Secrets of the Frozen North: Part 5

'''Jarrick shivered in the night as he and the woman walked through the icy wilderness. His body heavily bruised and bloodied from the surprise Vrykul assault that he received earlier in the night. His shirt was torn numerous places, revealing large open gaps for the freezing air to blow through freely. The wind was not merciful to the freezing human as it whipped about, biting at his skin. He adjusted his shoulder to shift the weight of his equipment as a wolf howled deeply at the moon, echoeing through the land. The woman turned towards Jarrick and he turned towards her, mist rising heavily off both of their breaths.'''

Jarrick crunched over the snow and asked the woman "Tell me.. What is your name? And why was everyone gone back in the encampment?  Why were you there when everyone else was gone?"

The woman brushed some of her shorter bangs out of her face. "I knew you must have had questions.. My name is Cadence.." The woman smiled in response.  "The Vrykul attack was a surprise to those who watch over the camp.  Most were barely able to make it out with their lives, and those who knew you were upstairs were unable to warn you in time."

Jarrick nodded. "And how come you were still there even though everyone else was gone?"

The woman looked in front of her for a moment and back to Jarrick. "I was looking for something that is very important to me.  Something that was left behind in the attack."

Jarrick nodded again. "Seems I was in luck when you showed up, then.  Call it fate, hm?  Or one hell of a coincidence."

Cadence smiled at him, noticing his shivering even though he tried to keep it to himself.

"You must be freezing.." She said, holding her hand towards him a moment and flicking her wrist as a flame arose, emanating heat all around the two of them.

'''Jarrick began to shake his head until the flame flickered to life, then he nodded admitting to the severe cold. He smiled at her and she returned the smile.'''

"You seek Tirion Fordring?" Cadence asked him.

Jarrick touched one of the bandages covering his shoulder and nodded to Cadence. "Yes, I have some business that I need to take care of with him."  He gritted his teeth a moment and lowered his hand to his side again.

"I see." She said.  "He was last seen heading towards the west..  Possibly Valiance Keep."

Jarrick looked at her again and asked, "How far is Valiance Keep?"

She looked back at him and said "We're pretty far still.. It will take a few days to reach the Keep. However, I do know of a small settlement on the way there that we can take shelter in.  However, we won't reach the shelter by day break.  We may want to find shelter for the rest of the night and continue our journey in the morning."

"Very well. Let's see if we can find a place to rest for the remainder of the night then and set back out tomorrow"

'''The two humans walked for a bit longer, stopping at a cave that ran deep in the side of a tall mountain, the face of the cave covered by thick trees. The light from the flame Cadence held in her hand lit the cave sufficiently, and the two found a place to settle down for the night. The two constructed a small fire to burn throughout the night. Jarrick slumped down against the side of the cave as his companion settled down on the other side of the cave. He looked at the woman across from him as she snuggled up the best she could, and he couldn't help but feel something was strange about her, though he just couldn't put his finger on it.'''