ever seen. He was also bundled in layers of furs, and his face bore a great beard unlike any she had ever seen. Whereas Yusef had a beard that was long, it was well trimmed and shaped. This man had his beard unkempt and scraggly, as if he hadn't been in front of a mirror to maintain it in a long time. She could not make out any other facial features, with the beard covering half and what appeared to be large goggles covering most of the other half. Lyn stood her ground, not sure what to expect from him, and more than a little disappointed in herself for the creeping feeling of relief that began to nudge at her. She had always been accustomed to doing things relatively on her own, and had no issue with keeping her own company, but that did not seem to stop her from feeling grateful for seeing another person in this desolate place.
"Hey, there," the man called out again, "What are you doing out here dressed like that? You're g oing to catch your death of cold." He shrugged off one of his many furs and draped it around her shoulders. To her surprise, she let him. She did not realize how much she had been shivering until he put the warm fur around her. As he did so, the creeping feeling of relief burgeoned full-fledged, and she sighed gratefully for the reprieve. A smile cracked wide in his scraggly beard, and he lifted up his goggles. His face was worn, but the lines around his eyes suggested numerous and hearty smiles. "Much better when you're wearing proper covering, no?" He winked at her and Lyn nodded in return.
He looked around them and held up his hand. Licking his finger, he put it to the wind and grumbled to himself. "Storm is dying down now, wind is shifting. Should be ab le to set up for the night and wait it out. You're welcome to join me if you like. Not often I run across other mountaineers this close to the storm belt." He smiled at her again and started off. Lyn followed him, strangely unworried about potential recourse. Perhaps it was just the cold. Or maybe the loneliness of the mountain had gotten to her more than she knew. Either way, it was nice to have company.
Chapter 5
24 th day, 9 th lunar cycle, 700 th age of Arc
"The mountains are beautiful in their own right, but cold. Very cold. And isolated. The mist that shrouded them from view without do the same to the rest of the world within. The mountains here are contained in a dome of grey, almost like a completely separate world. While I liked the novel idea of snow before, neither Alir nor myself are accustomed to this brisk weather and the preparation it takes to travel at all in it. On a lighter note, I now have a much warmer cloak to wear, thanks to a mountain man I met just last night. I was so cold and lost that I didn't even think twice about following him or accepting his hospitality. I would never have considered myself a 'wild' person by any means, but I've always felt relatively anti-social and self-sufficient. To immediately trust my safety to someone else, someone I don't even know, has this mountain broken me? Am I to be some meager girl who needs saving and is always waiting for someone to happen by to take care of me? I know it's unfair to say things like that, and I know my strength and reliability. I suppose it just scared me how quickly things are changing, chief among them my own self."
Morning came much too quickly, it seemed. Lyn and her new friend, whose name she had discovered was Thom, had spent the night in a surprisingly effective lean-to Thom had constructed. They had a small fire and furs for warmth, and Thom was kind enough to share his supplies. Lyn had to confess to being curious why Thom was wandering about the mountain, and how he happened to stumble across her. As it turned out, Thom was a member of a group of men who called themselves the Stone Watchers. Their duty, as illustrated by Thom, was to trek the mountains and watch for stragglers such as herself and any other phenomenon outside the
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