I look up at the snow covered mountain looming in front of me and shiver. I’ve never really been a fan of mountains, or snow for that matter. I grew up in the far south where the closest things to mountains were sand dunes that rarely even stretched 20 feet in the air, and though it could get cold at night it never required this many layers of clothing or left my cheeks feeling numb.

I look away from the mountain and back to the trees around me returning to my task. The woman in the village said she saw a man fitting the description of the man I’ve been tracking talking to a boy who was selling animal pelts at the market yesterday and that it looked like they had struck some kind of a deal. If my hunch is correct that means that boy now has the amulet I’ve been looking for. The woman said that boy lives somewhere up on this mountain which means if I follow this path I should be able to find him. I just hope I can get to him before the… others… do.

I’ve been walking on this path since the first rays of sunlight began creeping over the mountains at my back at least an hour ago, so hopefully I’ve managed to catch up at least a little and might even be able to start seeing his tracks soon.

Not even a minute after thinking that I run across what are obviously the tracks of not one, but many people leading to and from a small clearing near the road. My cheeks pale as the blood drains from my face and dread sets into my my begins to set in. The only way that many people made it this far up the trail without leaving a mark is if they were trying to be discreet. And they wouldn’t suddenly stop being discreet unless they no longer needed to hide. Which most likely means that the others already found the boy and took the amulet.

I can’t be sure of that though so until I find his dead body or see them holding I have to keep searching.

I make my way into the clearing, noting the obvious campfire sitting there abandoned, as well as the travel pack and sleeping bag next to it. I could search through the bag to see if the amulet is inside, but there’s no way they would leave the bag here unless they knew where the amulet was. The lack of a body is good, there’s no way they would leave someone alive who might know something about the amulet which means the boy must have managed to get away from their initial attack at least.

Looking around I see that tracking the boy will be no easy feat, though all of the tracks head off in the same general direction they quickly fan out encompassing a large swath of land heading up the mountain and toward the steep, almost vertical, drop-off that makes up the lower half of it’s southern face. I decide to start along the section that seems the most trampled, hoping that means some of the pursuers could actually see their prey at this point. It takes some time but eventually I pickup on a trail that seems to zig-zag back and forth among the trees in a seemingly random pattern. The chaotic path suggests the maker wasn’t following someone. I smile. It seems I have found the tracks I was looking for.

For the next half an hour I follow the tracks, marveling at just how long this boy seems to have avoided capture, though the shadows and general darkness of the forest at night probably helped. There's no way he would have made it this far now with the sunlight making his path clear as can be. I finally reach what appear to be the end of the tracks and stop, looking over the side of the drop. It appears the boy managed to run straight off the southern face of the mountain in his frantic escape.

Still, there don’t appear to be any other tracks in this vicinity, so I may still have a chance of retrieving the amulet, though the chances of the boy surviving the fall are slim.

I look to both sides to see if the drop gets any better in either direction. It doesn’t, which means I only have to options; to spend the next day making my way back down the mountain and then follow the edge of the cliff until I find him, and hope the others don’t get there first; or to attempt to make my way down the steep drop-off without killing myself.

Sighing, I resign myself to what I know I have to do. I sit down on the edge of the drop-off and then, with a deep breath, push myself off.

I slide down the steep slope at speeds must faster than I enjoy. Luckily it’s to steep for any plants to grow on this part of the mountain, so I don’t have to worry about hitting anything on my way down but that also means that there is nothing to slow my decent. The ground approaches and I am relieved to see the the buildup of snow has made the landing more of a smooth transition than an abrupt change. I reach the bottom and, though the transition leaves me breathless, and I almost hit a tree as I slow to a stop, I don’t end up with any major injuries so I count my plan as a win.

I brush my long, brown hair out of my face as I look around for any hint as to where the boy may have ended up.

It doesn’t take long for me to find the small bit of short, light brown hair sticking out of the same pile of snow that just cushioned my landing. I quickly rush over there and, ignoring the cold bite of the snow through my gloves, unearth the rest of his head and shoulders. I rap my arms around his shoulders and, pulling him by the armpits, drag the rest of his body out from under the snow.

His skin is deathly pale and he’s cold as ice. Even if he survived the decent like I did spending hours buried under the snow ensured his death.

At least… that’s what I thought.

When I see the slight rise and fall of his chest and little puff of breath escape his mouth, I think I’m imagining it. But as I continue to watch, and it only gets stronger I realize I’m not imagining it. This boy somehow survived both running off a cliff and spending the rest of the night and half a day buried under a pile of snow. It makes no sense. Until I see the amulet clenched in his pale hand. Glowing. And then I understand.