Aryun walked on, heedless of the snow that crowded around her ankles. Her hand reached up, tucking some of the wayward strands back from her face as she continued.

"I hate these mountains," Alena muttered as she brushed snow off her hair. "I've always hated them, and they hate me."

Xristis patted her armored shoulder. "Hey! Look at it this way, we could be in the same situation before we got through that town." He pointed over the ridge where he could see a small village nestled in the foot of the mountains. "Remember, that was our only way though?"

"And I had to play bait. Oh, I remember that, Priest." Alena made a sour face. "That's why I don't like these mountains. I thought that that pass there was the only way to get through to Lorithian."

"We're not going through the mountains, but up them slightly." Aryun shot Alena a smile. "Don't worry, I doubt the way will get any more difficult." She raised her hands letting the soft flakes fall on her hand to melt. "Unless you're afraid of a little frozen water."

"I hate that too," Alena muttered and Brey and Erdric broke out into laughter.

"Care to explain that one?" Aryun asked.

"Now Lady, I didn't see this, but evidently the place where they had to retrieve the healing seeds for the town and for me, was covered in ice and she didn't have quite good enough footing."

Erdric stopped laughing and nodded his head. "I know. I saw. I retrieved the seed myself."

Alena walked over to Erdric, one hand held behind her back. She leaned against him and grinned. "Turn arounds are fair play, Erdric." With that, she shoved some snow down the edge of his armor causing him to jump and curse.

"Gods! Now I have a cold, wet back!" He mock glared at Alena who ducked behind Xristis and stuck her tongue out. Erdric rolled his eyes, trying to shake out his cloak to dislodge what little snow was left. "Everyone picks on the younger one, isn't that right?"

"No, we pick on you because you react so cute," Mara chided as she reached over, helping dust the last part of the snow off his back.

"No," he said as he waved his gloved hand. "It's because I'm almost twenty-two, and nearly everyone of you is twenty-five." His voice held a note of humor as he walked on, smiling at the group. "You know I'm not serious right?"

Nara smacked his back, sending him stumbling forward. "Of course we know that!"

"Just making sure," he said innocently. "Remember, I'm enigmatic." He winked at Nara who laughed.

Aryun just shook her head, not really feeling like part of the revelry. She had always been an exile from most activities, either by choice or by circumstance. She sighed, continuing the trek up the mountainside, and thought about things.

The war wasn't going good, and that was bad. If Voaton won this war, all hell would be figuratively released. Voaton was nothing but a petty god who was trying to destroy the Tetrarch. As much as she hated her father, he was best suited to be part of the power house, as well as Lord Tyral, Erebus and Thanatos. They all complimented powers and it was a good trade off. Even though Tyral was at her father's throat all the time due to what he did, but that didn't stop them from agreeing and working properly for the benefit of the humans under their rule, and if that didn't work, there was always Lethe to bash people in the head with her shield.

That always got results.

Aryun snickered slightly, thinking about Lethe and her shield, and she shook her head. She'd see her soon, and that lightened her heart.
She adored Lethe and Tyral, and her master, Nicodemus. They stayed there when others had left. They were there when she had fallen, and where there to lift her up, where her father was not.

"Hey Aryun, what's this portal you were talking about before?" Xristis had jogged up to walk beside her.

"Just what it sounds like: A portal. It's a gate to another world, another planet, and maybe even another time." Aryun motioned up near the top. "See the shimmer?"

"Yeah, so?"

Aryun smiled enigmatically. "That's the portal."

"Oh . . . but that still doesn't explain what it is exactly."

"Ah, so you like the drawn out technical answer. Well, a portal is a bending of the fibers of time. It's almost like a hole in the space of the world. You rip a hole. That's all. I'm good at Gating, but not with Portals."

"Oh, so there's a difference?"

"Yup. Gating is more like a teleportation, or what Brey did. Basically it's a transfer of one object, or many, to another place. It's fun too. If you mess up, miss pull a string you could be dinner for a devil." She grinned happily at Xristis who seemed a little pale. She laughed patting Xristis' shoulder. "It's not as bad as it seems, especially if the Master is the one casting the Gate open. It'll just feel like you're dizzy for a few seconds before you regain your bearings. Not a bad trade off for shortening the time to get from place to place."

They finally reached a leveled area, almost like a small field, where Aryun called a stop.

"You can pause if you want to regain your strength slightly from that climb before we gate over. The gating will seriously mess with your equilibrium." She pointed to the shimmering against the side of one of the peaks.

"We're fine, aren't we?" Alena turned to look at the group who nodded their assent.

Aryun nodded back. "Then jump when I jump, and where I jump regardless of where it seems you're going. Do you understand?"

She looked at them, knowing that they understood what could possibly happen.

"Ready?" She looked around and all nodded. "Then jump!"

Aryun launched herself from her standing position straight towards the wall. Instead of hitting the wall, she fell through the shimmer, landing on her feet.

There were grunts of pain as Xristis, Alena, Mara and Erdric didn't quite get their feet under them and fell hard against the marble floor.

Aryun smirked slightly. "Sorry, I forgot to tell you about that."

Erdric slipped his hands under his body and hefted himself up to one knee, shaking his head with a hand to his temple. "That was . . . unpleasant."

Alena and Xristis struggled up, and Mara just flipped up on her feet with a dancer's grace and grinned. "It wasn't that bad."

Aryun walked over to Erdric, placing a hand upon his shoulder. "It's harsh on very high level magic users. Seems, Lord Erdric, you just proved that you are a Magus."

"Fun," he sighed, coughing slightly as he tried to rub his temple with his shaking hand. He looked up at her with one eye. "So why weren't you affected?"

She tapped his nose, and he jerked back, causing him to fall back, looking at her. "I am a Demi, a half-breed between a mortal and a god. Those portals are made for those who have mixed blood. It's not meant to affect us."

Erdric got to his knees again, struggling to get to his feet. After several failed attempts, he finally rose, swaying slightly as he looked at Aryun. "Well, which way?"

Aryun hid her smile. "This way, Lord Erdric."