He had been wandering for almost three hours when the snow began to thicken- at first a flurry, then a steady fall, and now, approaching the pass, it was nearly a blizzard. And he had little more than an old cloak to keep him warm during the treacherous trek through the northern clime. Wrapping himself as tightly as he could, he checked the map with twitching fingers; there was no sign of the crags he’d passed, the detail was too sparse. If only he’d looked closer before purchasing it! He turned and began to work his way back to the slope, but the snow was now a curtain, and the mountain too steep to risk turning back in such conditions. He returned to the passage between the sheer cliffs, feeling his way as the wind screeched like the dead, inch by inch, until he reached the other side and—
A blinding wall of white. The snow was twice as thick on the other side of the passage, rendering travel impossible. He stood and shivered in the icy hallway, the wind intensifying, cursing his foolishness and the gods for this storm. And then the wind picked up again, screaming like a demon, and the last sound to come to his ears before he fell was like huge sails rippling on a troubled sea.
