Quoth the Raven

Icy Trek across the Mount

The screams of the wounded are disconcertingly confusing, blending with the raging ice laden wind. Sheets of ice and sleet bounce from Mandolus' face and woolen cap. The thick snows make traversing the meager ledge precarious at best, which is likely why the nightmarish beasts chose to ambush them here. Pained eyes, stung by the biting hail and the endless squinting against the bitter wind and blinding sun glare against the snow, sweep the blizzard swept sky. "THERE!" Mandolus screams to make himself heard above the roar of the wind, "IT'S COMING BACK!"

A dark speck materializes against the raging white backdrop of the polar sky. Growing larger and larger, advancing quickly. The peryton wheels through the air, its raucous screech grating the nerves, heard well above the storm, and making the hair on the back of Mandolus neck to stand up. Dragging his snow laden feet quickly through the deep dunes to better place himself in a position to strike, Mandolus irritatingly casts a glare at the soldiers confusedly milling nearby. "It's coming back, Sentinels, form up. There.", he points emphatically at the quickly approaching beast, "THERE DAMN YOU!" Quickly he throws himself behind a sleet covered boulder, muttering a few arcane syllables under his breath.

The remaining Sentinels rush forward, finally recognizing the threat, forming a wall of steel and flesh betwixt the raging beast and the Tabernacle lorists.

Sweeping across their ranks, the abomination drags one soldier from the ledge, his screams echoing up from his long fall down the side of the mountain. The peryton glides quickly beyond reach of their weapons, the glint of it's malevolent eyes clearly displaying it's intentions to swing back about and launch another attack. Over their heads a blazing arc of mystical energy pulsates, crashing into the peryton, causing it to grow confused in its flight and crash to the ground like a leaden stone. Dirt and snow cascades through the air at the force of its impact, the monster weakly rises upon its eagle taloned feet and shakes it's stag head in confusion.

"Forward for the kill!" screams the captain, his arm sweeping forward to throw a hand axe. The momentum of the weapon causes it to revolve end over end before burying with an audible thud in the left wing of the peryton. The beast shrieks wildly and begin thrashing about with its talons, raking many of the men that stray to close.

Mandolus stands, eyeing the beast with determination, a prayer slipping from his lips, the miracle unfolding before his eyes. The air grows colder, ice builds about the struggling beast until its movements become sluggish, slowed, then halted. Its flesh slowly takes on a bluish tint until not even the monster's breath can be seen escaping its snout. "Quickly, hack that thing to pieces ere it devises a means to get out of that!" he commands, casting his long scarf across his mouth and plunging his frostbitten hands into his cloak.

He trudges back against the far wall, listening intently as the soldiers hack and hammer away at the frozen beast. Already, the snow has begun to cover the deep tracks that he and the soldiers made on their way to the edge of the precipice. It won't be long ere the blizzard completely blocks off the whole ledge with ice and snow. Before him, within the meager glow of lanterns and torches, the wounded are arrayed.

"Nikola, how fare the wounded?" Mandolus asks quietly, placing a hand upon the shoulder of his laboring compatriot. "I'm afraid that the attack was quite devastating on the forces of the Sentinels. I haven't the means to treat these men in this place. The exposure alone can kill a healthy man here, much less a man gravely wounded by those monstrosities." Nikola glances backward, as if reminded of the creatures which caused the current strain of maladies to befall the searchers. "What say you on the disposition of the remainder of the beasts?"

Mandolus grits his teeth, "I'm afraid we have lost a number of more men, but we were able to eliminate the last of the beasts just now." He wrings his trembling hands beneath his heavy cloak, unsure if it is a symptom of the extreme cold or the recent shock of activities that have occurred.

"We shouldn't linger here. Carnage such as this will draw more unwanted attention." Nikola whispers, his comment nearly lost in the throes of the storm. "We need to continue on. We are just too close to give up now."

Upward and onward. Mandolus looks up to the heights of the mountain, where the lone peak is shielded by the snow laden clouds. "Goddess grant that the chamber spoken of exists on this dread place."

+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+

"I see. I have been deceived." His voice echoes.

"You see nothing! The all seeing Oracle, yet, you never foresaw this instance in Fate did you?" laughter erupts, disrupting the roiling fog.

"Don't get him riled up again, we need him pliable." squeeks another voice.

"You can't hold me here forever." he weakly answers.