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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jon Potter" data-source="post: 2241122" data-attributes="member: 2323">[PLAIN][Realms #310] Feln's Air Walk[/PLAIN]Cold instantly slapped at Feln's exposed flesh and the half-ogre shivered violently as he limped away from the portal. His feet sank quickly into the snow, deadening the throbbing ache in his foot even as it sent prickles of pain into his toes. He hadn't taken more than a step or two when Ledare stepped out of the same portal that he had just passed through."Goddess," she hissed and clutched her shoulders against the bitter cold. She was dressed for the weather better than Feln was, but her clothing was woefully inadequate to these conditions. Despite the blowing snow, Feln could see that her foot was injured in much the same way as his, and that the right leg of her trousers had been severely burned. "How are you?" Ledare asked the half-ogre. "Are the others here?"Before Feln could answer, Morier stepped through the portal, nearly knocking Ledare off her feet. He reached out quickly to steady her and then he looked up at Feln. "Where are the others?" he asked above the wind. Feln shrugged."I haven't seen anyone but you two," he told the albino."Vade was ahead of me," Ledare said."And Ixin went in before I did," Morier added and looked quickly around. It was difficult to see anything with all the snow, but there seemed to be another dolmen a dozen paces or so away. "Maybe they're in another part of-"A huge black shape appeared in the air above them, startling the eldritch warrior into silence. It settled to the ground between them and the fourth portal, snow crunching beneath its bulk. It was a sphinx, Morier knew: a strange amalgam of lion and eagle and man. It furled its vast feathered pinions and regarded the trio with its human-like eyes."I am Exclamor," it said, its voice booming above the howling wind. "Only you three have survived the challenges of fire and of earth. You face now the test of air. It is a simple test. The portal leading to the test of water will not activate for one full day. Try to survive until then." And saying thus, it flexed its wings and vanished up into the dark sky."What did he mean: ONLY you three have survived?" Feln asked. "What about Vade?""And Ixin?" Morier added as the wind and snow continued to pound the mountaintop with no sign of letting up.It took only a moment for the news of their companons' deaths to sink in. But there was no time to mourn their passing. The reality of their own precarious situation was all too evident as the snow continued to accumulate around them. Morier was the first to react."We need to build a shelter quickly!" he shouted into the wind. "We'll not last long exposed the elements like this."Ledare looked around for some building material, but other than the two dolmens and the snow there was nothing. "Head for the dolmen!" she yelled, pointing with one hand at the stone megalith that would take them tot he next phase of the Purging.... if they lasted that long. With her other hand, she grabbed hold of Feln's enormous thumb. "Hold hands in case the snow gives way," she told the half-ogre when he looked down at her, confused. He nodded and they tramped off toward the fourth dolmen."We need to pack this snow up into some walls!" Morier observed as he dropped to his knees n the snow and began shoving it up into a pile. "We need shelter from the wind!"Feln and Ledare aided him as best they could, but Morier was the only one with any real training at wilderness lore; his time spent under Malcolm's tutelage had seen to that. But Byr saw little snowfall of any real significance and so he possessed little practical experience with cold weather survival. Ledare had undergone wilderness survival training during her schooling at the Janissary Academy, but Elcaden was warmer than Byr and suffered more from ice than from snow. Feln had no formal training in nature lore, relying on instinct alone to help construct their shelter.They were less than successful.True, they got the snow pushed up into some semblance of a wall around them, and they huddled together for warmth as best they could. But there was no denying that Feln was wearing nothing save a loincloth and between the two of them, Morier and Ledare had but one pair of boots. They were ill-equipped to handle the severe weather and before the first hour had passed, both Ledare and Morier had felt the first numbing tingle of hypothermia setting in.Ledare tried to bolster their spirits by talking of her days in the Academy, sharing even an embarrassing tale of drunken over-indulgence that she had not spoken of in many years to anyone but Del. Thinking of it again brought a bemused smile to the Janissary's wind-burned lips, but it couldn't hide the fact that she was freezing to death.The second hour saw Feln's ogrish constitution succumbing to the inexorable grip of the blizzard. He felt cold creeping into the core of his being.Ledare produced two sunrods and they passed them around their little huddled circle of three, hoping to get some meager warmth from the alchemical wonders. But they burned without heat, shedding a merry yellow glow that seemed insulting in their frigid hell. It illuminated the vacant faces of the three to one another, and they could see in each other's eyes the same chilling conclusion: there's no way we're all going to survive this.The third hour passed as the first two had.“There once was a soldier, Ledare who found herself part of a pair. Having drunk herself silly ‘neath the table with Willy! And the next day…she was still there!”Ledare recited, chuckling as she recalled Orin Miller's poetic assessment of her revels on the night that marked the end of her days in the Academy and the start of her life as a Janissary to the King, the Presentation of Arms ceremony."You already told us that story," Morier said flatly, his eyes bright pinpoints of red in the light of the sunrods."After the creature gave us our challenge, I said 'balance' again at the other dolmen," Feln said desultorily. "It shimmered to life again when I did. There is a chance we could escape there and move all the way back through the challenges and escape. It may even be possible to move back, warm up, and start again."They looked nervously at one another, wondering perhaps who would be the first to admit defeat.</blockquote>

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