Earlier that day, on the other side of the Continent, Jay, Sol, Troy and Isaiah walked across a snow-and-ice covered field down to the south of Kiloqua known simply as Erostah. Jay was the only one of the group who had been here before, and it was not a place with fond memories. It was here, many years ago, where he, the Lyriumian Court and their followers had faced off against Enliatu and the Terpolites in the final battle of the Forgotten War.

It really was incredible to think about how much had changed since the last time he was here. The Forgotten War was over, the God Worlds were actually getting along, Terpola had changed for the better, and a new Balance Keeper had come into power. And that was just the exciting stuff. They were all older now, and their lives had taken a change in more ways than one, but they were still out in Creation trying to put a stop to the latest big bad. Perhaps things hadn't changed that much.

"Fuckin' hell. You look like an old man reminiscing about his glory days."

Troy's sharp voice cut through Jay's thoughts like a knife. He sighed and glanced over his shoulder at the heavily rugged wolf shifter. "Like you've never done it."

"Much has changed over the past decade," Isaiah said, kneeling down in the snow. He brushed away at it until a pale blue flower came into sight, its petals glistening like ice in the cold sunlight. "These were near extinct. Now they cover this entire field."

Troy gave his friend a flat look. "Are you doing that 'metaphor' thing again? 'Cause you know I don't understand that shit."

Sol raised a hand to their head, moving to the front of the group. "I should have gone with the girls."

Jay gave their shoulder a reassuring pat. "I get it, bud. I get it."

While they were searching for a lost cave hidden somewhere among the glaciers of Erostah, the girl—Maddie, Kayla, Kindra and Imogene—were on Terpola looking for a cave of their own. Only in a warmer climate. And with better company, no offense to Sol and Isaiah. Even going through Iruu to find out wherever Colt, Hathor, Carmin, Dan and their companions sounded more enjoyable, and that rarely ended well when you had no idea where you were going.

On the other hand, Jay actually had some idea of where they were going which meant he was familiar with the landscape which meant there was less chance of some ridiculous beastie sneaking up and killing them all, so that was something.

Jay pulled his phone from his pocket, opening up a map of Erostah. He spun on the spot until it lined up with what he saw in front of him, and nodded to himself. He'd highlighted the areas with caves, most of them in secluded areas that were hard to reach. It made sense a deity no one had seen in ages would be somewhere difficult to reach. There wasn't much further south they could go without reaching the unstable areas, so it made sense it would be somewhere around the middle.

"You have no idea where you're going, do you?"

Jay shot Troy a sour look. "I have some idea of where to go."

Troy huffed. "Translation: You're clueless."

"Fuck off, man."

Sol slipped the phone from Jay's hand. Their hazel-green eyes flickered over the map. They pointed at three of the locations, then to the one in the middle of them. "It's this one."

Isaiah glanced at the map over their shoulder. "How can you tell?"

"Makes sense," was all Sol said as they handed the map back to Jay.

The Fae frowned at the map and the Desi. "How does it 'make sense'?"

Sol shrugged. "I read a lot of fantasy books in my free time. The thing people look for on maps are often in the middle of some outer locations for symbolic reasons. I would assume the same goes here."

"We do not live in a fantasy novel," Isaiah countered. Both Troy and Jay scoffed at that. "What?"

As the group begun walking once again, Troy begun counting points off his fingers. "Well, there's the part where we all have some sort of power, the part where we're mates with immortals, the part where we travel and explore new worlds, the part where we're actively looking for a God." He slapped his hands together. "Pillars of Creation. Not the nebula one, the real things we saw. Those looked like something out of a fantasy novel."

Isaiah sighed and ran a hand through his hair, small snowflakes falling to the ground. "Yeah, alright, I get the point."

Sol smiled to themselves. "Don't forget your friend is the Vessel of Time."

Troy pointed at them. "That, too. Something right out of a fantasy story."

"Sounds more like sci-fi," Jay murmured thoughtfully.

Isaiah let out a loud sigh. "I cannot believe we are having this conversation."

Troy grinned. "You started it."

He gave the Wolf Shifter a flat look. "Remind me again why we are friends."

* * * *

The four lay on their bellies at the top of a hill, overlooking the glacial river below them. Jay held a set of binoculars up to his eyes. He used the cog on the size to zoom in on a small, dark cave on the other side of the river, hidden under an overhang of snow and ice glittering in the sunlight. Jay zoomed in further. He couldn't see what was inside.

He lowered the binoculars. "Do you guys feel weird?"

"I feel cold," Troy said. "Does that count?"

Jay whacked him.

Sol, holding binoculars of their own, hummed thoughtfully. "I feel as though something is watching me." He nodded at the cave. "Something in that direction."

Isaiah's eyes narrowed. "There is something here. I can feel it nearby."

Troy snorted. "Y'all are paranoid. There's nothing here but cold."

"Need I remind you of the tar monsters?"

Troy grimaced. "Okay, yes, that was bad, but tar monsters couldn't hide here. We'd see them."

Sol interrupted the conversation. "So, all we have to do, is get to the other side and enter the cave."

"Yep," Jay said. "Should be pretty easy."

Silence. No one moved.

After a moment, Sol asked, "Are we just going to sit here?"

The three men laughed nervously.

Sol muttered a frustrated curse under their breath and climbed over the hill. Jay, Isaiah and Troy exchanged glances before trudging after them.