Cool air came wisping over the mountain summit. Summer was ending, and time was coming for the man to endure another winter atop his peek. He lived in solitude, on the top a mountain far from any town or village. The man stood on the edge of the cliff and scanned the valley, a pack of wolves camped under a small grouping of trees. He walked over to one of the abandoned buildings looking for bricks to patch up a few holes in his home, he heard a pup yelp from the valley. No one knows when the rundown buildings were built, or when they were abandoned. It has been hundreds, maybe even thousands, of years, and it was difficult to find even one decent brick. The ruins were scattered across the mountain slope. There were seventeen to twenty remaining in the man's area. Life was a challenge on the pinnacle of the world. Food was scarce and wildlife rarely ventured past the tree line. He gathered his food from a small protected self grown garden, and would make frequent trips down to the forest below and hunt. The man lived in the abandoned stronghold farther up the mountain and away from the rest of the buildings. Withmont Stronghold was the name the ancient people gave it. It was quite quaint to be called a stronghold, but still had the same feel. The familiar grey halls of stone. The draft from under the door swirling the small remainder of warmth. The man always thought, someday I will leave this place, find a new home, have my own farm and tend to the animals, but the days kept counting, all without a doubt, he will be their the rest of his life.
The man gathered numerous logs, far more than anyone would need for one day's worth of fire, from his old wood shed, and started to kindle a fire in the fireplace. He made himself supper then sat next to the flames whittling a wolf, dropping each shaving, seeing them burn.
The man heard something from outside. He opened the door, the white wisps of winter swirled in the air. Suddenly a sound echoed from the ruins, something he hadn't heard in a very long while. "I see smoke from a chimney, just up a little more. Come on, don't stop here, just a little further." The voice was deep, that of a man. He became visible, with someone's arm slung over his shoulder. Both were trudging up the slope. "Help us, please!" The man desperately called. He shuffled down the slope, grabbed the other arm and slung it over his shoulder. The two men carried the stumbling body up to the stronghold. They laid him down on the kitchen table and started to staunch the bleeding.
"What are you doing up here?" The solitary man asked.
"We herd of great beings up in the mountains, we just wanted to see for ourselves, but next thing I knew, Ath was screaming, bleeding, and being torn apart." There was a large gash on his side, cuts on his arms and legs, and emerging bruises.
"Do you know what it was that did this?" Asked the reclusive man.
"No. No, it just looked like vines and branches, it was gone within seconds. He's going to be OK, right?"
"I wouldn't be to sure about that, do you see that?" He said as he pointed to slowly growing, dark greenish veins.
"What is it?" He asked with worry rising in his voice.
The isolated man got up and started to explain what he knew, "Poison, from what I know about it. Before you start to worry too much, I know you can cure it, but is getting the cure that's the problem. You have to get it from the things that did this."
"What are they?" The worried man asked.
"No one really knows, they just showed up, hundreds, or maybe even thousands of years ago. They called themselves The Sisters. Their into the Forest, a day's walk." The anxious man jumped up,
"Well, let's go."
"It's getting dark, we better wait till dawn, and I need to collect my things. In the rush I never thought to ask your name."
"Oliver. You?"
"Rahim."
The sun was rising. A thin white blanket lay across the mountain slope. Oliver was changing Ath's makeshift bandages, while Rahim gathered a week's worth of food and put together general defense. Oliver looked down at Ath, "Will he wake up while we're gone?"
"No, it leaves you sound asleep until your last breath. Out of all the ways to go, it's not the worst." He said sympathetically, "We have everything, we better head out. We'll travel there and make camp for the night, we'll talk with them in the morning and make it back the same day. Hopefully." Said Rahim.
"How long does it take to kill?"
"No one knows."
