Chapter 19 - Part 2

One thing that they had plenty of were druid scrolls, particularly utilitarian spells that helped them endure the elements and allowed them to pass without trace in the snow. The latter did not have a permanent effect to them, but lasted long enough to make their purchase worthwhile.

The Demon Wastes looked peculiar under the snow. Whereas snow normally made a place look serene, here it looked dangerous. The snow in the Wastes merely seemed to exist to give cover to the many dangerous things in the land.

There seemed to be very deep snow, deep enough for Orphan to ride his horse rather than run, but in a number of places the earth poked through the snow cover, and in other places the snow seemed to shrink back from the ground. In the occasional blackened craters of glass, not a flake had stuck. These were the things that Delegado had always avoiding on their way to the caves, and avoided still.

The snow was not always white. Oddly there was a large patch of snow with streaks of crimson in it, like blood, which Delegado told them quite sternly not to touch. Apparently some of the snow in the Wastes was poisonous. Orphan found the thought revolting, and was even more aghast when Delegado told him that some snow had special rusting abilities. Nothing was without danger in the Wastes.

They set up tents in the lee of a large boulder for the night, eating their supper cold. Orphan took first watch and the second as well, choosing not to wake Thomas up. Three moons were full enough to give plenty of light. For the first time in days the skies were clear. The following morning, on the twenty-second of Sypheros, they set out early. Within two hours, they arrived at Festering Holt.