The morning came with silence.
Gray awoke to the faint crackle of a pot simmering and the scent of cooked meat clinging to the cold air. The light that filtered through the cracked windows was pale and diffused, casting long shadows across the walls. He shifted under the blanket, stiff from sleep, and blinked slowly as his eyes adjusted. His body still ached from the previous days, muscles tight and bruised, but the pain was duller now. Bearable. The warmth of the house didn't reach far, but it was enough for the moment.
He opened up his system screens again and glanced at his status.
[Status: Recovering]
[Estimated Recovery Time: 1 Day]
[Vyre Channeling is currently restricted. Overuse may result in permanent damage to core and veins.]
'Only one day left,' he sighed.
He sat up, rubbing his face and brushing frost from his eyebrows. Across the room, Korr crouched by the stove, hunched over a small bowl, his breath fogging the air as he ate.
"You're up early," Gray muttered, his voice low and raspy from the cold.
Korr looked up, his mouth full, eyes squinting with amusement. "You missed the good bits. Might be wolf. Might be goblin. Not asking."
Gray grimaced as he stood, stretching the stiffness from his shoulders. "You're eating it anyway?"
Korr gave a lopsided grin. "Nothing kills a man who's already half-dead. Besides, Mira said it's clean enough. Burned it long enough to kill whatever it was. Want some?"
"Im... good." Gray gave him a weird look.
Gray pulled up a rickety chair and took a seat opposite him. The wood creaked under his weight. The two sat in silence for a moment, save for the occasional slurp from Korr and the dull bubbling of the pot. The house creaked with the wind. Dust drifted through a shaft of light.
"You fought well back there," Gray said finally.
Korr looked at him and gave a short nod. "I didn't die. That's all I care about." He paused, then added with a glance, "But you... you jumped in front of Lira. Thought you were gonna die for a second."
Gray shrugged. "So did I."
Korr let out a dry chuckle, low and brief. "You're a strange one, actually... just stupid."
"Thanks... i guess," he gave him a wistful look.
Behind them, Orrin sat cross-legged on the floor, slowly sharpening his spear with rhythmic strokes of a whetstone. His movements were deliberate, practiced. The blade hissed quietly each time it met the stone.
"Still alive, Gray?" Orrin asked without looking up.
"Barely."
"Good. That means you can help dig."
Gray raised an eyebrow. "Dig?"
"The truck," Korr said, licking the last of the stew from his spoon. "Mira thinks it's time we check if it still has anything useful."
"Ah, right. The truck." He had completely forgotten after his long nap.
Gray turned his head and spotted Mira already wrapped in her thick cloak, standing near the door. She looked ready, gloves pulled tight and her satchel slung over one shoulder.
"It's close," she said, her voice calm and even. "Just past the market district. Hidden near the northern slope."
They left quietly. Lira still slept in the corner, her face half-buried in the pillow. Her breath fogged the air with each exhale. Renn stood watch by the window, eyes scanning the horizon. He gave a small nod as they passed. Adel lay wrapped in heavy blankets, her breathing shallow but steady.
The air outside was sharper than the night before. It cut through their coats like knives. Gray pulled his hood tighter, glancing up at the dull gray sky. Snow crunched beneath their boots, hard and brittle with the cold. Their breath rose in clouds as they walked through the market's skeletal remains.
They passed rows of abandoned stalls, their wooden frames covered in ice. Faded cloth banners fluttered weakly in the wind, whispering with every gust. Empty shelves, shattered crates, and bits of forgotten things peeked out from the drifts. It looked like a town paused mid-breath.
Eventually, they reached the slope.
"Here," Mira said, pointing to a lumpy mound of snow wedged between two collapsed stone arches. "We buried it shallow. Shouldn't take long."
They got to work. Korr used his axe to break through the crusted snow while Gray dug with his gloved hands, scooping away frozen chunks.
He would've preferred to use his katana but it was damaged. Severely.
It's edge was chipped and dull. If he were to encounter something right now, he doubted he could do anything to it.
Mira stood watch, her eyes scanning the ruins.
After several minutes of digging, metal glinted beneath the frost. A cracked windshield emerged, then a bent frame. The truck had shifted in the snow and now stood half-tipped against the slope, its front partially collapsed and buried.
Korr grunted as he wedged his axe into the door seam, prying it open with effort. The door creaked, then popped free with a groan. As it swung open, a wave of rot and coppery stench spilled out.
"Gods," Gray muttered, turning his head away.
Inside, the cab was a mess. The walls were streaked with dried blood, some of it smeared in frantic patterns. Faded handprints stained the glass. Deep claw marks ran across the seats and dashboard. The floor was littered with scraps of torn cloth, broken crates, and dried fragments of something unidentifiable.
"I didn't think it was this bad." Korr said, his voice low and tight.
He had been informed about the situation when he woke up.
He simply refused to belive the Pale Maw was strong, just that the others were too weak.
Gray climbed in carefully, avoiding a large dark stain that had soaked into the fabric. The back of the truck had been partially smashed, but among the wreckage they found a metal crate marked with a red cross.
Mira opened it with quick fingers. "Medical supplies," she whispered. Inside were bandages, salves, a few sealed vials, and two injector pens. She held them like they were made of glass.
Amid the broken remains of gear, Gray noticed a book with a cracked green cover.
"Is that...?"
"The herbarium from the sanctuary," Mira said softly. "I took it before we left. Didn't think it'd be useful until now."
"So you stole it," Korr mumbled quietly.
Mira glared at him for a second before turning her head away.
"Not stealing, borrowing." She said calmy
"Sure...borrowning." He shook his head and walked out of the truck. Shutting the doors behind him.
Gray looked at the pile of snow they had dug up.
"Are... are you sure it's safe to not leave it buried?"
She continued to walk ahead.
"It should be fine, besides. I doubt that thing followed us this far."
No one spoke on the walk back. The snow seemed heavier now, the wind quieter but colder.
When they returned, Renn was pacing by the window, his face drawn and tense.
"Something's wrong," he said.
They hurried inside.
Adel lay on the floor, wrapped in her blankets. Her skin had turned almost white, and her veins pulsed visibly beneath the surface, dark, sickly lines running from her neck down to her wrists. Her breathing came in sharp, uneven bursts. Her eyes fluttered behind closed lids.
Orrin looked up from her side. "She started shivering. Then her veins changed. Fast."
Mira dropped beside her, flipping through the herbarium. She turned the pages quickly, her fingers trembling. Finally, she stopped.
"This," she said, tapping a page that showed a twisting, blue-green moss. "'Frostpine moss.' It slows the spread of venom through Vyre veins. Won't cure her, but it might buy us time."
"Where does it grow?" Gray asked.
"Caves. Cold ones. Deep, undisturbed. Usually near old water flows or collapsed riverbeds."
Korr snorted. "And where the hell are we going to find one of those?"
Renn, still near the window, spoke quietly. "It's possible. Earthquakes can shift the ground. Open new paths, break through old ones. Near mountain bases, caves appear overnight. We've seen it happen before."
Gray stood, already moving toward his pack. "Then we start looking. We find one. Before it's too late."
No one argued. Mira administered what she could from the salvaged supplies. A few herbs, a binding to slow Adel's pulse. It helped slightly. Her breathing steadied, if only by a fraction. It didn't cure her, it only bought her some time. Time they needed.
Evening came, and the wind began to rise again. Outside, the snow thickened. The group sat in silence, gathered near the fire, tending to weapons and checking packs. No one said it, but they all knew. Tomorrow, they would descend into the cold looking for a miracle.
Far above the town, near the jagged line where stone met sky, something stirred.
A tall shape crouched low within the shadows of the mountain. Its fur was as dark as the sky that blanketed the land. Its limbs moved with eerie patience. It did not make a sound.
Its jaw opened slightly, revealing teeth like glacial shards.
It watched, waited.