“The Far North?” Snowy repeated, looking at the surrounding land. They were towards the bottom of great rend's ravine, on the other side of the Ôsavon from where they should be.

“We flew the wrong way!” Tempest groaned, collapsing to her knees. “How could I have been so stupid?” There was no way they'd ever be able to fly over the mountains, they were too high. And there was no way she'd fly back to that accursed fortress, either! Not with that thing still there.

“It's not your fault...” said Snowy guiltily. “I led us this way in the first place.”

“Yeah, but you're the hero here.” stated the supposed Queen of Highcrest. “You tackled a- a- shit, I don't even know what that was back there!” she swore.

“The Hell-wraith!” gasped Snowy, so surprising herself that she jumped to her hooves. “I tackled a wraith?” asked the other pegasus.

“Well, I'm still breathing...” affirmed Tempest, glancing over herself.

“Haha! I tackled a wraith!” Snowy squealed in delight, bouncing in excitement. Tempest couldn't help but smile, despite their situation. “I fought Hell-spawn and won! If you could see me now, mother, you evil-” she stopped suddenly, aware of what she had just said. “I didn't mean to say that out loud.” Snowy spoke quietly.

“Do you want me to pretend I didn't hear that?” Tempest asked. The other pegasus sighed.

“No... I would rather not talk about it, that's all.” she brightened again. “But I did fight a wraith! I fought a wraith! How many can say that?”

“Very few, I'm sure.” Fighting it really isn't the same was pushing it over in a surprise attack and flying away again, Tempest almost said. But, she did something rare, and thought before she spoke. A victory like this could only do Snowy good. And seeing a triumphant Snowy was certainly a pleasant change from an already-defeated, afraid, and nervous Snowy. “What was it you said to the wraith, anyway? Kaia something.”

“Kaia bâlon.” said Snowy, smiling craftily. “Heaven will be victorious: an ancient battle-cry, used by the humans against the demons that once hunted them.”

“Fitting.” Tempest commented. “Do you have any idea of where we should go from here?”

“Uh... East?” The pegasus just flung a hoof in the general direction of the rising sun. “That's the way to where we're supposed to meet Îrilôs.” Tempest nodded, getting the notion it was time to check the map the knight had given them, back in Jutan. It was weird to think that had been only a few nights ago.

But before either could act, there was a low howl in the distance, coming from the direction of Kakâdras. Was that a wolf- Tempest started to think, until she suddenly recalled the letter Sidâl had read to them months ago. Sir Lîetôs, the real Sir Lîetôs, not the impostor wraith, had written a letter to Ar-Athazîon about a strange creature they spotted on a ridge crest. She saw a ridge with a bare crest, directly north of her. “Well, fuck.” swore Tempest again. “Now there's demons and monsters after us!”

“J-just our luck.” Snowy commented, ears going flat when the howl sounded again. It made Tempest shiver. Their momentary triumph was gone. “That letter Sidâl read to us... Something's not right, it said.”

“Yeah, I was just thinking about that. Of course we get to experience it for ourselves!” grumbled Tempest. “It wouldn't be a genuine Blackwind adventure without catastrophe and disaster along every stop in the road.”

“I guess not...” sighed the other pegasus.

“Let's move before whatever that howling thing is gets us. We didn't escape a wraith to die to some pretend wolf, did we?” asked Tempest, hoping she could lighten the mood a little. Snowy only frowned.

It was off again, they moved in a straight north direction to put as much distance as they could between the howl and Kakâdras and themselves as they could. Neither of them knew if the wraith would chase them, but given that it didn't attack while they slept, it might have let them go. Or it might not have been able to find us by night... Maybe they should move by night? It was certainly something to consider. After reaching a high hill many miles from Kakâdras, Tempest decided they'd stop for the day, and resume travel at nightfall.

They rested near a spring that quietly bubbled out of the rock. While she was several dozen yards away from the water, deeper into the surrounding forest of firs and hemlocks, Tempest noticed something absolutely chilling; it looked like a series of rocks in a line, but after following it and digging around in the dirt a few inches, she realized it wasn't just a line, but the remains of a wall!

People really did used to live here, Tempest thought. It was an eerie feeling. All her life she had heard about this place, the Far North, ancient homeland of mankind. All her life it had been some vague, mysterious place, not really connected to the human narrative, except as a backdrop for the dawn of their history. But seeing this ruined wall... It was tangible. It was real. This might have been a home, or the border of a farm once. Someone had lived here, and someone had fled from here, driven so thoroughly that they and hundreds of thousands more had stormed a seventeen-thousand foot high wall of rock and taken on the most powerful race in the world just to get out.

The silence of the land pressed in on her.

Tempest rushed back to Snowy, suddenly not convinced that being alone was the best idea. “Is something wrong?” Snowy asked when she saw her worried expression.

“I saw the remains of a wall.” stated Tempest, glancing back into the forest. “I don't know Snowy, what if I was right?” Snowy had been present during a few lessons with Brenan, when Tempest had voiced her idea that something evil drove the humans south. “What if something bad happened up here, and it wasn't something natural like climate change or overpopulation? What would make an entire race abandon their settled lands and rush headlong at the alicorns, the nation not even dragons would touch?”

“I think you underestimate the human spirit, Tempest.” said Snowy, in a calm voice. “They are far from perfect, but they know how to apply themselves to problems. And if there was anything up here, it's long gone.”

“If you say so...” Tempest kicked at a rock, trying to calm her urge to move. “But you're the one who believes in gods and fire demons and shadow spirits and Hell-spawn.”

“We just got attacked by a wraith-” Snowy began, before closing her eyes and exhaling. “And there is only one God, Tempest.” she corrected.

“So you really did convert, then!” I saw this coming.

“That's not the issue. Fire demons and shadow spirits, they were real once. But the Great Enemy was destroyed thousands and thousands of years ago, according to the Kaiathîsa. His demons died with him, or shortly after.” Snowy lectured. “Wraiths and other monsters like Sidâl's, the ones that leave that horrible frost, those are all that's left. Angry creatures without a master, the last of their kind in a world leaving them behind...” she looked down, ears drooping. “I almost feel sorry for them.”

“I don't.” muttered Tempest, remembering the tunnel Sidâl had made, and the prisoners that went in and never came out. Truth be told, Tempest was more interested in the fact Snowy had basically admitted she converted to the human faith than in any story about monsters. What exactly did she convert from, though? wondered Tempest. The Queen of Highcrest had never paid attention to religion, human or pony, despite Aharôs's attempts to bring her around. She had no idea what she believed, except for the fact that her family was probably cursed. “Remind me to remind you to tell me why you went to their god, some time.” Tempest said, laying down in the shade of a cedar. “I'm getting some sleep before sunset, you should too.”

“I told you months ago, it's not their God.” Snowy corrected yet again, settling near Tempest after putting down her own blanket. Months ago, you were still a stammering, nervous wreck, Tempest thought. She was still pleased at how much progress her friend had made in this short time. Maybe all she needed these ten years was to just get out of Nikadîon for a while? They had never left for more than a few days, before Aharôs dragged them off into a war... In hindsight, being cooped up in that dark, gloomy place was far less preferable to being out here in the world.

Fortunately, the Far North was much less grim than that castle. It was surprisingly, really; she'd always imagined this as a cold, windy, grey place. But it was green, covered with trees and plants. And it was quiet. There were some birds making their calls here and there, and the occasional rustle of a breeze in the branches above, but silence persisted. Most of all, Tempest was surprised by the heat of the day. The letter from the real Captain of Kakâdras had said that winter's chill had lingered longer than it should, but Tempest felt no cold today. It wasn't long before the day's warmth and her own fatigue put her to sleep.

The first thing she was aware of was a smell she didn't recognize at all, something biting and sharp. She sniffed, and tried to sneeze it away, to no avail. Tempest opened her eyes. It was completely dark, the stars and moon were high in the sky. And there were clouds rolling in from some direction, going by the dark masses above. She glanced over a few feet to Snowy, who was still tightly curled up on her blanket.

But what was that smell? There was something about it that stung the insides of her nostrils. She got that feeling about burning wool and other acrid stenches, but this was something deeper. It was almost like it went all the way through her nose and behind her eyes; a notion that made her cringe. That mystery would have to wait.

“Time to get up,” Tempest said to Snowy, walking over and nudging her awake. “we've got ground to cover.” Snowy said nothing, she stood up silently and stretched her wings. They packed up what little they had with them. Tempest hoped she could find east, the moon was directly overhead, and the clouds had just gotten thicker and thicker by the minute. Soon enough, not only were the stars hidden, but so was the moon as well. “Hmm...”

“Mmh?” prompted Snowy.

“I'm trying to get my bearings.” Tempest looked around, trying not to be too desperate in her search for a sign of direction. But it was too dark to see anything other than vague shapes. She shivered, in part by the cold night air, in part by the idea of being temporarily lost in the Far North.

“Do you know what way to go? I don't...” Snowy commented.

“Yeah, uh... This way.” Tempest pointed off in the direction she thought was east. And off they were, flying through the night. It was a silent affair, there was little wind, but the air was quite chilled. When they landed for a mid-night meal, Tempest found her wings almost numb. As they sat on a hill top, chewing on the last of the bread given to them by Zefîra and her father, Tempest observed what little she could see. There wasn't much to see at all, though. Everything was cloaked in shadow; just vague shapes on a vague horizon.

“There goes the food.” said Snowy, with concern.

“We'll have to go back to foraging. Stick to plants you recognize, we don't know what is poisonous or not up here.” Tempest stated, before they took off again. They flew on; Tempest pressed hard to get away from Kakâdras and the false-wolf howl. Hours passed by, and eventually, the sky started to lighten... to her right. “That should be in front of us!” said Tempest. “We've been going north the whole time!”

Snowy just sighed in defeat, and began descending. I can't believe I fucked this up, Tempest fumed internally, as she followed Snowy down. You had one job! Just find east and go that way! You can't even do that right... she scolded herself.

They landed in a clearing, where Tempest tried to get her bearings again. She had no idea how far they had actually gone. She supposed that they could just fly south east until they saw the mountains again... But she wasn't willing to risk it by day. They needed to rest. As the sun rose, however, Tempest realized that they weren't actually in a clearing.

“What happened here?” asked Snowy.

It was a path of total devastation, going straight through the woods, without a single twist or turn. She lost sight of the path of ruin when it went up and over a distant hill. It wasn't the wind that had done it, that was obvious; not a single tree had been overturned. Rather, it was as if some great hand had plowed through, snapping every tree like it was but a twig. Each fallen trunk pointed the same direction, to the northwest. There were shattered stumps everywhere.

“Was it a cyclone?” wondered Tempest. A flood couldn't have done this, there was no water and the path pointed uphill. But a cyclone probably would have pulled the tree out with it's roots still attached. Whatever did this seemed to have hit the trees from a horizontal angle...

“I- I don't like this.” Snowy said shakily. She was looking at the ground, and Tempest followed her stare. There was no grass, no moss, no saplings, no ferns or shrubs. Just bare ground. Even the fallen trees had no leaves. It occurred to her that they were all sun-bleached. “We should move.”

“Hmm...” mused Tempest, absent-mindedly. She wasn't going to lie to herself, this was incredibly interesting. Her gaze slowly turned from the fallen trees, past Snowy, and to the hill beyond. It was the exact opposite direction of where they needed to go... “Snowy, have you ever gotten that feeling when you just have to take another step to see around the next corner, or over the next wall?”

“...No.” replied Snowy in a small voice, ears falling flat as she realized what Tempest was about to say.

“Whatever happened here, happened a long time ago. These trunks have been sitting out here for years and years.” Tempest said, walking around in the light of the rising sun.

“We saw a wraith-”

“That's true.” admitted Tempest. She had been scared by that, but in the face of an adventure to parts unknown, who cared about wraiths? They had a chance to go off the edge of the map! Her lifelong dream was a moment away from coming true, and no wraith nor howl-thing would stand in her way! “You yourself said the creatures of the ancient world are all but gone, and the only ones left are ones even you can best. What do we have to lose by following this path to its destination? It's not like Aharôs and the others can move faster than us.” A sudden pang of worry shot through her, as she realized Aharôs was also heading to Kakâdras and the wraith. But like she had just said, if even Snowy could best the wraith, then it would be no challenge for Aharôs. He was a better fighter than the two of them combined.

“I-” Her friend signed again, defeated as usual. “I don't know... Blackwind adventures tend to end badly.”

That too was true, very much so. Tempest paused her thoughts for a moment. Anything involving my family usually ends up a disaster... She didn't want to drag Snowy into any more danger than they were already in, the other pegasus wasn't cut out for this kind of situation. But at the same time, Snowy had survived the war in Equestria, she had survived the crossing of the sea, and she had survived Reshîv's usurpation... Perhaps her god was with her. “I think we'll be fine, Snowy. We've gotten through worse than some knocked over trees.”

“If you say so.” conceded Snowy, looking doubtful about the notion.

“We'll sleep until evening, and then we follow this thing.” Tempest declared, feeling unusually bold.

“This had better not turn out like the Debacle of 1499...” grumbled Snowy, getting a mildly annoyed expression on her face. Tempest had an un-queenly giggle at the thought of that incident. She was convinced the only people who had been amused by that were her and Sir Turaz.

“I don't think anything short of my return to Highcrest could turn out that badly again.” Tempest said with a smile. Despite being miles off course in the Far North, despite being attacked by a wraith, despite encountering this strange evidence of destruction, Tempest felt good. At last, she had a chance to do one of the things she had always wanted to do. That evening, when they woke up again, she would begin an adventure into the wild places of the world. Maybe they'd find nothing at all, maybe they'd find something, but the point was moot. The beyond pulled at her, compelling her forwards. Tempest was finally going somewhere unexplored.

Author's Notes:

That's right, two chapters in our initial publish. Because we're pushing this plot into overdrive. Kind of. Not really.