Chapter 7: Agents in the Dark

Mira couldn’t sleep.

For the past hour or so, she had tossed and turned, willing her racing mind to slow down just enough for her exhaustion to finally take over. However, it insisted on processing everything she had experienced and learned during the day right at that very moment. It was terribly inconvenient. Her conversations with Mending Heart had been informative to say the least, and their journey into the Shiverpeak mountains had been exhilarating. Every day provided opportunities to see and learn something new. If she didn’t get some sleep, she would struggle to retain anything important. Her busy mind didn’t seem to care about that.

Quietly donning her boots so as not to wake Azoricum who was sleeping soundly across the tent, Mira stepped out into the brisk mountain air wrapped in what she assumed was the fur of a large, brown bear. The pelt was so large, it nearly enveloped her petite frame completely, but it was warm. She shivered and wrapped it tighter around her so her body heat couldn’t escape. The temperature had dropped even more during the night, and she found herself thinking about the phrase “chilled to the bone”. She never thought it was even remotely possible—until now. Having been born and raised in the temperate climate of Queensdale, she was not used to such frigid cold. However, she was determined not to let it deter her from her duties. She took an oath with the Priory to serve and made a promise with her group to help the kodan of Song of Final Exile find their people. Mira kept her promises.

“You are awake, Many Words,” Mending Heart said as he cut into a thick piece of wood nestled in his large paw. He had offered to keep watch during the night and had settled himself next to the campfire, using its light to work on a new project. He paused and looked up. “What keeps you from slumber?”

Mira sighed as she shuffled along the path Ian had shoveled out in the show when they made camp earlier that evening in a small clearing south of Highpass Haven. It wasn’t far from the border with Wayfarer’s Foothills, and made for a good place to stop for the night. “My mind won’t stop racing. One thought, then another. It started with the Shiverpeaks—wondering how many are there exactly—and then somehow landed on the subject of whether or not my mother had remembered to oil her sewing machine. She always forgets and then scolds herself for forgetting.”

The kodan bear made a thoughtful noise and motioned to a rounded piece of trunk next to him from the last tree they felled for firewood. Gathering the large fur up, Mira sat down on it and warmed herself while he went back to whittling away at the piece of wood.

“Perhaps your mind has become over-burdened, like a dolyak carrying too much weight,” he observed. “It struggles and cries for help. Unload your burdens and set them free.”

Mira huddled in her fur and yawned again. “I don’t even know where to begin. I think I just—yawn—need some sleep.”

He made another thoughtful sound as he cut into the wood again, his dark eyes narrowed in deep concentration. “Stubborn as a dolyak too,” he murmured. His snout wrinkled as he grinned, but he never took his eyes off what he was working on.

Mira chortled. “My mother says the same thing. What are you working on?” she asked as she peered over the large bear’s arm.

He leaned over and presented the piece of wood he was working on. It splintered off a log of elder wood while Alma had been splitting wood for their camp fire earlier that night. He had only just started working on it, so it didn’t look like much to Mira aside from a series of shallow curved lines.

“What’s it going to be?”

Mending Heart studied the incomplete relief. “I am not sure. Koda has not revealed it all to me yet.”

Mira yawned again. “Why is that?”

“Koda the Creator must not feel it is time. He reveals only what is needed, when it is needed.” He carefully ran the point of his carving knife parallel along the last curved line he carved.

The two had discussed the existence of the kodan god during their travels earlier in the day. Mira found it fascinating that a god existed outside of the Six and the norn’s spirits. She had managed to write down some notes as they walked, but with her attention torn between her journal and what Mending Heart was saying, she nearly fell on her face multiple times from an exposed tree root or rock. Thankfully, she managed to catch herself each time, but not before eliciting a chuckle or two from Ian and Azoricum. Alma didn’t seem to care one way or another. Her eyes were fixed on the road with a steely determination.

“Wait” Mira said as she perked up, “I remember you said that Koda speaks only to your tribe’s Voice, right?

Mending Heart nodded as he made another cut into the wood. “Yes, this is true.”

“Is He—is Koda—speaking to you?”

The kodan looked down at the carving in his paw and then over at the young woman. The thought hadn’t crossed his mind. Once he spied the piece of wood laying in the snow, he began carving into it, like a deep-seeded compulsion he couldn’t deny. “I do not know…” he uttered quietly.

As his voice trailed off, Mending Heart’s ear twitched, and he paused with his carving knife hovering just above his project.

“What is it?” Mira asked.

His ear twitched again, and he looked over at the tree line. “Wake the others. Quietly,” he urged.

“What’s wrong?” Mira’s heart galloped. The space between her and Mending Heart grew heavy. Something felt very wrong, and her kodan friend’s sudden change in behavior only fueled that theory.

Tilting his head back, Mending Heart sniffed at the air. The bitter scent of cold and decay rode in to the camp on a gentle breeze. He wrinkled his snout and snorted. “We have visitors. Quick, go now.”

With her arms holding up the heavy pelt, Mira ran back to the tent she shared with Azoricum, kicking up a flurry of snow along the way. She threw open the tent flap and ran inside, bringing with her a wash of white at her feet. Kneeling down at the sylvari’s side, she shook her. “Wake up!” Mira whispered sharply. “Zori, wake up!”

Groaning, Azoricum rolled over toward Mira as she slowly opened her eyes. “Hrm, w-what is it?” she asked.

“Mending Heart says someone’s coming. I don’t think it’s good. We need to wake the others.”

Blinking, she sat up, flashing Mira a confused glance. “Who’s coming?”

She got to her feet and shook her head. “I-I don’t know.”

Mira rushed out of the tent, leaving Azoricum in a cloud of confusion while pulling her boots and coat on. She ran to the next one. It was smaller, just large enough for one person. Pushing the front flap aside, she stuck her head in.

“Ian, wake up!” she hissed loudly.

The archer grumbled and lazily raised his hand to wave Mira away. “Five more minutes…”

“No, not five minutes. Now! Someone’s coming!” Mira growled before leaving and moving on to Alma’s tent.

She ran through the snow, not bothering to stick to the shoveled paths. On the way, she snuck a glance over at Mending Heart. He had risen from where he sat, sword in hand. If he had felt the need to draw a weapon, he must have feared for their safety. Mira broke into a frantic run, nearly colliding with Alma’s tent.

“Magister Alma!” Mira yelled this time, not caring who heard. “Mending Heart says-“

ROAR!

The kodan’s bellow startled Mira, and the young woman spun around to see a towering figure strike the bear. Mending Heart recovered, raised his sword, and took on the intruder to defend the camp. Shadows emerged from the tree line and slowly made their way into their camp. They were unidentifiable at first, but as they came within the campfire’s light, their hulking masses of flesh twisted with ice were illuminated. Despite their size, they had somehow managed to move silently through the trees and into the camp, with only a scent to give them away.

Mira noticed there was something slightly familiar about their forms. Some were tall and broad, like norn, and others petite like sylvari or asura. She thought she spied charr horns on one of them too. But that was where the familiarity ended. Their skin and their eyes were as pale as snow. Shards of ice pierced their bodies like claws and wrapped around like armor.

Azoricum rushed from the tent to Mira’s side, drawing a wand from her belt made of twisted branches. “What are they?” she cried, her yellow eyes wide with fear.

“I don’t know,” Mira replied, her eyes fixed on the creatures. She had never seen anything like them before in real life nor from a book.

“Look out!” Azoricum yelled from behind her. The Sylvari pulled Mira back, shielding the young woman with her own body as more frozen intruders pushed their way into the camp.

Ian struggled to get out of the tent, tripping over his own boots, which he had failed to lace in his rush out. He tumbled out onto the snow; his visage twisted in horror as he beheld the ice-ravaged creatures. Without another thought, he notched an arrow that spilled from his dropped quiver, and sent it sailing at a creature reaching for Mira with its ice-pierced hands.

Mira yelped as the creature let out a pained roar behind her.

“Arm yourself! We’re under attack!” Alma Snowseeker ordered as she tossed a large blade to Mira.

Mira tried to catch the sword with her shaking hands, but it fell into the snow at her feet. Frantically, she reached down to dig the blade out. Her fingers were already numb from the general cold of the environment, so it made the retrieval a challenge. She finally had the sword in her hands when she heard a cry from Magister Alma. She looked up to find one of the creatures had engaged the norn in battle. The two exchanged blows, both of them equally matched in size and strength. But the creature got lucky with an opening and struck Alma in the shoulder hard with its club-like arm. The norn cried out, pain searing throughout her shoulder and arm.

Fearing for the magister’s life, Mira rushed at the creature with the sword held firmly in her cold hands. She aimed the sword’s point at its leather jerkin where ice did not protect it and sunk the weapon deep into its frozen flesh. She let go of the blade and stepped back, wide eyed and breathing rapidly as she looked upon what she had just done. Instead of falling over like she thought it would, the creature instead turned its gaze from Alma to her. Unsettling white eyes, lifeless and cold, bored into Mira. She swallowed hard as the hulking amalgamation of ice and flesh came for her, but Alma stepped in front of her and delivered another blow to the creature, sending it tumbling onto its backside.

More frozen beings came pouring out of the trees, trudging through the snow, until they outnumbered their group at least twice over. They paused, encircling the Priory group. Their deep, sad groans filled the camp, sending a chill up Mira’s spine. One by one, they neared, their empty eyes locked onto the members of the Priory group. Alma swung her blade at the closest one, and it blocked it with a broad ice-encased arm. Her weapon merely chipped off some of the ice, but didn’t do more damage than that. Ian’s arrows only did the same, and Azoricum wasn’t making much headway either.

“Where are they coming from?” Alma yelled as she blocked another ice-encased arm.

“They’re not going down,” Ian pointed out. “What do we do?”

Baring his teeth, Mending Heart kicked the closest ice creature square in the chest. It fell onto its backside with a grunt. He waited for it to get back up, but it struggled like a turtle caught on its back. Their strikes were having minimal effect. “What in Koda’s name,” he uttered. Looking all around them and then over at his frightened friend, surrounded by the throes of battle. In that moment, he realized this may be a battle they might not win.

“Many Words!” Mending Heart called out to Mira. “RUN!”

Letting her heavy fur fall to the snow-covered ground, Mira turned from the others and broke into a run. Highpass Haven was close, and if she ran fast enough, maybe she could make it safely before those lumbering creatures caught up to her. But moving through the shin-high snow proved more difficult then she thought it would, and her body was quickly taxed. She uttered a quick prayer to Melandru for swiftness and safe passage between labored breaths. She had to make it; she had to get there for them. Through the trees, she spied small dots of lights ahead: fires from Highpass Haven. Her heart filled with joy, and she nearly cried upon seeing the little beacons. As soon as she reached the haven, Mira could get help and return for the others. Her lips pulled into a relieved smile. The others were strong fighters. If she hurried fast enough, maybe they would be okay.

It was nearly within reach…until a towering shadow stepped in front of her. Mira shrieked, startled by the sudden appearance, and stumbled back into the snow. Her head collided with something firm. Pain shot through the back of her head and neck, and she groaned as the edges of her vision grew dark. She fought to push herself up. She fought against the encroaching darkness, but Mira was not strong enough. The dark won, and the dark’s agent loomed over her as she lost consciousness.