The Merrik and I stood on top of a snowy peak, facing an unfamiliar fortress that was built into (and on top of) the mountain across from us. I had some idea about what life was like here for my other self, having received some second-hand reports through Wulfric, but seeing it for myself was another thing entirely.

The building was clearly constructed from stone, but it was encased with ice as well for most of its length, and there was a thick layer of snow built up on all the surfaces that would support it, leave clear paths only for entrances and exits. All in all, I would have thought it was an abandoned structure, long ago fallen to frozen ruin, had I not known it was owned by House Spiritwind.

In this case, I assumed that the extra ice and snow was for protection, or maybe just for practice – or possibly for extra insulation, since the servants and staff (all non-cultivators) would freeze to death up here in the mountains unless they kept it a lot warmer inside.

And speaking of freezing to death… it was cold enough that I was almost starting to shiver, though the Merrik seemed perfectly comfortable. I didn’t want to risk activating the heat-generating function of my ion shield, or using any of the cultivation tricks that I knew could keep me warm, until I knew more about what was going on. Just how certain was my doom, exactly?

“I… sense… a… second… sin…”

Uhho… that must be him sensing Tetra somehow, now that we were close enough. Was he going to get mad at me? Would this make things even worse?

“I… sense… a… second… you… a… second… Soulbinder…”

Ohhhh, well that did make sense. Should I have told him about that? Not that I had really been given a chance...

Then the Merrik turned and looked at me, and for the first time in what felt like days I had a moment to compose my thoughts.

“Right, so… I did that soulbinding thing again, with another of my friends, to help her out. Did I do something wrong? She kept asking me, and Wulfric seemed alright, so…”

The Merrik kept looking at me, and I was very conscious of the fact that he still hadn’t set me down on the ground. I was nearly as tall as him, but I felt like a kitten being held up by the scruff of its neck, completely powerless to resist. It seemed like he might want more, so I decided to just keep on talking till something happened, or until I got cold enough that I had to do something about it.

“And I split myself, so yes, there is another me here somewhere. We came here to train, in order to try and cross the mountains, because… ummm… right… uh… oh, ok yeah… because… we want to cross the mountains and see what is on the other side?”

Don’t say because the Merrik is dying, don’t say because the Merrik is dying… we just want to cross, like the proverbial chicken, and the reason doesn’t matter… yikes…

“I… can… shield… only… one… sin…”

The Merrik paused again, staring directly into my eyes. Wait… shield only one? What did that…

“Or… all… will… die…”

And then the world was nothing but a blur again.

***

Jesvae Spiritwind took a deep breath as she stood over her kill, taking in the faint scent of blood and fear from the still twitching beast before her. She was feeling better now, and decided that it was time to find and discipline the children – it had only been a few minutes since they left the site of the avalanche, but she was certain they would have found each other by now.

A loud crashing sound echoed from the forest ahead of her as Jesvae approached the coordinates of her three charges (her connection to the cloud of snow in the air made it easy for her to locate them), and then without warning the ice all around her started to melt. At the same time, she felt a sense of pressure that she hadn’t experienced for years, and there were loud popping sounds echoing all around the valley as every beast nearby exploded into a mess of blood and bones.

“Merrik…”

Jesvae breathed the name out loud, her tone halfway between a reverent exclamation and a curse, as she wondered what in the name of the Spirits the Merrik would be doing out here… and then she realized, with a start, that the answer was obvious.

Heller. He was here for his apprentice, Heller. And maybe for the others too – Jesvae still had no clear grasp of how important Tetra and Wulfric were to the Merrik, or why he had seen fit to imbue them with the strange powers they now had.

Throughout all their centuries of recorded history, the Merrik had never taught or granted powers to anyone. There were some records of him endorsing this or that lord for the position of leadership over the Great Houses, but the scholarly consensus among those who studied such things was that these claims were politically motivated fabrications. In fact, there were no actual records of the Merrik talking with anyone, ever, that held up to close scrutiny.

As Jesvae neared she saw that there were bodies of armored back beasts scattered around a clearing, and Heller was in animated discussing with… himself. Jesvae blinked and shook her head to clear her eyes, but a second glance didn’t change anything. They were dressed differently, but there was no mistaking it – there were two Hellers in the clearing, along with a single Tetra and a single Wulfric (thank the spirits).

“Why can’t he protect both of them?!” Asked the Heller dressed in the colors of House Spiritwind.

“How should I know; did he answer your questions?” Replied the Heller dressed in (as far as she could tell) a blacksmiths apron, and regular commoner clothes that looked to be in the style of House Flameward.

“He left after snapping that tree in half, I didn’t have a chance to ask!”

“Yeah, and he told us to get whichever ‘sin’ is staying to stand on the stump; you heard him just as well as I did!”

At that point Tetra decided to join the conversation, stepping closer to the two of them.

“By the Spirits, Heller… you told us about this ability, but I can see why you never showed it to us before… are you both real?”

Tetra reached out to poke one of the Hellers, then the other, which seemed to calm them down.

The blacksmith Heller took a deep breath, and looked around the clearing at everyone, spotting Jesvae in the process.

“Oh good! I was going to have to find you anyway… look, there is an enemy of mine… uhhh, I mean, an enemy of the Merrik, and therefore also me, coming… and apparently he will be trying pretty damn hard to kill me, plus my friends.”

“He?” Asked the House Spiritwind ‘ice’ Heller. “So, we know it’s a guy, and there is only one?”

Blacksmith Heller froze. “Oh… uh, actually no, sorry, Merrik didn’t say…” He shrugged, “Not that it really matters. The important thing now is we have to get Tetra on that stump before it is too late.”

Ice Heller nodded, looking at Wulfric and Tetra. Wulfric nodded as well, while Tetra raised her eyebrows.

“What… me? No… no way, Wulfric was the first, Wulfric goes on the stump. And what the beast is the stump, anyway? And why are we in danger?”

Ice Heller, Blacksmith Heller, and Wulfric all exchanged a glance, and sighed simultaneously, nodding again.

Ice Heller then turned to Jesvae. “My Lady Jesvae Spiritwind, would you please help us knock Tetra unconscious?”

“Huh, when did she get… wait, what the blood beast! If you think I’m going to let you put me on, hey! Wulfric, no! Let me go you beast brained fool, AHHHHHHHHHHHH... uh…”

Jesvae may be many things, but she was never timid, and very rarely hesitated to act – if violence was called for, violence it would be. She knew that Tetra had metal skin and scales, and would be very hard to knock unconscious, but even Jesvae was surprised when her first blow did nothing but stun the girl. Tetra was tough, Jesvae had to give her that.

Luckily a second blow did the trick, and this time Jesvae didn’t hold back at all, creating a massive ice club and bringing it slamming down on the back of Tetra’s head. Jesvae could tell the girl was trying to struggle free (and might even succeed, given enough time), but Wulfric had acted fast and pinned her in a sturdy embrace.

“Alright, young man,” Jesvae said, her tone brisk as she raised the gigantic ice club up to rest it on her shoulder. “Now, tell me, what the beast was that about.”