Revelation: Son of Trojeim (Book 1)

Chapter 32 "Crack"

Upon reaching the base of the mountain path, Fey stopped to take a short break before the continued at a more leisurely pace. The walls of the Ranokeim camp had long since vanished from view, but it would be best to keep moving in case Opal sent out a patrol to find her.

She glanced up the snowed in path that went up into the mountains estimating how deep it might have been. Despite the wind that raced across the tundra for several days, it looked like the snow was still deep.

"It appears that it may take us a bit longer to get there. I'm not sure how much of the pass is covered in snow, but other areas tend to go for a couple miles before clearing up," she said.

"I can try to blow out a path for us, if you think that could work," Fredrik offered.

Fey turned to him and cocked her head to the side. "How so?"

"It's the skill that probably made your grandmother believe our dad was a god. Almost everyone from Trojeim is trained from an early age to use it."

He took a few steps forward until the snow reached up to his knees. With a quick succession of the Trojeimian hand signs, Fredrik blew a cloud of snow out to the side creating a shallow trench a few feet before him.

"It takes a bit more control to push the aura further, but this is what I can do so far."

"Incredible..."

Serena patted Fey's shoulder. "Just wait until you see him when he's serious. I don't think he'll ever stop impressing me."

After a few more minutes of rest, the party began their ascent. As they made their way further up, they saw how the tundra seemed to cover their entire field of vision.

Distant swirls of snow danced amidst the small humps of snow drifts while the blurry figures of animals raced across the over expanses. It took a perceptive eye to make it out, but the faint border of Trist could be seen by the line of tall trees hiding the smaller buildings.

"Hey Fey," Fredrik started, "how much do you know of the Ranokeim's connection to Trojeim?"

"Oh just about all there is to know; I've learned almost all of the history of my people. My favorite parts were the stories of Joric Whiteclaw and Val Ghendeim. Why do you ask?"

He held out his hand pushing another shower of snow off to the side. "I wanted to ask if you'd tell us about the Ranokeim while we're walking. We can trade off to help pass the time while we walk."

"I suppose that wouldn't hurt anything. I guess I should start at the beginning or, at least, what we consider to be the beginning," she replied.

"Before the Ranokeim tribe was gathered, and before Trojeim existed, Joric Whiteclaw and Val Ghendeim were akin to brothers. Their families lived close together before the big three came to Verona, so they spent a lot of time together in a place south of here."