As they ascended the mountain, the weather suddenly turned violent.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
What had been a steady wind transformed into a howling gale within seconds. Snow that had been falling gently became a wall of white that obliterated visibility. The temperature plummeted even further, cold so intense it felt like knives cutting through their layers of fur and into their skin.
Moon grabbed Selene's arm, shouting to be heard over the roar of wind. "We've been hit by a blizzard! We need to take shelter!"
Selene nodded, her face already covered in frost, her hair whipping wildly. They pressed forward, each step becoming a battle against the wind that seemed determined to throw them off the mountain.
Rumble! Rumble!
Their faces turned pale at the ominous sound that was coming from the top of the mountain.
"Avalanche!" Selene screamed, pointing upward.
Through the blizzard, Moon could barely make out the massive wall of snow breaking free from the upper slopes, cascading downward with the force of a tidal wave.
With few seconds to move, they were forced to find a shelter to escape their imminent death.
"There!" Moon spotted a dark opening in the rock face about twenty meters to their right.
They ran, stumbling through the deep snow, the rumble growing louder. The ground shook, the air filled with the thunder of countless tons of snow racing down the mountain.
They threw themselves into the cave entrance just as the avalanche roared past them in fury, the displaced air creating a pressure wave that knocked them both off their feet.
Snow poured into the cave's mouth, but the angle of the entrance protected them from the worst of it.
For several seconds, they lay gasping on the cold stone floor, hearts pounding, listening to the avalanche rage outside. When it finally passed, leaving only the howl of the blizzard, they slowly picked themselves up.
"That was close," Selene breathed, brushing snow from her face.
Moon nodded, still catching his breath. He looked around their shelter, gathering a small flame in his palm to provide light.
The cave was larger than their previous shelter, extending back into darkness. As his eyes adjusted and the firelight spread, Moon noticed something.
This cave had been used before.
Near the entrance, scattered across the stone floor, were the remnants of an old fire. Moon knelt beside them, touching it gently.
"Someone camped here," he said.
Selene moved deeper into the cave, her own light source illuminating the walls. "Moon, there's more."
He joined her and found what she'd discovered. Belongings left behind, forgotten or abandoned. A torn piece of fabric that might have been part of a bedroll. An empty water container, cracked from the cold and a broken knife, with a blade that was snapped in half.
And on the cave walls, writing.
Moon brought his flame closer, studying the marks carved into the stone. They were rough, done with something sharp, probably the same broken knife lying nearby.
Unfortunately, they were incomprehensible, providing no useful intel to Moon.
"Can you read any of this?" Selene asked, running her fingers over the carvings.
Moon shook his head. "No. But look at this."
He pointed to one section where the carving was deeper. The pattern repeated three times, each iteration slightly different. "Whoever wrote this was trying to communicate something. Important enough to carve it into stone."
"The journal," Selene said suddenly. "The group from the journal. They came this way, heading toward the temple. This could be one of their camps."
Moon considered that. The belongings looked like they'd been here for months, maybe more. The journal's last entry had been nineteen days after the groupd had entered the hidden realm.
"But why write in symbols no one can read?" Moon wondered aloud.
"Maybe they couldn't," Selene suggested. "Maybe something about this place, about the mountain or the temple, affected them somehow. Changed how they perceived language."
It was a disturbing thought.
Moon moved to the cave entrance and looked out. The blizzard showed no signs of stopping. Snow fell so thick he couldn't see more than a meter beyond the opening. The sky, what little he could glimpse through the whiteout, was darkening.
Night was beginning to fall.
"We can't go back down," he said quietly. "Not in this weather. Not in the dark."
Selene joined him, her expression grim. "We'll have to stay on the mountain and wait it out."
It wasn't what they'd planned. Their strategy had been to scout during daylight and retreat to safety before evening.
Moon turned back to survey their shelter. It was defensible, with one entrance, solid stone walls, and enough space for both of them. They'd also harvested meat from the Frost Serpent.
They could survive the night here.
"We take shifts," Moon said, making the decision. "Four hours each. The one on watch stays near the entrance, ready to wake the other at the first sign of anything."
Selene nodded. "I'll take first watch. You need to recover your mana after that fight."
Moon didn't argue, he wasn't going to complain about resting after their long journey.
He settled against the cave wall where he could still see the entrance. "And Selene? If you see anything, anything at all—wake me immediately. Don't try to handle it alone."
"I won't," she promised.
Moon closed his eyes, but sleep didn't come easily. Outside, the blizzard raged on. Somewhere in the darkness, carved in symbols they couldn't understand, was a message from people who'd walked this path before them.
People who'd never made it back.