Chapter 2 Part 4

When darkness came, no one went to sleep immediately. As the had agreed, they gave the darkness a whole hour to settle in before they ignited the fire. The flames licked skyward and with every growing flicker, the comforting light spread outward illuminating the area round about.

After several long moments, Ruk passed a prepared torch to Avery who lighted the pyre at the tip. With the torch burning steadily, Avery cautiously crept to the faint outline of the ice. He walked confidently, but slowly to the edge, took a deep breath then stepped smartly forward into the white domain.

Calista watched the action and realized that she was holding her breath. She could not recall how long she had been doing so.

Avery stood still for a long moment then turned about. He knelt to the ground and caressed the ice. He drew his hand back sharply. Then he turned and walked farther out across the frozen plain. "It's still cold," he reported back, "but that is from the ice on the ground. Otherwise it is quite comfortable if not navigable."

"That may not be necessary," Ultrecht replied. "Come back. I want to discuss something."
Ultrecht outlined his thoughts carefully. "There are some inconsistencies that when viewed individually make little sense, but if you take them all together they lead to a single conclusion. The cold air only exists in the light. But as Ganatar correctly pointed out, cold is a manifestation of the element of air and so far only light magic has been seen here. So the question we must ask is how does light make something cold?"

"To the best of my experience," Armegon answered, "it doesn't."

"Then how does light make something seem cold?"

"An illusion?!" Avery could hardly believe his ears. "You're trying to say that that numbing cold during the day is just an illusion?"

"It’s quite probable," Ultrecht assured them. "Illusions can be generated with prismatic magic easily enough. It would explain why the arctic weather disappears at night."
"What about the ice?" Armegon asked. "If the cold’s just an illusion, then shouldn't the ice disappear too?"

"It may not really be there," Ultrecht said. "It may only be in our minds. We felt the cold, we saw the ice, in our minds, the ice exists."

"So how do we get through this illusion," Avery asked. "Disbelief requires mental disciplines that few people can boast about."

"Your right about that. When Calista wandered into the region, she was not aware that she was there. If she had been, I dare say she would have felt the cold weather then. Her discovery was accidental and therefore she broke through the illusion. But when she first discovered the ice, she must have been thinking about it or else she would have not felt it either."

"So how do we get through the illusion," Avery repeated.

"I think," Ganatar said from the edge of the light, "that you are already equipped to do that." The unicorn stepped closer and his horn glittered in the light of the dancing flames. "The Dawn if Law was reputed to give its wielder the power to see through all forms of deception. Illusion is a form of lie."

"Hey, I think he may have it," Ultrecht said. "If that’s true, then you can travel out into that mess and be completely immune to the effects of the whole thing. All you have to do is draw upon the sword's ability."

Avery jumped to his feet. "Let's find out," he said enthusiastically. He walked over to his pack and unlatched the enchanted talisman. The sheathed weapon came free and Avery slid the blade from its scabbard. The strange material that made up the red and blue blade shimmered in the firelight. The long, impossibly thin edges tapering to the point in two straight lines made the weapon look like an oversized tooth of some carnivorous creature.

Avery walked out towards the ice field. He stopped momentarily and held the sword out. Calista had herself spoken with the magical mind of the sword and knew that Avery was do the same thing. He remained that way for a long moment before lowering the blade and stepping onto the ice. He then turned around and came back.

"Ultrecht was right," he reported. "The ice isn’t there."

"Well that’s all well and good for you, but what about the rest of us?" Armegon asked.

"I have an idea," Avery smiled.

The rest of the night was quite restful. Avery warned everyone that they would depart before light, and urged them to sleep early. Armegon took the first watch, and Avery took the last one. When morning approached, Avery woke everyone and revealed his plan.

"I feel like an idiot," Armegon muttered from inside the bag slung over his head.

"You look fine," Avery replied. "With that sack blindfolding you, you won't be subject to the illusion of the cold."

"What if we are thinking about the ice? Won't we notice our feet getting cold?" Calista asked.

"I have taken care of that," Avery assured her.
As soon as they were blindfolded, Avery tied them all together with a long rope and led them away from the camp. With sword in hand to neutralize the illusion, he wandered about aimlessly totally confusing his followers. When he was certain that none of them had any idea where they were, the light had begun to emerge and he lead them out towards the distant glacier. As he approached, the ice, the magic of the enchanted sword revealed the true form of the land. It appeared to be simple prairie and grassland.

"Are we in the ice yet?" Ganatar asked. His blinders had been slightly difficult to make due to the length of his horn. Ruk had also proved a challenging person to blindfold.

"Actually no," Avery said. "I’ve been leading you about in circles to confuse your minds so that when we finally do go out onto the ice, you won't expect it or know it." It was not a lie. Avery was benefited with the true sight of the landscape. They really were not out on any ice, but he knew that should the blindfold on any one of them fail, they would see themselves in an arctic climate.

"How long will we wander about before you take us out onto the ice?" Ruk asked.
"I think I may not take you out at all today," Avery replied. "I want to catch you all completely off guard."

When lunch time came, grumbling stomachs could be heard very clearly, but the need to keep the blindfolds on hindered any real opportunity to dine. Avery did pause long enough to hand feed each of his followers some bread and water. He promised that the evening meal, after dark would be much better.

When evening finally arrived, he gathered them all around and waited for darkness to allow them to remove their blindfolds.

"Are we out on the ice?" Calista asked. "No," Avery replied as he built up a fire. "We never got near it the whole day." It was not a lie. Avery was the only one who could see through the illusion and he knew there was no ice. By telling the others and convincing them that they were no where near it, he gave them the mental setting they needed to fight off the mental illusion at night. If they didn't think they were on the ice, they would not see it at night.

Fortunately, the area they were in had sufficient wood to build and keep a fire throughout the night. Ruk and the ranger made the fire and Calista cooked from their stored supplies. After the meal was consumed, Avery turned in leaving instructions to wake him for the last watch.

The next morning was a repeat of the previous. Avery blindfolded his comrades well before the light came back. They departed early and made for the mountains. Twice more his followers asked about their location and twice more he denied their presence on the ice. Armegon and Ultrecht were both unusually silent. Avery suspected that they were aware of his motives, and if pressed both mages had the mental discipline to engage in disbelief.

By midday, they were close enough to the cliff face that was their goal for Avery to see that the cliff face was sheer and would be difficult if not impossible to climb blindfolded. The only opening in the cliff face appeared to be about a half kilometer up the cliff side. They would need an entire day just to scale the cliff without the blindfolds.

They called a halt at the foot of the cliff. Avery bade them remain blindfolded a little longer, but told them that they had managed to get close enough to the cliff for him to see that they were going to have to do some rock climbing.

"If all fails, you could always make the climb solo, and pull us up one at a time," Ruk suggested.

"I am not sure how easy that will be," Avery replied. "We may not have enough rope to do the job."

He left them alone for the last few hours of light while he searched about for firewood. They remained behind and promised to remain blindfolded until he returned. It was a promise that in truth was difficult to keep as the temptation to tear the blindfolds off and take in their surroundings was very powerful.

He wandered along the base of the cliff face looking for dead wood when he suddenly felt a chilled wind. Being immune to the illusion of the cold, the temperature had felt normal to him the last two days. The sudden burst of cold air caught him by surprise. He stopped and investigated the phenomenon. Within moments he identified the refreshing breeze as a draft emerging from a crevice in the rock surface that was hidden by an outcropping of rock. The squeeze was tight, but he eventually managed to wriggle past the huge boulder and locate a passageway leading into the mountain side.

Thinking that the cave would offer shelter if nothing else, Avery decided to fetch his companions. He felt reasonably certain that with the aid of Ruk, he could move the huge boulder enough to gain entrance for the others including Ganatar, whose size would be a liability.

Avery returned to where he had stranded his companions. He explained that the had found some shelter for the evening, but that he needed help in moving a large rock out of the way. He led them to the opening and with the minotaan's great strength to aid him, he widened the passage enough to allow entry for all.

Once inside, Avery lit a torch and led them far enough into the rock to eliminate any trace of daylight. He then silently removed Ruk's blindfold. The minotaan stared blankly back as his eyes adjusted to the torch and environment. When Ruk showed no sign of perceiving the illusion of the outside, Avery notified the others that it was safe for them to remove their blindfolds as well.

"Where are we?" Ruk asked.

Avery considered not telling them, but decided to anyway. "We are in the cliff side right now. We have crossed the ice."

"I never suspected," Ganatar commented. "I thought you were going to lead us parallel to the ice for a while."

"I did," Avery assured him as he studied the cave. "For about half the morning we walked about in circles."

"Do you think this is where we needed to go?" Armegon asked.

"It matches the map as closely as I can get it. There is an overhang and what may very well be a cliff opening almost directly above."

"Just like the island mountain?" Ultrecht asked.

"It sure looks like it." Avery passed out some other torches. "Let's light two now and save the other two for later."

"Do you want to keep going, or stop for a while?" Calista asked.

Avery sighed. "It is getting late," he admitted. "Okay lets stop for the night. You stay here and I will find some wood."

"In all that ice?" Ruk asked.

Avery smiled. "It's not really ice. For the most part, it is scrub brush and scattered trees." He left the torch with Armegon and headed back down the pathway.

When Avery left, Ultrecht and Armegon fell into a conversation excluding the others. Calista and Ruk helped remove the pack load from Ganatar's back. The unicorn had insisted on doing his share of the work. Since he possessed no hands, he felt it only right that he make use of his strong back.

"I think Avery might have goofed," Armegon said to Ultrecht. "By telling us that we’re already across the ice, he’s seriously hindered any efforts for us to re-cross that damned illusion. Now that we know where we are, we’ll know we are in it as soon as we emerge from this rock. I don't think the blindfolds will work again."

"It may not be necessary," Ultrecht pointed out. "If this turns out like the last visit to the island did, we may be able to incorporate some magic when we get ready to leave."

Avery returned about half an hour later with an impressive armload of wood. Armegon and Ultrecht expressed their concern about the re-crossing. "We don't believe that we’ll be able to generate enough magic to teleport us all across the ice," Ultrecht said.

"Armegon suggested that we could try to magically increase the effectiveness of your ability to see through the illusion, though. I think it’s a good idea."

Avery nodded as he stacked wood on the small fire. "I think you're right. It’ll probably work."

Later Calista and Avery cooked some vegetables into a stew over the small fire. Due to the fact that they were in a cave with poor ventilation, Avery insisted on a small fire.

Nevertheless, the meal was both tasty and refreshing, and with full stomachs, they retired for the night after assigning watches.