The snowstorm got worse the more they climbed up. The snowfall became hail, and the winds were like hands pushing them aside. Yet they still ventured onwards, no matter how long it would take.

Katya panted as she withdrew her spear after bisecting a ghoul and kicking it off the mountain. She took a knee, wincing for a bit as she turned to find the other Keepers barely holding on as well.

Leonid had a limp, and Rodion’s left arm was going sore and numb from all the cuts on it. Kariya was out of breath with nicks on her face and bandages around her hand after an arrow pierced through it.

Carey was hyperventilating, still weak from the attack from the Psoglav’s when they first entered the mountain.

Godwin somehow was the most spotless, yet that was why he was carrying both Matthias and Peter at once through the snow, always moving forward with the party.

But how much further can they make it? How much further have they gone from when they started this hike? It felt like hours, or maybe it was just minutes. They couldn’t tell anymore as the skies began to darken up above.

Katya pointed to a cave nearby. “T-There!” She managed to get out as she ushered the rest of the group into its mouth to avoid the snowstorm, stumbling inside with the lot of them as they all collapsed by the sides, taking a breather.

“Pizdets!” Cursed out Kariya as she slumped over to a wall, nursing her hand as she grimaced in pain.

Rodion carefully laid Leonid down as he, too, grimaced and landed on his butt on the ground, looking up. “Can we camp out here?”

Godwin was finally able to sit down, placing Peter on his back with Matthias on him. “With that many monsters roaming around? I don’t think that’s even possible.”

Carey sat by the corner and hugged her legs, crying ever so silently. “S-So what’s next? What do we do now?”

“We catch our breath. We make sure that we’re able to beat back whatever forces come our way-“

“We could have gotten off easy if we just gave Peter up.” Kariya said as she wrapped her bound with the cloth she ripped off from the Psoglav’s on one of the ambushes.

“No, we wouldn’t have…” Rodion said with a wince as Leonid helped treat his wound. “They would have gotten us killed either way…”

“I could have made sure they signed a Contract.” Godwin muttered aloud as everyone then stared at him.

Leonid simply shook his head as he went to Carey to try and treat her wounds. “They would have never signed that.”

“We could have tried. At least once. Why didn’t you tell us this earlier?”

“It was never going to be up to me. Katya has decided what to do next, and she is the captain after all. It is her duty for the final decision to be made.”

Kariya turned to Katya, who looked away as if trying not to look into her eyes. “Is he really worth it? Do you really think he could help us?”

“Yes, no matter what. Even if he wasn’t, Peter is still one of us. He’s a survivor, and as Keepers, we protect those within this land. This is our duty.”

“I know…” Kariya tried to give a faint smile as she stared out of the entrance of the cave. “I simply do not wish this to be where and how we die.”

“It won’t, I can promise you that. We will make it through this, together, all of us.”

“How can… How can you be so sure?” Carey looked up with tears nearly frozen down her face.

“I’ve heard this type of talk before. I thought it would be different, but it’s just the same. Three days of eating nothing but berries and drinking snow, now Matthias is dying, Peter is a time bomb, and we’re all going up a mountain with no end in sight!”

Leonid pushed her back down to her seat as she sobbed again, shaking. “I-I don’t want to die here… I don’t want to die here.”

“We’re not going to die here. We made it this far already-”

“But can we really go any further?! C-Can we? Look at us now… I was hoping it would be different… I was hoping that we wouldn’t end up like those ghouls.” She got on her knees and rubbed her eyes as she cried even more.

Katya got up and ran towards Carey, grabbing her shoulders as she shook her. “We won’t. I promise you that we will not be another corpse in these lands. We will not fall here in these mountains, do you understand?”

“H-How do you know?!”

“...I don’t,” Katya sighed as she sat Carey and herself down.

“I don’t really know, but a promise is all I can give. There’s no turning back now. We have to keep moving forward. Do you understand that?”

Carey nodded as Katya shook her once more.

“Do you understand that? Say it with me, please.”

“I-I understand it! T-there’s no turning back now!”

“We can only move forward, all of us. We have to do our very best. We have to… We have to.” Katya began to sound like she was talking to herself more so than she was towards Carey as she sat beside her.

Rodion then took out a few flasks, handing one each to the remaining group as well as a packet of berries. “That’s all I have left with me now. Sorry.”

Leonid had already downed a few berries with his snow water. “Better than nothing.”

Carey nodded solemnly. “Y-Yeah… Nothing.”

Together they all ate, saying nothing to each other for a few moments as only silence could be heard between them.

That was until Godwin decided to break the ice. “If I may inquire… The Psoglav talked about a faded blessing. I’m going to make an educated guess that it is the reason we are doing much better compared to the other survivors.”

The silence in the air somehow became much more palpable as the Keepers all stared at each other and then at Katya, who looked down at her hand and nodded.

“Your guess would be correct. We were once blessed by the Spirit of Life itself. However, over time, as the Descendants whittled us down and the Eternal Winter continued to consume us, our blessing faded away.”

Kariya sighed and stared out through the cave entrance. “When our Bastion fell, so did we. You should have seen us in our prime. We had heating, actual meat, weapons, and armory.”

Rodion stretched his arms and lay down. “Actual hot running water… Oh, how I missed that.” He stared up into the sky wistfully as he sighed.

“Bastards rained down fire and brimstone on us.” Leonid played with a nearby rock. “And well, we and a few others are what basically remains of the Keepers. The last line of defense… All gone now.”

“As long as we are still here, that defense holds. And as long as we stand, life shall continue to flourish, no matter how barren or painful it may be.”

Katya’s hand began to glow green as it shimmered under the darkness of the cave to everyone’s surprise.

“T-That’s-“ Kariya pointed at the glowing hand with her eyes widened with both shock and hope.

“Yes, the blessing of Life. I still have it, even if it’s quite faint, possibly because of my role as the captain. It doesn’t ward off monsters anymore, but it was what helped keep Peter down. Aside from that, it simply glowed.”

Rodion looked at his own hand, finding nothing. “Maybe it’s a sign that we can finally rebuild? Maybe we’re going to obtain a new Magick?”

He then curled his hand like Peter and tried to summon a spirit to no avail, no matter how many weird noises he started to make when he did so.

Leonid finally chuckled a little and shook his head. “I don’t think that’s how it works, but that would be quite pleasant if it were to be true. But, maybe it’s a sign for something else, like maybe their presence?

Godwin traced the ground with his finger. “Have any of you met the spirits before in person?”

They all shook their heads with an air of disappointment.

“It sounds like you all did though.” Kariya noted out loud as she imitated fox ears with her hands. “You all mentioned a fox talking to you all before you made it here, right when the fires consumed you.”

Carey sniffled and nodded. “I-It gave us the chance b-between coming back or reincarnating... And you can guess what we picked.” She tried to laugh, but it came off as a sad whimper of regret that echoed throughout the cave.

“You chose correctly. If you die again, you would simply reincarnate back into the land.” Katya patted Carey on the head to try and soothe her.

“I guess there’s no real escape unless Baba Yaga helps us…” Carey turned to the sleeping Matthias and sighed.

“You can always try to bargain with a Fae Lord too.” Rodion suggested before the other Keepers shot him a dirty look.

He raised his arms up. “I-I wasn’t recommending it, just you know, if anyone had the power to get us out, it would be them.”

“I hope that the stories of the Fae would still exist even in your culture to know that it’s a bad idea.” Leonid turned to Godwin, who nodded with a so-so hand gesture.

“We know of what they would do, and yes, we understand it’s best to avoid them.”

“I cannot believe our best option is Baba Yaga now, but at least she tried to help us before.” Kariya’s voice grew faint as the sound of crunching snow began to grow closer and closer.

Immediately, she grabbed her sword as the rest of the Keepers hid by the cave mouth while Godwin dragged Peter and Matthias to the back end with Carey scampering to his side like a dog.

They all held their breaths, clutching at the hilts of their weapons as they all began to hear their heartbeats like a drum with each step taken. Katya carefully grabbed at the globs of shadow at her chest, readying herself for what’s next as the crunches grew closer and closer until a shadow loomed over the entrance of the cave. Then, a voice echoed throughout the cavern.

“Mortals… I can smell you. Come out. You will have the honor of becoming my supper.”

It was deep, heavy, as if the mountain itself was speaking to them all, shaking the party to their core. They could hear the smile in his voice, salivating, growling, akin to a hungry lion.

“Come now, I would rather not crush you all. It takes far too long for me to pick apart shattered bones in rended flesh!” The cave shook as cracks began to appear throughout the walls like a spider web.

“I would rather not have my meal scattered mixed with rocks and ice, but such a rare catch this shall be that for now, I shall make an exception.”

The cave shook once more as debris from the ceiling began to fall to the ground. The cave wouldn’t hold up for much longer, and if they decided to go in deeper, well, there’s no guarantee that they would find another exit. So, there was only one thing left to do.

Katya stared at the other Keepers, nodding silently as she counted down from: “Three… Two… One.”

And without any hesitation, they dashed through the cave mouth, weapons drawn. Their eyes widened as they found themselves staring at a giant with fur-like skin and a maddening, sickly grin, staring right at them as it lunged forward to grab their bodies.