caused the crack was hot; extremely hot. Hot enough for the snow to melt, and to reveal beneath it none other than the lost sword! Her eyes gleamed as she charged for the weapon, grasping it tight before running back to the edge. 

The giant was nearly up, the upper part of its chest poking above the edge. Evangeline made her hands glow, and the light from her palms traveled to her weapon. She reared her arms back, preparing for a mighty swing! She screamed, as with a streak of bold light, her weapon clashed against the head of the giant!

There was an explosion! The ground beneath Evangeline cracked, as the giant lost its grasp and fell deep into the hole it had narrowly avoided, leaving only a smoking trail on the way down! 

Evangeline stood for a moment, as she herself also smoked with the remnants of magical might. Her breath was shallow, and despite the cold she was sweating as if it were a hot summer day. She fell to one knee, and planted her weapon on the now bare ground. She began muttering to herself, though what it was we do not know. 

Then there was a tap on her shoulder. She looked up and there was none other than Diixo, with a group of shivering travelers close behind him. His face was completely covered in black soot. 

"By damn, those thermite straps pack a punch, don't they?!"

“Thermite?”

...

The journey back to the Sheridan forest took a day and a half, and both adventurers thanked fate itself that they had been wise enough to decide on tying the sleds and dogs some ways off from the cave and the chaos. Thankfully, as they approached their destination, the snow ceased to fall, and the ground became easier to traverse. Diixo maintained a large torch which he held amidst the group of travelers with an ethereal hand, to ensure that they wouldn't freeze permanently this time. Evangeline, on the other hand, kept an eye out for retribution from the world. And the relief she felt when this retribution never came was indescribable. 

With the House of Hazel nearing completion, the roof had been placed and there was room for weary travelers. Once the travelers had all been secured within the building by the elf Ke-Viz's men, Evangeline promptly stumbled to her own bed and fell fast asleep, staying there for the next two days. Diixo, on the other hand, promptly sought out Trebel Rootskin to discuss the gnome’s lack of self-control in controlling the power of his explosives.