The cold winds blew ferociously, carrying with them the bitter cold of an elemental storm that loomed ahead. Kayden held his sides as he trudged forward in the snow. It had only been a day, and yet he had never felt this much exhaustion in his entire life.
"Are we there yet?" Kayden asked tiredly.
"You know it's to the south, right?" Thane asked with a chuckle. Kayden groaned in frustration, but he kept his pace. The storm kept coming slowly towards them, and they would soon have to find shelter until it passed.
"Hey Thane, why can't we use our powers here?" Kayden asked, he couldn't understand for the life of him why Thane had told them to keep his powers on a low till they left this place.
"You never listened in class, I just knew it" Thane cursed at him.
"Fool, I never went to school, now tell me why" Kayden demanded.
"Because there are beasts that appear in storms such as this, they prey on people just like us, foolish enough to use our soul essence in situations like this," Thane said but Kayden was still confused, he was about to ask for more till a strong gust of wind threw him off his balance.
He managed to catch himself before tripping and falling face flat, "We should hurry Thane, it's getting really close" Kayden said as he caught up to Thane.
Thane pointed towards a dark shade under a rock outcrop, it looked deep enough to be a cave so the two of them moved towards it, they wouldn't be able to escape this storm at this rate.
"Hurry" Thane called out as they both ran towards the cave, upon reaching they could feel the arrival of the elemental storm just behind their backs, they managed to duck in just before the winds blasted against the mountain shelf.
"Well that was close" Kayden sighed as he sat down on the cold floor, the winds blew fiercely against the entrance, throwing stones and hail at them but both Thane and Kayden were at a safe distance inside the cave.
Kayden heard a distinct sound coming from inside the cave, a shuffling of some sort.
"Do you hear that Thane?" Kayden asked just to be sure that he wasn't imagining things, Thane summoned fire to his palm and lit the entire cave alight, a few paces away from them, backed against the wall was a warthog.
"Aahh, food," Kayden said as he eased himself, ever since he had survived his first attack of demonic beasts, he had been on edge since then.
"Food indeed" Thane smiled wickedly, "Do you mind? Kayden?" Thane asked him with a gesture.
"Gladly, shame there's no hot wine" Kayden sighed regrettably as he sent out a bolt of lightning from his fingertips, it felt easier to do now, much more natural, the warthog didn't even notice it was dead as it let out its last and final snort.
"I'll skin dinner, you set up the uuhhm, just do your thing Kayden," Thane said tiredly as he brought out a short knife hanging at his waist.
They hadn't been able to eat in days, the last meal they had was that night when they all lost Tharros and the other men, this was going to be their second meal.
Kayden got his business, he found random sticks lying about in the corner, he bundled them up and ripped off some vines from the walls of the cave, it brought back some unwanted memories but he pushed that thought back into his head.
He set up the sticks and found sound other bushels he could use to start a fire and roast the meat for as long as possible, after Kayden was done, Thane was done skinning the warthog of its skin, now it just looked pink and bloody.
Kayden took a long stick he had sharpened and plunged it down the throat of the warthog, he pushed even forget till the stick ripped off the rear end of the warthog as it stuck out, he carried the meat and placed it above the makeshift roast he had made.
"Finally," Kayden said as Thane set fire to the woods, the meat slowly began to cook over time, they both took turns turning the meat and making sure one side didn't get too burnt, the longer they waited the more their bellies grumbled but they held on.
After what seemed like hours, Thane cleared a spot on the ground that was clean enough to eat from, he brought down the meat and split it into halves, the big chunks then small chunks, they would carry whatever meat remained if they couldn't finish it.
For the first time in a long time, they ate good, delicious meat, well roasted and juicy, although the cold persisted they could ignore it so long as they had wood and fire.
Unfortunately, there was no more wood, they finished their meal and bundled up the rest of the meat into a cloth, they would start moving once the storm died, but the storm never died, they waited and waited until the night came and they knew they couldn't go anywhere.
The night came with its terrors, and with its terrors, its beasts, they couldn't light any fires neither could they leave and the cold was getting worse and worse with every passing moment.
"We're going to die, aren't we?" Kayden shivered as he spoke, he could see his breath puff out whenever he breathed out.
"Come closer," Thane said randomly, Kayden looked at him with a pause but gave in and came closer.
"No no, even closer" Thane whispered, Kayden could feel his breath against his skin.
"This close enough and why do you need me so close" Kayden's teeth chattered away as he felt the warmth from Thane.
"Because we're going to die, not from any beast or demon but from this damn cold, now get your hot body closer to mine so I don't die from frostbite," he said between his teeth.
"How close do I need to be?" Kayden asked once more, unsure of how to go about all this but Thane simply smiled looking at Kayden.
"Skin to skin, get over here" he reached out pulling Kayden even closer until their skins touched in suspicious ways.