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“... That’s it. That’s how it felt back then...” Oli mumbled as he recalled one of the most stressful moments of his life.

There was a hint of paranoia in Oli’s mind as he remembered the day Oli was found during his quick trip with the Practor sons. It was the faintest feeling. Oli felt like there were phantasmal eyes locked onto his eyes, coming from somewhere beyond Oli’s senses. And there was no way for Oli to discover where it came from no matter what he wanted to try.

“Wake up!” Oli softly shouted inside the cave, waking up the team. “We’re moving out! I feel like something’s off and it’s nearly dawn anyway, so we’ll have light very soon.”

Rubbing his eyes, Fulkar didn’t say anything but he was surprised to see Oli so tense.

“Do you have any idea as to what’s wrong?” Trenk asked.

“Not entirely. But the last time I felt this way, I was being tracked and watched by a perennial beast.”

.....

That statement alerted everyone, instantly shaking off any lingering tiredness from team members. Even the bold Yeter almost stumbled from hearing Oli say that, slipping on the cold stone floor and barely catching himself.

They quickly doused the fire, adjusted their mantles, and started storing the beast carcasses.

“Wait...” Oli stepped closer to the carcasses and begrudgingly nodded. “We leave the caribou carcass. Now let’s go!”

“Huh? Why would we do that?” Yeter questioned.

“Because if something is hunting us down, perhaps leaving it a hefty meal will slow it down or distract it,” Oli reasoned while storing the last lizard carcass. “Now let’s move out! With the beacon, night travel isn’t so bad anymore. Now it’s impossible to get lost and we just have to pay attention to our surroundings. Let’s go!”

Oli exited the cave first with Trenk and Fulkar close behind him. Freele was next, standing at the center of the party with Yeter taking the rear.

With the party better acclimated to the temperature, they decided to have Freele light the way instead of Trenk. This wasted less essence while also giving the team a stronger light source in exchange for offering no extra warmth.

In a matter of minutes, the party was awoken and led away from their makeshift shelter. All that was left was marching through the snow and storm with their gaze locked on the guiding beacon.

They never managed to find out if anything was lying in wait to attack the team. But Oli’s gut feeling quickly faded as the shelter faded into the distance behind them.

“We’ll be fine, everyone! Just move steadily. If I’m going too fast, let me know!” Oli stated, making sure he could be heard through the howling winds.

The team wandered the mountainside, gradually entering a vast valley of ice and snow with towering trees somehow surviving the harsh weather. When dawn came it helped the team notice something new, given their fresh perspective with the added beacon.

Their goal was to reach the center of what seemed like an enormous ring of mountains. And the weather was getting worse the closer they got to the shrine.

That also dulled the team’s senses, apart from Fulkar’s who specialized in both ice and wind. Oli quickly made the necessary adjustments to the team’s formation, putting Fulkar in charge of scouting while traveling.

Oli and the others didn’t pay any more attention to the possible threat Oli had supposedly felt. They were fully focused on their stormy surroundings and Fulkar’s voice. Only, Fulkar rarely spoke up. There had been hardly any reports given and nothing of true importance to make aware to the team. That continued for nearly the entire day until the sun began to set behind the curtain of clouds.

“... Duck!”

The entire team followed Fulkar’s sudden order. It was the first time he had shouted and the first time Fulkar didn’t talk about the terrain, so it was clearly important and urgent.

Everyone watched as two big white foxes leaped over the party, narrowly missing everyone with their lunging attacks.

“Why are you here?!” cried one of the foxes, baring its fangs at Fulkar who had given them away.

Oli took the floor and stood up first. He slowly raised his hand to point at the beacon. “We’re just trying to reach the shrine in that direction. We don’t seek any trouble or fights.”

“Then why pass through our territory?” barked the somewhat larger fox.

“Because we’re just trying to head straight there. We don’t know of any paths so we can only follow that light,” Oli answered. “Or are you saying that killing you is the only way to pass through here?”

Both foxes squinted at Oli and the others. They were especially curious when looking over Yeter. “Stallion, why are you here? And working with humans!”

“Because I can and I want to!” Yeter billowed. “I’ve never bothered killing foxes out of consideration for my friends. But try and stop us here, and I’ll trample you both!”

“I would also prefer to just part ways,” added Oli, still showing no signs of hostility or essence. “So, what will it be? There are two of you, and five of us. Do you really think you’ll win that fight? If so, then you’ll shame the cleverness of every fox I know personally.”

Irked by those statements, both foxes snarled. But the lead fox dropped his intimidating posture. “... Fine. Then hurry up and leave. Turn around and we’ll show no mercy.”

“Thank you, master foxes.” Oli gave a quick bow, motioning for the rest of the team to do the same before they went on their way. “Just a warning. There are other teams of humans and beasts racing to the shrine as well. I don’t recommend fighting or revealing yourselves to any of them. It’s best to just hide and let them pass without provocation...”

There was no reply to Oli’s warning. But Oli and the others never bothered looking back either.

Once they were out of earshot of the foxes, Fulkar asked, “Oliver, why not kill them and harvest the materials? They had great hides and their cores could be useful.”

“I’m not intrigued by any mortal cores,” Oli gave a frank response. “And their pelts aren’t worth enough to tempt me, nor are they valuable enough to tempt any of you. You and your clans have entered a pact with Iron Territory. Remember that. We’d rather focus on divine materials and goods. We already have enough mortal materials on hand and can acquire anything of that level with relative ease. Or have you forgotten about the auction?”

“True...” Fulkar nodded and bowed his head. “Thank you, Master Oliver, for reminding me. I won’t forget again.”

“Good. Now, let’s find a good place to camp before nightfall.”

Under Fulkar’s and Oli’s guidance, the team searched their nearby surroundings while moving along. Soon, they found a tightly packed group of trees that shielded the team from most of the wind. To fill in most of the cracks, Yeter brought out the sections of that fallen tree he had gathered and the team brought out all of their lizard carcasses. Those resources were piled at the sides to create barriers and reduce the wind until it was negligible.

“Too bad there are no more mountains or caves,” Yeter sighed while watching Trenk start the fire.

“It’s a good thing we acclimated a little while he had the chance,” Oli stated. “And we avoided going in the wrong direction as well, while also gathering materials. I’d say we made the most of our three-day mountain stay.”

Freele nodded to agree but didn’t say a word. Now, the only thing shielding them from the cold were their mantles and the small fire, so she made sure to use her mantle’s thick collar to cover her freezing lips.

“We’ll spend the night before we move along slow and steady tomorrow,” Oli reminded the team while he started roasting some lizard meat. “Once we’re used to traveling we can speed up. But I refuse to cause unnecessary problems by trying to rush through the unbeatable weather. Also, we’re waking up at dawn. The less time we spend camping the better. I don’t like being sitting ducks in the middle of a blizzard.”

“Oh! I’ll go hunt us something-”

“No, Yeter. We won’t be doing that anymore. Not unless we run out of food,” reasoned Oli. “We were lucky the foxes were intelligent enough to bargain with. That saved us a lot of energy and kept us from possibly attracting other nearby creatures. But that won’t always be the case. I’m sure we’ll have plenty of fights along the way, which should supply us with enough food to get us to the shrine. Our goal isn’t to fight or kill anything, it’s just to reach the shrine.”

“... Okay. I understand,” Yeter agreed with a drooping head.

Oli added, “We’ll follow the same night watch cycle. So let’s eat and get some sleep. Let’s not waste any time now that we’re on the move.”

The team agreed without any further questions. They took their time to decompress around the fire while cooking and eating their food, then called it a night.