Wyn felt a sensation against the back of his hand—a hint, a whisper of cold that disappeared as soon as it arrived. He held his hand up, examining it by the flickering glow of the suntrap, but there was nothing to see.

  He cast his gaze up towards the darkened night sky. A thick cloud cover obscured the stars, but the light of the full moon still pierced the veil, bathing them in a soft blue hue. Something glimmered silver against the clouds, he only caught it for a moment. He smiled.

  “Ah, it’s snowing.”

  “Wait really?” Corrin interrupted. He looked up as well, trying to catch sight of the fleeting crystals. But he didn’t have to wait long.

  They came from the heavens, falling quietly into the world below, and soon the world was filled with the faint twinkle of snowfall.

  Kei let out a breath of wonder, holding out her hands as the flakes melted against her skin. Corrin erstwhile, tried to catch them on his tongue. Ven merely looked up towards the sky, enjoying the sight of their falling. Well… he was probably keeping an eye out for something else as well, but so were the rest of them.

  Wyn took a breath, lungs filling with the warm, comfortable air of the strider, then leaned back against the side of the saddle, listening to the faint wind as it blew across the grass. The night was quiet—still. The world itself seemed hushed, reverent.

  First snowfall had come.

  Corrin laughed quietly. “Can you believe it, Wyn? What happened to summer?”

  Wyn smiled. The events of the summer seemed so oddly distant now. The dungeon, leaving Straetum… had so little time truly passed? The heat of summer had turned to a cool autumn, which had finally given way to the cold.

  “I miss the sun.”

  “You and me both,” Corrin nodded.

  “I’ve always liked the winter,” Kei chimed in.

  They turned on her, eyes judging.

  “What?” Kei protested. “The snow is always so beautiful! The way it tops the buildings, fills the streets…”

  “I guess snowball fights are fun,” Corrin murmured as she continued, rubbing his chin. “Not to mention building—”

  “…And you can just watch it all from the warmth inside with a nice cup of cocoa—”

  “What?” Corrin exclaimed, cutting both of them off. “Inside? No no no! That defeats the whole point! That’s the worst part! Wait, if you’re not playing in the snow, then how could you say you like it?”

  Kei glared. “Playing in the snow? Are you crazy? I’d freeze.”

  Corrin’s mouth gaped, opening and closing like a fish. He looked over at Wyn.

  Wyn shook his head. She’s beyond help.

  “Snowball fights?”

  “Do I look like I got into fights growing up?”

  Corrin winced. “Sledding?”

  Kei grimaced.

  “Have you eaten snow before?”

  “What? That sounds disgusting.”

  “Please.” Corrin grabbed Kei’s shoulders, his eyes shimmering. “Please tell me you’ve at least made a snowman!”

  “Like… a statue? I mean I’ve seen them.”

  Corrin’s head fell. “You poor girl.”

  Kei couldn’t help but stifle a laugh. “Is this really such a big deal?” She looked at Wyn for reassurance, but found none.

  “You have no culture I’m afraid.” He nodded sagely, eyes flicking between the saddle and the sea. “And since you said you like winter even without that, it means you also have no taste.”

  As he spoke, Wyn watched the sea. Come on… where are they?

  “Fine, you’ll have to show me some of these traditions when we get to Titan’s Pass,” Kei relented. “But I’m not eating snow. That’s gross.”

  Corrin pursed his lips, but he eventually nodded. “Fine. How about you Ven? Got any fun winter games?”

  “We would hide in the snow when I was younger,” the captain said fondly. “One person would be the Yeti, and would search for the others. If you were caught, you became a Yeti as well. I was always good at finding people.”

  Wyn glanced at Ven’s eyes. “I bet.”

  “I’ll take you on,” Corrin grinned.

  “Wouldn’t be fair,” Ven said. “I’d never catch you.”

  Corrin pouted. “I wouldn’t channel…”

  “Ah yes,” Ven continued unabated, looking around. “We would also make snow-rabbits. Did you have such things on the plateau?”

  “Rabbits?” Wyn asked. “Can’t say we did. How’s that work?”

  “You make an oval of snow, then add leaves for ears and berries for eyes.”

  “Huh, sounds easy enough,” Kei said.

  “It’s not hard.” Ven shrugged. He smiled as he seemed to remember something. “Once, my friend Keevy and I stayed up at night and made almost two hundred of them across the town. We had to give up because our hands eventually grew too cold to roll the snow!”

  The three men laughed fondly as the girl looked at them in confusion. She wouldn’t be winning. Wyn wondered if she knew the tradition.

  “That… doesn’t sound fun. Were your hands alright?”

  “Yes yes,” Ven waved his hand dismissively. “It healed without complications, though my mother wasn’t very happy with me.”

  “Remember when we built that huge snow-fort Wyn?” Corrin asked, his eyes flickering out into the night.

  Wyn couldn’t help but smile. “The one with the slide?”

  “That’s the one! Man that thing was awesome!”

  “I mean hey if you’re saying it I guess it must be true. I’m not the one that broke my arm.”

  “Still can’t believe the wall broke,” Corrin chuckled.

  Ven interrupted, pointing “Ah, I’ve spotted the first one.”

  “Damn it!” Wyn and Corrin groaned in unison.

  “That’s not fair,” Corrin complained. “You’ve got a blessing! You’re cheating!”

  “If the spirits give me a blessing, is it cheating to use it to find them?”

  Kei looked between them, obviously confused. “What are you three talking about?”

  Corrin pointed out into the air over the grass sea. Above the grass hovered a snowflake glowing a soft silver, large enough that its intricate crystalline structure could be seen with the naked eye.

  “The first person to spot a snow spirit during the first snowfall will be lucky throughout the winter,” Wyn explained. “They’ll be blessed by the spirits.”

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  “Is that so? I don’t think we have that in Edria, at least not that I’ve heard of.”

  You humans have such strange beliefs. Eia’s voice drifted into his mind.

  Wyn paused. Just superstition huh?

  The spirit flitted into view, smiling as she floated lazily through the air on her back. “I never said that, did I?” She giggled and flew away, diving into the grass below.

  Eia could you—

  Already on it, she sent back.

  Thanks.

  Ven glanced at the sky, the snowfall was intensifying. “I should probably put up the canvas. Would you mind assisting me Wyn?”

  “Not at all,” Wyn reached over the edge of the saddle and grabbed the bundle of sticks and fabric that hung from the side. Below the lip of the saddle, the air was a bitter cold, shielded from the heat of the suntrap which escaped upwards into the night. The contraption of brass was a comfort in the dead of winter, safer than a fire and easier to maintain in an environment like the grass sea.

  Wyn had considered that he may have been able to start a fire using magic circles, but there wasn’t much point. He’d asked Ven how most strider’s managed without a suntrap, and it seemed hiring mages was indeed a common solution. Most any mage on sea would be capable of creating and maintaining a fire via magic circle, but Ven did not want to be so singularly reliant—and apparently he’d gotten a really good deal.

  The canvas which sheltered the saddle from rain was actually quite easy to install. Four wooden poles with hooks on top, slot into holes along the edge of the saddle The canvas could be hooked onto them by a cord which was woven into its edges. Between the two of them, it only took a few minutes, and soon the back of the strider was a bit more sheltered, letting the snow fall softly around them.

  “We’ll have to knock the snow loose occasionally if it builds up,” Ven said, settling back into his seat, “but the suntrap should melt most—”

  A distant wail filled the air, unmelodic, like the howling of the wind, but distinct—alive. It harmonized with itself, lamenting notes echoing out across the sea.

  Wyn shivered as the air felt just a bit colder, and the wind picked up.

  “What was that?” Corrin asked.

  Ven and Kei exchanged a look. The captain responded first, looking out into the darkness. “Winter wraith.”

  Wyn watched the sea, thinking back on a conversation they’d had when they’d first arrived in Estin—the threats of the deep winter. Amidst ktaadn, corpse-eaters, and winter’s starved, winter wraiths had stuck out the most to him, if only because of how they’d been described.

  Ghostly figures drifting through the night, freezing the air around them, intangible bodies… They sounded like spirits, and perhaps they were, though he’d never seen one. He’d asked Eia, but her response hadn’t been particularly illuminating.

  “I mean, probably. But it’s a spectrum. You’re on the right, I’m on the left. They’re probably in there somewhere.”

  He didn’t see anything out in the night, but the howl, he could almost still hear it. He glanced over at Kei. “I thought they didn’t come out until the deep winter?”

  “I thought they didn’t…” she said nervously.

  Ven was quick to dispel any fear though. “They’re rarer before, but you’ll hear their howls on the sea in the weeks leading to it. They drift close occasionally, but they’ll stay away from us. Fire, or in our case, the suntrap, will keep them at bay until the deep winter. It’s not until then, and usually at night, when they grow truly aggressive.”

  “Have you ever been attacked by one?” Corrin asked, leaning in.

  “A lucky man such as me? Never. But I’ve known some who have and lived. I could not tell you how dangerous they truly are. Dozens of foolish striders go missing each winter. But the cause? Who can say?”

  Kei nodded. “Oftentimes, bodies won’t be found until spring if at all. Though I’ve heard that wraiths will leave the victims entirely encased in ice which lasts even then. They can’t be thawed without fire.”

  Wyn pulled his coat a bit tighter. “Do they not attack cities then? Towns?”

  “Perhaps they did once,” Ven mused. “I’ve heard old wives’ tales speak of those snatched away, or frozen solid on a deep winter’s night. Then again, perhaps it is just to scare children. You won’t see many outside in villages at night though.”

  Corrin tapped his fingers on the saddle, lounging casually against the edge. “And Titan’s Pass?”

  “This is a different thing. The guardian spirits would not allow such a threat into the city.”

  Wyn started. “Guardian spirits? This is the first I’m hearing of them.”

  “Truly?” Ven looked at him, eyes glowing in the light of the suntrap. “Well, I’ll tell you then, just excuse me for a moment. I’ve personal business to attend to.”

  The captain stood up, walking to the back of the saddle to relieve himself. Wyn turned to Kei.

  “How about Taravast?”

  Kei shrugged. “I’ve never heard of it happening. The city never sleeps, even in the deep winter, so it’s definitely not something most worry about. To be honest, I only know of them from books I’ve read. In terms of nature, Taravast is exceedingly safe—no monsters, no dangerous spirits, no beasts.”

  “Just shitty people?” Corrin grinned.

  Kei smiled back. “Just shitty people.”

  “Is there a dungeon in Taravast?” Wyn wondered aloud.

  “There’s actually three.”

  “Three?” He and Corrin chorused.

  “Yep. I want to say two of them are gold-ranked, and the last is… silver ranked? It’s safer is all I know. They use it for training exercises instead of clearing it.”

  Wyn and Corrin exchanged a look.

  What rank was The Founder’s Tomb?

  “Huh, that’s cool,” Corrin responded after the moment passed. “Do they let students in?”

  “Maybe?” Kei grimaced. “I don’t think they stop them.”

  Ven returned a minute later, draping a thick fur blanket over his shoulders. The heat of the suntrap meant the saddle was warm, but the wind could still chill your shoulders when it picked up.

  “To begin, I will say I am not particularly familiar with Titan’s Pass. I have been, but it is rare I stay for long, and I’ve never been during the winter.”

  “Why not? And what does the season matter?”

  Ven crossed his arms. “Let’s just say it’s not my cup of tea. I’m usually in Precipice during the colder months. As for why it matters—the guardian spirits of Titan’s Pass are seasonal you see? One for each season. I remember Ther’al, the spirit of summer, and Ahren’al, the spirit of autumn, but spring and winter escape my mind.”

  Wyn nodded, that wasn’t entirely unusual. Spirits commonly associated with different times of the year would often be categorized as seasonal spirits—snow spirits for example being a specific type of winter spirit. In a similar vein, blossom spirits were often associated with spring. For a particular spirit to get its own name though was significant. That typically signified a greater spirit, which held more power. Iillia was one such being, though he felt that she may be even more significant than most.

  “Ther’al, Ahren’al…” Corrin hummed thoughtfully. “Yeah those sound vaguely familiar. Wasn’t there a fifth one though? There’s only four seasons.”

  They all looked at Corrin.

  Ven blinked. “That… yes actually.”

  Corrin saw their disbelieving gazes and raised an eyebrow. “What? I know things!”

  Wyn sighed. It was so easy to forget he’d been raised by Fenfreth. In the early days, they’d both wanted to learn everything they could about the world, and perhaps Corrin had never lost that. Corrin probably knew more about the spirits in and around Veldia than Wyn did.

  “So then, what’s the fifth?” Kei asked.

  Ven pursed his lips, like he’d bitten into something distasteful. “Hutong, the spirit of contracts.”

  “Not a fan?” Wyn asked. “And contracts? How does that work?”

  “In a manner most set to provoke me,” the captain grumbled. “You will soon see exactly what I… Wyn, your head?”

  Wyn glanced up, four snow spirits danced in the air above him. “Ah, there we go. Now the question is… what can we do?”

  The rest of them crowded around Wyn, trying to get a better glance at the beautiful spirits.

  “How’d I not think about that?” Corrin wondered aloud.

  “Oh! Snow spirits, that's great!” Kei said.

  Ven looked at Wyn. “That is a strange blessing you have checo.”

  Wyn just winked.

  Thanks Eia, they’re here. Any ideas?

  Hmm… hold out your hand.

  He obliged, holding it in front of him. As he did, the spirits cascaded down from his head and settled into his palm. His skin burned from the chill, like holding ice, but colder, and he slowly coalesced aura into the limb to lessen the bite.

  Unlike spirit fire, which seemed to have little effect on cold and heat, mana seemed to help him maintain his body temperature to some extent. His hand was still cold, and he could feel the sting of the frost, but it wasn’t as bad as it would have been, and wouldn’t do as much damage either.

  The snow spirits swirled together for a moment, and in a flash of white, a perfectly formed snowball formed in his hand to the sound of Eia’s giggling in his mind.

  He grinned and pelted Corrin in the chest.

  Corrin looked down, indignant. “Hey!”

  “It’s not the most useful,” Wyn mused. “But interesting nonetheless.”

  An icicle appeared in his hand this time, sharpened to a point.

  Well, the power of any bond is going to be in part determined by the power of the spirit, Eia explained. If we were able to find a greater ice spirit, or even just a more developed snow spirit, then you could do more. It’s only the first snow though, greater snow spirits likely won’t come out until at least the deep winter.

  “How about a little more finesse…” He projected a mental image as best he could through the bond. A moment later the spirits began to spin again.

  This time, the shape formed in accordance with his command. It took longer than the snowball or icicle, but with a breath of cold, a bird, perfectly carved from ice, formed in his palm.

  He smiled. “Not bad, not bad at all.”

  “Ooh, try making a horse!” Kei asked.

  Corrin chimed in, “No no, make one of the colossus!”

  Wyn obliged, forming sculpture after sculpture. Despite the frost in his hand, the back of the veldstrider seemed a little warmer.

  The winter wraiths sang their chilling song somewhere out on the wind, and the snow continued to fall. The deep winter was coming, but it hadn’t come yet.

  And Titan’s Pass was just on the horizon.