I have lost track of time by this point. If I were to guess, it may have been around 5-6 hours since I came to Frost. For all this time, I have been able to do nothing but walk on the snow hoping I'll find a place to rest soon. Till now, it was nothing more than my hope. However, I guess it does pay off to stay a bit positive sometimes. After this much time has passed, I am finally able to see what look like a residential place. There are at least 3 wooden houses in sight.
However, the closer I get to them, the harder it becomes to walk more. Ever since I saw those houses, a rush has taken over me – a rush to reach them as soon as I can. Unfortunately, my body is starting to feel more and more exhausted with every second. I have heard about getting impatient near the finish line, but never thought I'd experience this myself, and especially at a time and situation like this.
thud!
Oh, damn!
No more than a muffling sound comes when I fall on the snow. Why now of all times? I am so close to those houses? Why can't I struggle a little more and get to them? Why do my feet have to give up now of all times? Why does my vision get blurry now of all times? Why does my breath start aching now of all times? Why … now … of … all times?
*****
I am impressed. He walked for a whole 6.5 hours before falling down. That's almost as much as I was able to walk when I was first abandoned on Frost as a child. I didn't think he would have it in him but I guess I shouldn't expect any less from a child of that troublesome mage. Who knows how many charms and blessings Kaylith has attached to his body?
That said and done, even Kaylith's charms and blessings can't change the basic nature of a human. And one of the things in a person's nature is impatience, especially when one is close to completing something. All the diligence they would have shown by that point starts looking like a mountain when the finish line comes in sight. Well, I guess since this all has happened now and he is unconscious, I should tell my minions to remove the illusion of there being any houses in front of him. And, I should also probably tell them to remove the illusion of snow and ice all around him.
In truth, he came out of the snowy desert quite a while ago. He has been walking continuously regardless because he didn't know that the unchanging scenery he was seeing was an illusion. He has actually passed by many villages by now. Anyway, right now, the closest village to where he fell is half a kilometer away. I should probably give residents of that village a message to come here, take him to the village, and give him shelter.
"Your crystal sure is very helpful, isn't it Dues?" A voice rings in my head, a voice so pleasant that it shouldn't even exist in reality, yet it does. And so, it can only belong to someone who defies reality and all the laws of it, the only one in this universe who is still stronger than me.
"What do you want, God?" Hearing me stretch the last word I said sarcastically, he chuckles.
"You really are pretty salty about an actual God existing and being above you, huh?" He mocks me. With anyone else, I can ignore or even deflate the mockery as I see fit. But there is no point arguing with this one – because he'll never lose.
"Answer my question." And so, I stick to the point.
"Well, then you answer mine." He says.
"Wasn't that a rhetorical question?" I thought it was.
"Well, it was partly rhetorical."
"Hah!" I sigh, not really getting what he means by 'partly'. But anyway, I play along with him, "Yes, my crystal is pretty useful. It allows me to see things that aren't in front of me. I can understand why seers use this so much."
As I say that, I look at the purple globe-like figure in front of me that has shown me Irium's entire journey up to this point.
"So what would you do if I give you a blessing … or a curse, whatever you'd call it, that'd make you unable to ever see through any crystals like that?"
"HA! Wha-what!?"
"I get that you like playing God and all." His tone grows dark and scary as he says, "However, you aren't actually God. Keep that in mind the next time you try to change the core structure of one of my creations."
"Uh … uh … wh-what's wrong about that anyway?" I yell, "Humans do things like that all the time for scientific studies and all."
"What humans do is none of my concern. They aren't my creations." He dismisses my point like that. "But Angels, Demons and all the other races in Heaven and Hell as well as the many races outside of Heaven and Hell that have a connection to magic – they are all my creations. And that includes you. So, everything that you people do is my business. You can kill and annihilate each other all you want, I don't care. But don't go changing their core designs. You have no idea how complicated these things are and you can't even begin to comprehend the damage a critical change in the designs can cause."
"… y-y … a …" I want to retort but I can't. I am too scared. Ever since his voice got serious, a terrible fear has taken over my heart, making my pulses go wild. And every single time I try to retort to him, my pulses and heartbeat increase even more, and it makes me feel like the veins and my heart and my nerves would all come out of my body by the sheer rapidness of their movement. The fear and dread is far too overwhelming. I can't possibly bring myself to say a word back to him.
"Well, I'll let you off the hook this time." He says. "But the next time you try doing something like what you did to Roswaisa, you would know that the only one more capable of evil than the devil – is the one who had made him."
*****