Shadows on Ice

The flurries of snow waving through the air among the tall peaks of the Frostgarde mountains almost created a vision of otherworldliness. Coupled with the deep purples of the sunset that bounced off the bright white snow, the fading light gave character to the shadows that grew with the sinking of the sun. If it weren’t for the frustration filling his veins, Mythralos might have enjoyed the sight before him. He also could have simply teleported back home from the employer’s base of operations but the deal had gone badly and his temper was flaring. To be fair, most deals tend to go badly but at least they go badly in his favor and this one had gone especially terribly. Admittedly, he should have seen it coming, the reward just seemed too good to be true and that indeed turned out to be the case. The worst part was that he barely got any return on the days of work he put in, not to mention the effort of having to fight off his supposed companions. He just as easily could have bought the simple gems he ended up pocketing from those backstabbers. It was honestly insulting that they thought they could turn on him at the end of the job. Amateurs, he scoffed. Becoming lost in his frustration, Mythralos rambled to himself as the looming snowstorm began to peek over the edge of the mountain; the wind slowly getting stronger beneath his wings as he descended.

Stopping for just a moment, Mythralos surveyed his surroundings and current progress. He was at least an hour off from getting to the base of the mountains where he could travel more easily; by foot it was double or triple depending on the arrival of the storm at this altitude and there was no way he was using his own wings in those conditions. He exhaled a breath, he really wanted to teleport back and be done with this trip but without a proper key the exact location of his home was hard to pinpoint from this distance. He had created the wards that way on purpose but he had been putting off attuning them to himself - they functioned as he wanted and that’s what was important but right now he was cursing himself for not being more thoughtful with those preparations. A gust of icy wind bit through him, interrupting his thought process, cold weather normally had very little effect on him as he was attuned to cryo so the shiver that ran through his body had him on edge; there was something else his extra senses were picking up on. Closing his eyes and focusing, he drowns out the sounds of the wind echoing off the mountain walls and the feeling of the snowy air to find any abnormalities in the land around him. There was, in fact, something different, something that shouldn’t be here. It was faint but Mythralos could tell something bad had happened nearby recently. Following this feeling, he was led to a nearby cavern, a very shallow one but a cavern nonetheless and someone, or something, was inside, unmoving.

“Hello?” His voice was low as he leaned into the entrance of the cavern. There wasn’t a lot of light leaking into this alcove but he could see well enough to make out something near the back. When there was no answer, he turned around to leave and jumped backwards, nearly slipping on the bare rock, startled. A dark, misty figure stood inches away from him, bright round eyes staring through him.

“Help.” Its voice, sounding like many voices all at once, reverberated in his mind before the apparition disappeared from sight; it spoke a command, not a question. Gathering himself he turned to the figure in the back of the cave and realized something crucial; they were covered in blood. He sighed to himself, this was inconvenient - either he helps this thing or he’d have to take the chance of possibly being haunted by it. Haunts, ghosts and the like were a gray area for him, he never took too much of a liking to conjuration magics and less so to supernatural or curse-related subjects. Realistically, dispelling something like that didn’t take too many resources and ghosts in general were on the low end of the threat spectrum but he just really didn’t want to invest the effort, not after everything that had happened today. Before he let himself decide to just ignore it and deal with the consequences later, he shook his head and kneeled down to see who or what was injured in here. Perhaps they would have something valuable or useful on them.

Dragging them out of the cave and rolling them over, Mythralos sees their face is partially covered by a mask of some sort and their clothes were rather nice; nicer than he’d expect someone who was living wild in the mountains to wear. Maybe worth some of my time, then, he thinks. Figuring this elyr was small enough to carry, he hooked his arms under them and dragged them into the open where he could more easily stand and see. Once outside, he was able to take a good look at the elyr beneath him and his eyes widened in realization. This was not just a random, unfortunate elyr who got lost in the mountains, this was a lunar mage - a high ranking lunar mage. Smirking to himself at the opportunity he now finds himself with, he lifts the unconscious and injured mage in his arms and walks back to the open section of this cliffside. Exhaling once again and clearing his mind he pinpoints the closest location he can to where his home is currently located and the two disappear instantly in a flash of blue light.