Book One – Chapter 14

The veil of T̰́̇ͦ̀è̸̷̸̬̤̗̊_̸̵̰̦̗̒͜ȟ̗̍ͤa̶͉͉͍̭̰̅̀̈͜ͅȓ̶̶̛̦͇͙̟̈̿͒ͮ͑̋̚͡u̟͖͔̖̙͙͆̄̿ͩͧ̃̽̓̈̌̀͟͞n did not obscure this new sensation — no, it enabled it. The moon’s veil stripped the world of all distractions, covering the chaos of swirling energy and the distorted fragments of scattered light, and leaving behind only the purest core. It was like the stillness of air after a storm, the clarity of untouched water in the depths of the earth. Midnight’s perception cut through everything, piercing the Albweiss to its very bones.

She could feel the strong pulse of life in the orichs as they descended the Snowtrail, as well as the grand male that was their krag, their essence flickering in her awareness like flames. In contrast to them, the last remnants of the fallen ork warriors were a mere echo fading into oblivion.

But it was not just the essence of the living – of orichs, orks, and birds – that she sensed. No, something deeper revealed itself to her now. Midnight perceived essence in places she had never before known it to exist. In her limited understanding as a patherren, the mountain ranges were first an accumulation of strenuous paths and life-threatening hindrances, then a discernible entity of nature. Now, the Albweiss appeared alive in ways Minight could scarcely comprehend. Its frozen face thrummed with faintest currents of existence, webs so delicate and diffuse they were barely distinguishable from the darkness they inhabited. They were so faint that they were almost nothing, that the mountain too, was almost darkness. But close to this nothing, there was an extraordinary amount of life. It was like seeing the ripple of vibrations beneath still water, the tremors beneath a surface that appeared unmoving. These energies flowed through the Albweiss, threading through stone and snow like veins, weaving life hidden beneath its frozen exterior. Midnight could feel the faint shifts within the mountain, the way its tension an intentions crept through the Snowtrail, cracks forming imperceptibly beneath the frozen crust.

Atop all of that, the frosthearts embedded within the stone trap pulsed in her awareness, their resonance distinct, their hums steady as they fed the seal binding the golem.