"Hey," he continued "What's wrong?"
He persisted, leaning closer to meet my gaze as he placed his hand on my back.
In Cold Lands where everything and anything could happen, you could never be too careful. We needed to watch out for each other, even if we hadn't explicitly agreed on it (except for that one time Sky mentioned something along those lines).
"I'm okay," I managed to say, reassuring him to prevent unnecessary worry.
I considered telling him about the Eye of Psion, but I decided against it. It wouldn't be the best idea; it might make him uncomfortable. I imagined If someone had a way to delve into my past, I wouldn't feel at ease around them either.
Plus, despite the stress of using the Eye of Psion, I was curious about what lay in Hassan's mind.Hassan was as enigmatic as the Cold Lands even though he had been trying lately to talk more than he used to.
So, I knew somewhere deep in my mind that that wouldn't be the last time I would be using the amulet.
"I'm okay," I repeated, meeting his doubtful gaze.
Nothing happened again since I no longer wore the wondrous amulet.
"Did you receive the new quest also? Or was it just me?" Hassan asked, wearing a mixed expression of dread and wonder. He asked that because of when he alone was given a quest in the cave of the BLIZZARDKIN creatures.
If it was just him it would look as if the people in charge just wanted him to perish.
"I did."
When I replied he went back towards the side of the snow sled, struggling against the cold wind that was pushing him backward.
"What are you doing?" I inquired as I retrieved the ropes of the snow sled that had slipped from my grasp when I glimpsed into his memories.
I also picked the medieval torch that had fallen then and held it with my left hand. The medieval torch burned below me, laying on the snow a few inches away from me... It melted the snow that was in it's close surrounding.
He didn't respond and continued moving until he stopped, raising his hands as if pushing against an invisible barrier.
"I knew it!" He yelled before returning to me.
Walking towards me the look on his face had gone and replacing it was his usual blank expression.
You couldn't tell what it was that he knew from that blank expression.
"What is it? " I asked him
"It's over there. There's a barrier over there that won't allow us to leave. Just like in the cave earlier " He explained
"Oh! " I acknowledged
That must have been what he was pushing against.
"This must be the work of the King of Ice Bears!" he exclaimed, approaching the bear corpses cautiously, seemingly unsure whether they were truly dead or alive. With the way the unusual happened in the Cold Lands one would not be so shocked when the dead creatures came back to life. Heck Hassan had such ability...
I slowly followed him as I pulled the Snow sled with my right hand and held up the medieval torch with my left hand.
There was the moonlight but it's dim glow didn't help much through the snow storm that was growing stronger with each of passing moment.
Under my breath, I cursed the inadequate moonlight and regretted being awed by its beauty back at home.
When I was at home I used to try to take pictures of the moon even if I ended up getting nothing but completely pitch dark photos because of the kind of phone that I used.
Still, the moon's lack of practicality couldn't diminish its aesthetic charm that was an embodiment of solitude.
The moon in the Cold Lands and the moon back at home were the same. The difference was that I hadn't really needed the moon light at home because of the artificial street lights that adorned the streets at home.
It was even a marvel that the moon of the Cold land was so similar to our moon given that where we were in was a game(according to the strange group chat)
Hassan was inspecting the large creatures that were about four times his size, as if he was an animal expert.
He began to mumble some words over and over again and grew more weary each time he tried.
I paused as I looked at him wondering if he was trying to summon the creatures and turn them into his soldiers like he had done before.
"Let's go" He said after he stopped mumbling.
Between the creatures were wide gaps, more than enough for the snow sled to pass through. Enormous paw prints, twice the size of the snow sled, dotted the spaces, accompanied by chunks of meat from the brutal slaughter that had occurred.
"Give that to me. You should rest" Hassan insisted, taking the rope and medieval torch from my hands without waiting for my response. He started to drag the snow sled himself after I had climbed the snow sled.
"I thought this thing ran on some fuel" He asked as he moved forward
"Yeah. But it only lasts for two hours then after that it takes three hours to refuel"
So, basically the thing had an automatic refilling mechanism that would allow it to run for ever. This fact alone made me wonder who provided all the technology to these people so that they'd be able to pull it off.
The magnificence of the whole ordeal about the Cold Lands and everything that had happened was as immense as the terror it brought.
How were they able to bestow all these abilities to us? And even the inventory and all the insanely cool items they have been rewarding us with.
Some of them seemed more mystical than technical which begged the question.
'Is this really the work of aliens not humans? ' I wondered.
Aliens that could create things from nothing and make the impossible to become possible. Aliens that had learnt the way of humans : such as their languages. The instructor was particularly fluent in English language.
Snapping me out of the torrent of questions swirling through my mind Hassan said "This is where the trail ends"
Somewhere along the line I had stopped taking note of where we were going (which is dangerous because in the Cold Lands you should always be alert) and I was lost in my mind so I hadn't noticed when we got to the beginning of a forest.
The forest stretched endlessly, with colossal trees as far as the dim moon light could illuminate, tapering at both ends. My curiosity was piqued, and I wondered how long it would take to reach the forest's end in either direction.