Chapter 0122 - Winds

A measure of hatred was easily shown on his frosted brow, the snow storms blinded his passage but not his advancement. Step by step, enduring, the abrasive winds tried to cut at his eyes.

-{"Keep heading in this direction. So long as you remain on an uphill path we will meet the summit"} Ferser's voice resounded within Zhan's head.

Struggling to keep his direction, Zhan didn't have much to say. He was baring the the journey because a life did depend on it. He would never give up, even if a chance didn't seem to remain, the loss his daughter, the kidnapping of the other, it was unforgivable.

"So Shadowed is my past, so that I may see the light in the future" Zhan's nerves were frayed. The battles at the foot of the mountain had been trivial when compared to what he would face tomorrow.

-{"FOCUS"} Zhan's leg pushed through snow and his balance was lost with it. Ferser was keeping watch; though, for what reason, Zhan did not know.

"You still have yet to tell me, why have we come here. Answer me." Zhan stopped and looked out among the peaks below. It was like he had climbed a mountain on top of another mountain, that sat on a bed of mountains.

There was still a long way to go.

'This peak is unbelievable' A flicker of light shown through the blizzard like snowfall.

-{"I sense something nearby, its aura is masked. I think it intends to watch, you should continue up this ridge, then across that saddle. It looks like there is a snowblind there, you can rest there for a bit."} The words came with a bit of concern, Zhan could hear it in Ferser's voice.

'What has him worried? and about me?' Pulling the bow from his storage, Zhan placed it over his body and started his way up the mountain.

Thinking intensely, he communicated with Ferser more clearly, Zhan hated making a mental connection with a Devil but there was something more pressing to take notice of. 'What do you think it is?' Zhan asked.

-{"The figure disappeared behind that rock outcropping, I believe that If you fired an Arrow on the far side, it would be driven toward us. This place is not an ideal battleground, I advise against it to some degree."} Again, Ferser seemed almost concerned with Zhan's wellbeing. The concept didn't escape either of them.

-{"You're my ride, I don't even want you scratched. Consider us partners... but don't get the wrong Idea, I'm not leaving."} showing his teeth figuratively, Ferser laughed in the background.

'Just keep your promises, worry about the rest later.' Zhan wanted to yell, but he would give away his position. Keeping his inner thoughts on the inside was important.

The slope of the Mountainside wasn't all too steep, it was somewhat gradual. There was a series of steps when he got to a certain point. The steps were large, climbing them felt like he was passing over walls. 'These must be for Giants' Zhan murmured in his head while Ferser kept quiet.

A Mist covered the area thick, it was getting increasingly difficult for the Prince to continue up the Mountain. Thankfully, he was now standing on a humongous staircase.

Ascending up the Mountain was more difficult than that of the sect, Zao Mountainous region was not much lower in altitude. Every breath of air began to sting the lungs. The bitter cold had matched his level of resistance and shortly after, he was numb.

-{"Exactly how slow do you intend to be, push past your problems and take a step. Get up. Stop making excuses, you have the determination.. get up."} Ferser's cordialness was swept away with the frigid wind. Ferser felt the cold just as deep, his own stubborn nature would never admit defeat. He would certainly never admit defeat against some measly wind. {"GET UP. GET UP NOW"} he howled.

"Quit your belly aching. You're giving me a migraine and only a few steps remain. I needed a rest, but that's over now. Shut your own mouth, give me some of that energy you so pride yourself on." Zhan ripped the frost from his chest and batted off one of the hides that now covered his body. Layers, without them he would have been sick long ago.

"I have said nothing." A voice came from beyond the next rise on the staircase.

'I know this voice' Zhan quickly snapped himself back to the situation before him.

"Fei?" Zhan climbed up the staircase, step by step. The few that remained between them seemed endless as he advanced.

"I didn't expect to find you here." Zhan let the breath escape him when standing close by, his breath brought clouds of steam that intermixed with the Nephele's waxen eyes grew brighter when she was recognized. It was rare for her to interact with surface dwellers, but Lei Lei had become her disciple so many years ago.

She was happy to see him, but brought bad news. "I have learned of your daughters and bring only bad news. Xue had been taken as a bride, her body seized by the Vampire Lord Eddingar. They are in the Kingdom of Nir. Darkwing has gone over to the Qilins. They are far to the South near the belt of this world." Noting that he had been ever quiet since she started responding to him, Fei Fei scanned her perceptions over the Prince. "Such darkness. Do not lose yourself among it."

She returned to the sky, her expression troubled. 'Such seething resentment, he would not want my help.' Fei Fei felt partly responsible, she was normally standing guard over the sect, a guardian of the mountain. After teaching Lei Lei her ways, it was important to be out training her. she had been gone, absent from the Castle when it all happened.

Zhan's expression when she left was unchanged. Inside, he thought 'my problems are my own, I will not be stopped.' Taking another step, he broke something. Below his feet lay the crusted location sign as if warding people away with a sense of foreboding and misery.

'Glacier Peak'

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