Markos lost track of time as they rode north through the forest, their horses cutting a path through deep snow drifts. He was grateful for the extra furs they acquired before leaving the wall, he could taste the frost forming at the edge of his helmet's breaths. Caelyn rode at the lead atop his silver warder with Iliana and her onyx gelding between them.
Iliana's shoulders were draped with a thin white cloak. It was a wonder that embers wore clothing at all in weather like this. Around her was a haze of heat that reminded him of staring at the horizon on blazing summer's day. The magic that flowed through her body radiated heat. His gaze drifted from her to Caelyn. His cloak was a thick black fur that reminded him of the bear he killed during the hunt. Their supplies were secured in thick saddle bags distributed between their horses.
With a sigh, he glanced up towards the slivers of sky beyond the darkening canopy of white draugr pine with its ebon needles and barren ash with spindly crimson tipped branches grasping skyward. The days grew longer on windward of the Wall and there was no other mapped village or settlement this far north. On the map, there were three Warden hunting lodges that they could shelter in for the night but this time of year, no one tracked this way for leisure hunting.
Markos listened to crunch of icy snow beneath heavy hooves and the rattling of branches as they rode. His eyes searching the dead brush and trunks beyond for signs of anything threatening. A fluttering and sighing of wings as a mourning dove alighted from a nearby branch the his reward for his diligence. He reached out beyond his senses, casting out an invisible hand for something else as his companions had taught him.
Markos's "hand" brushed over the warmth of Iliana and Caelyn. They were the hottest thing closest to him. He could distantly feel something further northward still but couldn't get a better sense of how many or what. "Damn."
"Just keep practicing, you'll get it," Iliana commented over her shoulder. "It's easier now right?"
"Yeah. Still just spheres of heat." Markos sighed. "It'd be easier out of this damn armor."
Iliana chuckled. "True. It's like trying to run with weights. The maraium is limiting what you can do but, you need to overcome it."
Markos remembered what was implanted into her body and Caelyn's. It was madness that the Church would burden the champions of their order in a way that not only hindered their god given abilities but potentially would kill them. He thought of the ritual and how hot it'd gotten. With the templars in their maraium plate, holding a maraium sword, and two people with maraium inside of their bodies, just how powerful were they? Iliana was powerful enough to not only melt the snow but make the tree bud out of season despite the rods. "Is there a way to remove the maraium from you?"
"A surgeon might be able to do it. I'm not sure if I'd be able to heal the damage if it's leeched into my blood by now," she thoughtfully replied. Iliana tilted her head and her horse paused.
Caelyn stopped, looking back to them. "What is it?"
Iliana's right hand traced a spiral in the air. After a moment, a blue light appeared in the shape of a strange sigil. "A path's opening."
"What's that mean?" Markos looked to Caelyn, the helmet made it impossible to tell his friend's expression.
"Just get ready." Caelyn's horse turned and moved alongside Iliana's. Markos moved to the opposite side. The sigil arced outward like lightning, striking two birch trees that arched together like a doorway he hadn't noticed before. Light crackled in front of them as he felt the earth shift around him. Threads of light illuminated the gap between them forming a curtain of sparks.
The horses' eyes were wild but they stayed steady.
"Pass through the veil." Iliana instructed as she urged her horse forward.
"Have to be quick so you don't get left behind, Markos."
Uncertain, Markos rode forward alongside the ember. He took a deep breath as a wave of heat washed over him as he rode through the curtain. There was a sensation that he'd fallen but he was upright. He blinked and found a ruin of black stone pillars jutting from the snow just along a cliff face. There was no other way north, just mountain.
Markos turned and saw unfamiliar forest behind him. Iliana stood beside her gelding, her hand on the side of its saddle and up to her mid calf in snow. Caelyn slowly rode along the edge of the pillars.
"That was convenient for them to leave out of the report." Caelyn grumbled as he returned to them. Iliana shook her head.
"I don't think they realized a path was there or that I could open it. Saved us several days of travel though." Iliana smiled up at Caelyn.
Caelyn sighed. "It did. Are you alright?"
"I just need a few moments to cool down."
Markos rubbed the back of his neck. "A path?"
Caelyn nodded, turning back to Markos. "It's a doorway between points. Legends say that the First created them to move between long distances but they generally only go one way. We'll have to take the long way home."
"Do you think the elves used it to get out here?"
Caelyn tapped the saddle horn. "Maybe. I'm not sure how they get around. It's something we don't understand. Some secret to discover yet."
Markos watched Iliana, the only drop of color in a landscape of white and black. "Doesn't that alert people of our presence?"
Iliana shook her head. "No, it's like opening a normal door and stepping through. The path itself is a natural fixture in the world." She walked closer to the first set of pillars, the snow melting and icing around as she cut her path forward.
Iliana touched a spiral carved into the stone. "Ah. I think this is a temple to Mara."
Markos squinted. "That's Mara's spiral?"
Iliana nodded. "Yes."
Caelyn dismounted, patting his horse's side. "Let's get set up and we can make camp at the mouth of the temple. It'll give us a chance to warm up before going deeper."
Beyond the pillars, Markos only saw the rugged mountain wall. They were told it was a temple inside the mountain. "It's hidden beyond here then?"
"Yes. Mara's temples tend to be underground. We'll see the entrance as we walk through the pillars. It's a bit of a trick but you'll see." Caelyn guided his silver stallion forward.
Markos dismounted and guided his own dappled horse towards the pillars. Iliana and her gelding followed after. They drifted moving through the path of the pillars counter clockwise. It felt strange but the other two knew where they were going.
He felt a shift as he realized they were walking down hill, the snow hiding the shift in the landscape from where they appeared.