Crossing the Pass

For once the children remained silent. The fight in the clouds slowly faded in the background to look like normal thunder and lightning. Eventually, the mercenaries sent out to fight whatever that thing was returned.

The clouds continued to grow as the day went on. No one dared to speak. The scheduled lunch break was cut short. If the horses and animals didn't need to rest, then they wouldn't have stopped at that time either.

Another attack occurred just after lunch. This time a group of ice blue wolves with razor sharp claws ambushed the expedition just as they rounded a sharp corner of the road. The snow banks above suddenly exploded and several civilians died in the seconds before the mercenaries reacted.

The wolves quickly retreated, dragging their prey off behind them. These wolves were called the glacial ice wolves, not to be confused with their vicious cousins called the ice wolves. The glacial ice wolves were ice blue instead of the usual snow white.

While smaller and less violent, they were craftier, more agile, more persistent and had limited capabilities to travel through solid ice. They were a unique breed of magical found only in the Glacier Mountains. Glacial ice wolves would track prey for miles to get a meal.

Once in their sights, you wouldn't be safe until reaching civilization or wiping out the pack. Smaller groups would be terrorized by them. They were even bold enough to stalk larger groups, like the current expedition.

The leaders passed by the day's destination campsite. It was an open area on top of a large glacier. With the ice wolves catching onto their group so quickly, they did not want to camp in an open area where glacial ice wolves could literally appear out of nowhere.

Just before sundown, they arrived at another campsite carved into a mountainside. It was cramped and stuffy, but safer from attacks. The expedition would be super picky about their campsites from that day on. They couldn't afford to do anything less.

As dinner was being prepared, the children's parents arrived to take them away. Aayla and her horse walked around to find the Nafriton students after the children left. Her feet were sore from walking all day, while the horse had a headache from all of the children's shenanigans.

She flopped to the ground after leaving her horse with the others. There was little space by the campfire, but everyone squeezed over to make a little extra room. Someone handed her a plate with warm food. Aayla couldn't hold herself back. The food was gone in a flash.

"Long day? We saw you walking next to your horse for almost the entire day."

"Yeah. At least the pace wasn't too bad for most of it. I also didn't have a bag of supplies weighing 30 pounds on my back. That part's better than normal."

Aayla took off her boots and started looking at her feet. She gently rubbed the soles of her feet as she looked for blisters.

"Better than normal? Do you go hiking often?"

"I go backpacking with my parents sometimes on their jobs."

"What were you parents' jobs again?"

"Oh, um, they're researchers. Kind of like my godmother. More importantly, what was that thing that attacked us from the sky earlier?"

The students turned serious. Whatever that monster was, it could have obliterated the expedition if it really wanted to. The civilians definitely wouldn't have stood a chance.

"I don't think anyone except the Crimson Bulls or the Brass Shields got a good look at it."

"That monster was a wicked fast flying type magical beast. Maybe it was a roc or a thunderbird."

"No, definitely not a thunderbird. Those magical beasts live in stormy areas."

"It's possible. We're still close enough to Ural Bay that one could have wandered over for a quick meal."

"No, it's not."

"Yes, it is!"

Bickering broke out amongst the highly prideful students about what the flying monster could have been. Aayla secretly sighed in relief as she put her boots back on. She went to bed soon after. A nagging feeling told her that tomorrow would probably be much worse than today.

That nagging feeling was right. Though most of the mountain sickness cases had lightened or completely resolved themselves, malnutrition and other diseases had gotten worse. The entire group was constantly on edge while travelling. Even the most naïve had realized that this trip wasn't going to be simple.

Just that morning, the glacial ice wolves had ambushed the expedition several times. Normal people started dropping like flies. Wagons were lost, and so were many of the farm animals that the villagers and farmers brought with them.

The wagons were salvaged as much as possible to be used for passengers. Merchants were forced to discard unnecessary goods to make room for more people. The mercenaries tried to speed up their travel as much as possible.

The ambushes wouldn't stop until they entered a more dangerous magical beast's territory. Even then, the expedition would have to deal with larger threats. With the civilians not able to properly fight or survive by themselves, the mercenaries had their work cut out for them.

Wizards of all ages were put to use to maintain illusions and other spells to protect the group. Avoiding a fight was the best option for now. The Nafriton students were busy running around all day long. Their skills were in high demand, except for Aayla's.

She didn't have that much training as the others. Once again, her horse was commandeered to carry someone else. Aayla realized that she was probably going to hike all the way across the Glacier Mountains. What good was her horse to her at this point?

Days passed, and they finally exited the territory of the glacial ice wolves. The wolves just sat and stared as they watched the humans climb the mountain. They were persistent, not stupid. Picking a fight with more powerful magical beasts was something to be avoided at all costs.

Besides, more prey had arrived. The glacial ice wolves took one last look at the expedition before turning around to hunt their next meal. The new prey was far more abundant and easier to catch. This old prey was a bit too tough to make their efforts worthwhile.

Despite leaving the wolves behind, the expedition's days didn't go by any easier. They faced constant attacks from new types of magical beasts. Silent fliers swooped down from above to snatch a wagon or two before soaring away. Bear and big cat type magical beasts stalked them on the ground.

Even the weather seemed to grow more determined to kill them. Winds tried to smash them into rock faces or push them off cliffs. Gentle snow turned into hail and blizzards to beat or freeze them to death. They literally had to walk through lightning once. That high up thunderstorms could form around them.

Numbers rapidly dwindled, before finally stabilizing about two weeks into the expedition. They didn't have trouble finding enough space for people to ride anymore. At the start of the third week, the mountain pass finally came into view.

At twenty thousand (20,000) feet above sea level, even the magical beasts had started to feel the pain. And they lived in the mountains! After one last night of rest, the expedition would make a run for the pass. The leaders decided to cross the pass and begin their descent in one final push.

Just before dawn, the expedition set out once again. With little vegetation this high up, the entire team was exposed after they left their cave. There was no guarantee that their camouflage would work against the magical beasts that lived this high up.

The group had to pass as quickly as possible before they were discovered. The horses and farm animals seemed to sense their humans' desperation and unease. They trudged as fast as they could up the final stretch of the trail.

About midday, the expedition was an hour away from the pass. Dark clouds emerged from behind the peaks towering around them. While at the brink of physical human limits, the weather took a turn for the worse.

**********

While the expedition struggled to cross the mountains, the rest of the nation wasn't faring as well. After the fall of Sarrasak and Landrienne's defection, the major cities of Dor and Nandel fell to the rebels. High ranking traitors sabotaged defenses while hordes of berserk magical beasts pummeled the cities.

Both cities were north of Sarrasak, and after their fall the northern Saintlenee province was cut off from the rest of the nation. Most importantly, Nandel City was at the northern end of the main waterway of the republic, the Turquoise River.

Landrienne was at the southern end of the river, where the Kiaux River split off towards Halcyon City. In effect, the True Order had taken control over the Turquoise River and the south eastern corner of the nation. The major international trade hub Port Vilskameau and Fort Niumta were cut off from help.

The True Order now occupied most of the central plains and the nation's breadbasket. The Prophets' master plan to divide and conquer the nation was proceeding smoothly.