The wind howled like a wounded beast, its icy breath clawing at their skin as they climbed. The cathedral's jagged walls stretched endlessly above them and dissappeared into the frozen night, while below, the ruins of Nytheril were sprawled like the remnants of a forgotten graveyard.
Chael's hands were raw and his body screamed in protest with every movement. His left hand, the only one he was using now, was numb from the cold and his grip weakened with every ledge he pulled himself onto. He was quickly running out of strength.
Echidna wasn't faring any better.
Her bones creaked with every motion and her limbs trembled from exhaustion. The fight, the cold, the brutal climb, it had drained everything out of her. Her arms felt like lead. She barely had the strength to lift herself anymore.
And then, the fog came.
It was less than a kilometer away now and rolled across the ruins like an unstoppable tide. It was extremely thick and it certainly didn't move like natural mist. It pulsed and its edges twisted unnaturally, reaching forward in shifting tendrils as if it were alive.
It wasn't just closing in, it was rising too.
Chael stole a glance downward through the reflection in his spearhead and cursed under his breath.
The fog wasn't just swallowing the ruins below. It was climbing the walls of the cathedral.
And fast.
Echidna's fingers tightened around her ledge and her breath came out in ragged gasps. Her vision was starting to blur, the weight of her own body growing unbearable.
After all that had happened so far, her limbs simply refused to move any further.
She blinked down at the rolling mass of fog and smiled bitterly.
"What a joke..." She muttered after a self-depricating chuckle.
She wanted to move, but her fingers loosened.
And then, a rough grip tightened on her arm.
Chael's fingers wrapped around her wrist. He was already on a ledge above, his breathing just as labored and his body was in a much worse condition than hers, but his grip on her was ironclad.
His blindfolded face tilted down toward her. His expression was unreadable, but his voice was sharp and steady.
"After all you put me through, I'm not letting you die this easily."
Echidna stared at him.
She didn't know weather to laugh or cry.
Instead, she sneered coldly, "Sentimental brat."
Chael ignored her and with a sharp and painful pull, he hoisted her up onto the ledge beside him.
She gritted her teeth and hissed as pain shot through her limbs, but she didn't fight him. She let herself be dragged onto the narrow platform, her breath coming out in sharp, exhausted bursts.
Then she saw it. Right in front of her was a wooden door that was wedged between the jagged stone of the cathedral wall. It was ancient, its iron hinges rusted and its frame barely holding together.
Chael turned toward it, just as the fog roared toward them. It was mere metres away at this point.
There was no time to hesitate.
Without thinking, they lunged toward the door and slammed into it with their combined weight. The brittle wood cracked, the hinges screeching in protest, but it burst open beneath their force.
They tumbled inside, landing hard against the cold floor.
Chael turned immediately and shoved the door shut just as the fog crashed into the outside.
The wood rattled violently and the iron hinges creaked. The force of the mist hammering against the other side. But the door held.
Had it been any normal fog, it would've seeped in through the door however, in an ounce of luck, that didn't seem to be the case with this fog.
The roaring wind outside faded into muffled silence.
Chael let out a slow breath, forehead pressing against the wood for just a second before he turned and let his back slide down against it.
They were safe for now.
The room was pristine.
The pale light from the twin moons seeped through fog and the dark window to illuminate the floor. He saw unblemished smooth-cut stone beneath his boots. There were no cracks and no uneven surfaces worn down by age.
Unlike what he had expected, no dust clung to the walls and no cobwebs stretched from the wooden beams above.
A single bed sat against the far wall, its frame was unblemished and the sheets taut and clean as if someone had just left it that morning.
Against one wall, a suit of knight's armor stood upright, its metal gleaming and polished.
Beside it, a weapons rack leaned against the stone and held an immaculate set of weapons. Unlike what he had expected, there wasn't a single weapon that bore rust. The swords gleamed beneath the dim light, their edges sharpened. The spears were perfectly aligned and their shafts were smooth.
The sheer lack of human presence in Nyrethil since he had come here led him to believe that this place was abandoned, however that didn't seem to be the case at all.
This room was clearly owned by a human, and they were still living here.
Chael took his eyes to the singular window which was reinforced with thick, crisscrossing iron bars that was built more for defense than aesthetics. Beyond the glass, there was nothing.
Just pure, endless white of the rolling monsterous fog.
Chael exhaled slowly and pulled his gaze away from the window.
His attention shifted to the only other door in the room.
Unlike the one they had just forced their way through, this one was larger, sturdier and reinforced with iron bands. It stood at the far end of the chamber, clearly leading deeper into the cathedral.
Echidna groaned softly beside him, still catching her breath. She was slumped against the floor with her arms resting on her bent knees and her head tilting back against the stone. Despite the exhaustion lining her features, her sharp eyes roamed the room carefully and took in its details just as he had.
Then she frowned. A slow, wary realization flickered across her face. She had noticed it too. "Someone...'s still living here."
"Yeah." Chael sighed.
Her muscles tensed.
"Chael." she muttered, her voice quieter now.
He didn't reply.
But he knew what she was thinking.
If this room was not abandoned…
If this room had been kept intact…
Then where was the one who lived here?