He stumbled out into a snowstorm, vision returning with a brilliant flash of white. Angel grimaced, trying to move on his own volition. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem as if Body’s control had loosened in the slightest.

The storm relented for a moment, revealing a small clearing nestled within a mountain valley. Before him, a shimmering translucent blue barrier blocked off a wall covered with drawings. Angel didn’t get a chance to get a better look at them before Body’s magic forced him to take a step forward, turn around, and head back onto the portal. For a moment, he resisted it, keeping his foot from falling. Then her magic took over once more and he finished the step.

Green energy sprung forth once more and Angel barely had a chance to glance at Lilian before it enveloped him once more. He reappeared in the cave before Reave and Body. A moment later, Lilan flashed in beside him.

“What did you see?”

“Snow,” Angel replied defiantly.

“What else?” Reave pressed.

“A wall covered with drawings,” Angel said, unable to even grit his teeth in defiance. “As well as Lilian and the teleport pad.”

“The Key,” Body murmured. “We are upon it, Reave.”

“Finally,” Reave said. “Very well. Go back through the portal, then remain in place.”

Angel and Lilian both stepped onto the portal for the third time that day, vanishing with a pop. As soon as he arrived on the other side, Angel walked forward and stopped as the two Reawakening members followed after them.

Reave approached the flickering barrier, rubbing his chin. The cold didn’t seem to bother the man much as he examined it for several moments. He reached out and touched the energy, causing ripples to wash out from where his fingers met it.

The man pushed harder, but the barrier didn’t even budge. With a grunt, Reave stepped back and crossed his arms. Angel tried to squint at the drawings on the wall behind the magic, but they seemed warped and any text beside them was unreadable.

He raised a hand and a ball of vibrant red energy started to gather in it. A bolt shot out of the ball and slammed into the barrier. It sank into the energy for a moment, then rebounded backwards.

Reave ducked as the spell shot over his head and slammed into the stone behind him, sizzling into the rock and sending a pile of snow to the ground with a small puff.

“Can you take it down?” Body asked. “It seems rather strong.”

“I could,” Reave said, his voice losing a good bit of confidence. “But I would not enjoy it. The barrier is too strong for any of my weaker attacks, and the strong ones… I would prefer to avoid it. Perhaps our friends can assist us.”

“Cowl could not break this,” Body said, glancing back at them. “She doesn’t have the attack power.”

“And what of you, boy?” Reave asked, walking up to Angel. “You’re the resourceful one here. Think you can get this barrier down?”

“Yes,” Angel replied after a few moments. Body’s powers seemed to allow elaborating on his answer, so he continued on. “There’s probably a power source here somewhere. If I find that, I could try to remove the barrier.”

“Do so, then. Destroy the barrier,” Reave ordered. “Lilian, you stay here.”

Angel walked up to the magical forcefield and knelt beside it. He shoveled some of the snow out of the way and started to examine the ground. Snow built up on his back as he worked, slowly searching for the telltale signs of Old World Magic.

If it wasn’t for his metal arm, Angel probably would have gotten frostbite. Even still, he was soaked and shivering to the core by the time he finally spotted he was looking for. Buried in a deep drift of powdery snow at the far corner of the clearing beside the mountain face, was the power supply of Old World Magic keeping the barrier active.

There were a few ways to take the barrier down now that he’d found it. And, as Angel had hoped, Body’s magic couldn’t make him choose one over the other. A miniscule smirk appeared on his face for a moment before he wiped it clear and stood up. There were two ways to take out a barrier. The first, and most logical, would be to destroy the power source.

“Did you find it?” Reave asked.

“Yes,” Angel replied. “I’m taking the barrier down now.”

He took several steps back and raised his arm, aiming it at the power supply. Reave and Body both tensed, but neither moved to stop him as a canister whirred into place. Power started to gather in Angel’s arm, blue light growing brighter between the plates.

Metal parted on his palm as the relic poked out from within it. The snow touching Angel’s arm turned to steam as it started to grow warmer and warmer. Energy crackled around it, growing in intensity.

The second way to take down a barrier was the one that Reave had already tried. If it was hit with sufficiently strong magic, it would break. And the only way to find out if his spell was strong enough to break the barrier…

Angel swung his arm up, pointing it at the forcefield. Lightning roared out of his arm like a furious dragon, streaking across the short clearing before Reave or Body could command him to stop.

The spell dug deep into the barrier, which bent inwards and started to buckle. It hummed with energy and tiny gaps started to form within it. For a moment, Angel thought the spell might have actually been strong enough to break it.

Then, with a loud thwang, the barrier launched the spell back. It screamed through the air and slammed into the mountainside behind them with an earthshaking explosion. The barrier sprung back to full strength a moment later, unharmed. Echoes of the blast echoed through the valley before slowly fading away.

“What was that?” Reave snarled. “You said you could break it!”

“I was checking to see if my spell was strong enough to break it,” Angel said, grimacing as the heat rising off his arm burned his body. “I even used my strongest attack.”

“I thought you were going to destroy the power source!”

“That’s another way I could have done it,” Angel said with an innocent grin.

“Do that, you fool,” Reave said, shaking his head. “Why blast the barrier after going through all that work? Break the power source. Now.”

Angel’s arm rose again as the woman’s magic took over his body. A new canister clicked into place. As his arm started to charge once more, a rumble carried down from the top of the mountain.

Reave paused, then glanced up. Angel couldn’t turn to watch, but he already knew what was happening.

“Avalanche!” Reave roared. Body spun and, just like that, her control over them was broken. Evidently it required her full attention. Angel filed that piece of information away for later as he lunged forward and drove his elbow into the back of Reave’s head.

Body opened her mouth to issue a command, but she wasn’t quite fast enough. The strike hit the bandaged man hard right at the base of his neck and he crumpled to the ground without a noise. Lilian dove at the other woman.

“Don’t move!” Body screamed, ducking out of the way as Lilian’s body stiffened midair and Angel froze.

The rumble of the avalanche grew closer. Body glanced at them, then swore. She rushed over to Reave’s body and dragged him back onto the teleportation circle. Angel could see fury in the woman’s eyes as green energy enveloped them and the two vanished.

He still wasn’t free of her magic, but Angel was now in a place to watch helplessly as the white tsunami rushing towards them grew closer with every moment. He memorized the location of the teleportation circle and put all his energy into moving his arm.

Avalanches were much louder than Angel had thought. The roar of the snow was so loud that he could barely hear himself sink. He mused that there were probably a few large stones coming down along with it, but there wasn’t much to do about that now.

His arm twitched, rising slightly. Angel’s eyes narrowed and he pushed harder. Weakened by either distance or distraction, Body’s magic lost its hold on him. With a roar, he broke free of her control.

A normal bolt of lightning tore out of his palm and slammed into the power source. With a crackling pop, a puff of black smoke rose up from it. The barrier flickered and faded, and the teleportation circle let out a low whine as it lost energy as well.

There was no time to celebrate. The avalanche was upon them. He took a deep breath as the world turned white. Snow slammed Angel to the ground, battering him down and muting all sound as he was buried beneath it.