The shape in the blinding snow slowly resolved itself as it lumbered forward and into my view. The bear slowly stumbled into the mouth of the cave, covered in white powder and looking for the moment, slightly confused. It was kind of cute, if significantly larger than I would have hoped to be dealing with right now.

I locked eyes with the newcomer, whose home I might now be invading. Sure, I'd been here a bit longer, but based on the stink that my new friend brought with him, and how it matched so well what I was dealing with now, he probably stayed here periodically. I really should have guessed that when I'd smelled the place.

The stare down lasted only a few moments. The bear seemed to decide that I was most unwelcome in his abode, having slept in his bed, sat on his chair, and well, there was no porridge, but the feeling held. He reared up on his hind legs and roared. The sound was stunning, making my hair move from where I stood on the warm stone floor.

Unfortunately for him, Mr. Bear had very greatly misunderstood his place. When I stood before his roar rather unfazed he looked, for just a few moments, very confused, as if he could see how badly he'd messed up. Then he came down as if to charge at me.

I gave him my own roar in response, a powerful scream without the least bit of restraint. Even as a child I'd been capable of dropping men and making them bleed from eyes and ears. This bear was no mage, and no magical beast, he didn't even have the slightest bit of an aura. No, Mr. Bear was just a regular, albeit very large ursine.

The scream dropped him like a sack of flour, bawling in pain on the floor of the cave. I then began to weave up my spell to take his breath away. It wasn't kind by any means, but I was hungry and in no mood to get mauled by an injured animal. I knew the feeling he was going through and that it would be terrible for him, but it was the quickest way I could dispatch him without letting loose lightning in this cave, something that seemed a bit risky.

After making sure of the animal I quickly began the cleaning process. I wasn't an expert at this or anything, but I'd been raised in a farm village and had some small quantity of experience. Between my shiny (ugly) new knife and my magic the process went down without any issues.

I had to destroy the organs. I used fire magic at the mouth of the cave to do it, but it was needed. I'd heard several times that some of those, and I couldn't remember which ones, were really bad to eat, and I didn't want to take any risks. Was it the liver or something? I honestly couldn't find the memory clearly enough, so I just trashed the lot. I could have tossed them outside or somewhere, but the risk of any more visitors discouraged that.

While the meat, and boy was there a ton of that, was great the real boon was the skin. Drying it was a bit of a mess, as was getting all the little bits of flesh off, but once that was done I had a new bedroll/cloak, and more than enough leftover to do some outfit repairs. If I ever got back to civilization I'd have to hide how useful sewing magic was or my mother would be smug until she died, and probably force me into other similar pursuits.

Then I waited, and waited, and waited. This storm seemed endless, never letting up, and never slowing down. The snow poured from the sky for days, piling up near everything except my little cave entrance. The hot trickle of water was more than enough to keep it at bay and I was quite glad for that small mercy. I could see some trees were who knew how deep in the white mess.

Twice did the snow around my cave fall, covering the opening. I used what fire and heat I dared and between that and my happy little stream it was quickly cleared away. It never stopped falling though, getting through this was going to be a disaster.

I turned back towards the rushes that had served for a time as my bed, and then as the drying rack for the bear skin. I had a new use for them now, and one I hoped they would serve well in. If they failed... I'd have to figure something new out, but who knew what that would be. I knew I had no experience with anything like skiing, which would have been a real boon here.

After nearly a week of snow the storm finally ceased, leaving behind it a bright white field. Trees that weren't fully buried were partially so, and the whole mountain range looked like someone had dipped it in frosting. Into this new landscape I waddled, improvised snow shoes on my feet and a pack on my back. Things were not good, but I had to wonder if the men sent after me were having a worse time.

Rooke

This might have been the worst couple weeks I've experienced in quite some time. They even rivaled the period when the capitol fell. During that time I'd been at more risk, and had certainly lost more than I had so far, but they were nowhere near so personally unpleasant. The last few years had been hard, and they had hardened me though, so this too I would weather.

The blizzard which was finally clearing was one monster of a storm, and if I couldn't see it in action I might have thought it was magical in nature. No, the storm was natural, displaying none of the tell-tale signs that someone had summoned it, something to look out for when you're following a weather mage.

Pulling up the stone to form a shelter had been easy enough, as had heating it, so long as we casters took things in shifts. The commoners had mostly relied on their beasts to keep them warm in their corner, huddled up in piles of the canines. While it may have smelled, and may have looked completely ludicrous, they all seemed to be warmer than I was most of the time, magical heat or no.

Those same commoners looked to be on the edge of revolt. I could see how they were looking at the rest of us, the anger and fear at this mission. None had moved to do anything yet, but I had little doubt that if we didn't find our target soon, an example would be made of someone. Food had kept them satisfied through the storm, but none of them were happy with the current state of things, and it was all too obvious that they wanted nothing more than to turn around and go home; not that I could really blame them.

The bard I brought alone for healing and food, things we might well need, had been working beyond all expectations. His magic was feeding our whole expedition, aided only by a few light supplies we'd brought. It was taking most of what he could do, but that was fine, he was more than worth the effort of calling him to join, and would be even more if we could capture Alana.

I hoped to still capture the girl. I'd watched over her for years, and while she was not my child, she was one of my favorites. I'd enjoyed teaching, but only once in a while did I meet someone who was truly worth the effort, and she certainly had been. Even more so now with her teleportation. That alone was a legendary magic, and if I could just convince her...

"Storm's fading sir, we should move out soon," another of my team said.

"Yes, get the trackers. Can they even follow her after all this?" A I looked at him I saw one of the leaders of the huntsmen nearby, and let my eyes drift over to him.

"Snow will mess with the scent a good bit sir, but once we find the trail following it should be easier. Do you think she survived? Many a good man have died to a storm like that one," the hunter said as he scratched his chin.

"She survived, that girl is nothing if not good at keeping herself alive in bad situations."

"You know her well then?"

"Yes," I said, all the answer he needed.

In my mind I reached out, calling out. Alana just needed to come back. If she did so on her own I could help her, it could be like old times only better. She could help me with my research, and I with hers, and together we could build magic to rival anything in history. She'd come so far, so far, and learned so incredibly much, but she needed to bend the knee, if she just would. The boy Lief would spare her, they'd met, and he was kind.

Yet everything I knew told me she'd keep running. If what I'd seen were right, she'd likely fight when we caught up to her too. Could I take her alive? Well, I had brought a healer to aid in that goal. It was a hard hope, since any fight between us would be one loosing power that could easily kill. I'd try to preserve her life, but honestly it would be an uphill battle, as would returning her back to the city. Teleportation would be worth the effort though, as I doubted the other girl could do it properly, else she would have already.

"Are we ready then?" I asked after a few minutes. The men had their things packed.

"Aye," came the response from several directions.

"Then let us go,"