Forty
Umbra and Marin, Rumble Mountains, Dead man's overpass
With the temperature of the unforgiving peaks dropping, the travelers' options were running out.
Umbra and Marin were keenly aware of the relentless slayer tracking them.
The frigid alpines and frozen passes coupled with the gathering blizzard was closing in.
A simple campfire and shelter would not suffice in the Rumble Mountain overpasses.
Even Marin's battle-ready horse, Silvermane was struggling in the deepening snow.
Umbra tugged his fur cloak tighter, but even so, his fingers stung and his breath lingered visibly in the cold air.
Time was running out.
They had been herded away from the safer roads by the ruthless slayer's hit and run tactics.
Although they didn't know it before, they had stumbled onto the exposed slopes of the tallest peaks. Now the full winter fury of the Rumble Mountains assaulted them mercilessly.
"Umbra, I can't feel my toes," Marin whimpered as she tried huddling beside her beloved white mare.
"We need to turn back!" Umbra called out to her, muffled by the howling winds.
Surely the lower, more sheltered route wouldn't be so impossibly cold.
Umbra concentrated, calling the heat of his blue fire to his fingertips, just enough to warm Marin. He placed his hands to her face as she embraced him, sharing what little body heat that remained.
On a nearby icy overlook a menacing figure crouched. She was enshrouded in countless layers of the thickest hide from the mighty Amorok Wolves and Tundra Mammoths she had slain.
Robyn's spyglass was fixed on her targets below.
She had trained in these brutal icecaps for years, hunted the beasts of the peaks and even slain the Elder Alpha Amorok Wolf Tamaska.
Now Tamaska's pelt was sprawled out on the pinewood floors of her cabin in her trophy room.
It was the impossibly thick furs of the tundra mammoth that kept her comfortable in the icy storm.
But Robyn knew how resourceful and unpredictable maleficae like Umbra were.
If her prey would fall back to the shelter of the crags and its many hollows, she might lose their trail.
So preoccupied with staying warm in the howling wind, Umbra and Marin did not hear the approach of the slayer. Only the whinny of Silvermane alerted them.
The slopes had gotten narrow and now Robyn stood in the way to block their retreat.
Umbra recognized her immediately, cloaked head-to-toe as she was.
Robyn, axe in one hand, short sword in the other clanged her weapons together calling Umbra out.
Umbra knew the only way to fall back to shelter was by going through the slayer that had hounded him since the Heartless Swamp.
With an outstretched hand he called his halberd from Silvermane's saddlebag to his grip.
Marin did her best to use her magic to reinvigorate Umbra, but her fingers were too stiff and cold to form the intricate shapes needed.
Words of encouragement were the best she could muster.
"You can do this, I know you can!"
Umbra nodded. He knew too well what was at stake should the slayer triumph.
Only one image filled his mind, For Marin.
The two combatants rushed forward, weapons ringing off each other as steel met steel.
Despite the winds, Robyn was faster, her footing more secure.
Robyn sidestepped and out-maneuvered Umbra as the maleficus struggled to parry an axe swing that would have cleaved his shoulder.
Attempting to match his opponent's agility, Umbra tapped into his dwindling reserves of magic.
Robyn had dealt with this trick before, knowing her opponent couldn't sustain his augmentation for very long.
She just needed to outlast him.
Umbra's pulse raced as the magic coursed through his veins, slightly illuminating him for a moment.
He unleashed a dervish of slashes at his nimble opponent.
Robyn struggled to keep Umbra at a safe distance, he had a lot of reach with his halberd.
So far, her clever dodging and agile footwork were keeping her movements unpredictable.
Umbra was growing more desperate, he could feel his strength slipping away with each passing second.
Finally, a stray sweep clipped Robyn's thigh, putting an end to her evasion.
Robyn squinted as the pain rang through her body, the squirting crimson blood sizzled in the snow.
Umbra was exhausted, but he had winged his opponent enough to slow her down.
Calling his last strength he pushed the slayer back with telekinesis, flinging her into the very same overlook she had watched them from.
But his attempt to collapse the outcropping onto the wounded slayer failed, he was completely spent.
Suddenly, a crystalline bolt shot past him striking the ledge behind Robyn.
It came from Marin's mage staff, though in her fatigue she clutched it like a crutch. Every ounce of her remaining magic was channeled into that one shot.
Robyn struggled to catch her breath the deep wound on her thigh severing her attempt to flee the collapsing rush of ice and rock.
Seeing her icy tomb closing around her, Robyn cried out in desperation, now becoming a victim of the mountain.
Though she tried to struggle, she was affixed and muffled by the avalanche.
Umbra collapsed to his knees in exhaustion, his mana reserves dry. It took the assistance of his beloved companion to get to his feet.
Stricken, yet determined and using their weapons to support their weight, they departed for the lower trail and the comforting shelter from the wind.
The fire they set in the nearest hollow of the crags would be their salvation now.