The gloom of the destroyed lands stayed behind once the group left the Crystal Sphere. For a while, they travelled through the empty plains of the Sky-Reaching Highlands, but Morana found nothing interesting about the far grassy hills. Soon, they neared the Dwarven North. Yeosang taught her along how the mountains were split into multiple dominions by various dwarven kings. They were accepting of each other, brothers in blood, but mongered many wars for gold and jewels. Whenever someone developed a new weapon, everyone else hastened to steal the plans and catch up. It was a constant battle against each other, but their competition brought them expansion. Their quarries were always filled with new treasures. Their forges never cold. The highest bidder obtained their secrets. 

As people, they were grumpy folk. Not fond of strangers, married to their work. They never had an interest in joining the empire since they thought it wiser to be neutral in case someone else offered them more money for their loyalty.

Morana's uncles didn't seem too enamoured by the dwarves, especially Hongjoong. The prideful sorcerer hated being diminished to a useless bystander without the magic in his blood.

Aodhán soaked up all that new knowledge like a sponge. The two kids were huddled under their cloaks, walking part of the path to heat their bodies against the stiff winds. The ground had steepened already, and Hongjoong knew the rough direction to go. While the mage grumbled to himself, the others kept an eye out for movement among the jagged rocks.

There were mountain goats here, and peculiar-looking birds. Morana saw many-legged lizards and even a white rabbit staring at them from the distance. The vegetation was sparse and only the most stubborn shrubs and flowers clung to the rough rock, but despite all the grey, it was livelier than the ruins of the Crystal Sphere. Quiet. 

Morana liked the area. It reminded Wooyoung of home, too. 

For a while, they got to wander narrow trails among the rocks, only occasionally crossed with bridges and bigger streets for trade since the dwarves moved all their business and livelihood beneath the earth. However, the snow couldn't be avoided fully. It crawled down from the tips of the mountains like mould and soon covered the streets from view. Their procession slowed as they carefully felt up their way across slippery rocks. Onyx sailed overhead and Buddy's snout was dusted with fur, looking adorable.

Wooyoung wrapped his favourite green scarf around Morana. Her brother shivered worse, but he and Yunho brought warm furs along and swathed themselves in them. Since Hongjoong's magic was reduced, he couldn't warm them, but as long as they kept climbing, they would be fine.

Their breaks were brief. Hasty meals and quick ideas about where to go next. Onyx hadn't found anything yet, and they didn't want to risk the lure of the cold if they lingered for too long. 

Wooyoung whined all the way, keeping the rest lively. San was so quiet, Morana wondered if he disliked speaking. Yeosang decorated himself with the local flowers.

Thanks to Hongjoong's steady guidance and Wooyoung's communication with Onyx and Mulberry, they soon reached their destination. No dwarf had shown themselves. Either they watched from below, disinterested in their peculiar visitors until they made trouble, or their greedy eyes were too occupied with treasure to mind them. Morana hoped no one would recognise them. She complied with Yeosang's wishes to huddle under her hood, stubbornly resisting against the frost, trying to chill her to the bone.

Morana didn't hate the cold, but she also wasn't its friend. The icy winds rushing under her clothing to reap her warmth cut with more ferocity than the ocean breeze of the Cliffs of Zephyr. When Aodhán's cry cut through the still air, she shook himself from her chill, hoping for some fire and warmth soon.

"The Ruby Glacier!"

Following the point of his finger, Morana squinted against the blinding white blanket of snow. The sun had mercy on them, or perhaps it was cruel to hide its blinding rays of warmth today. The change in the white landscape wasn't hard to notice.

A few steps ahead of them opened a fathomless canyon. Jagged ice covered its steep walls, creating deadly spikes that glinted in the light. The frozen surface layered as if a waterfall had stopped in time to grow still. 

The name came from its deep red colour. At first, Morana thought she was looking at a river of blood that had frozen over, but the angle was deceptive when Wooyoung lifted her onto Mulberry. 

The red came from behind the ice, shimmering through its uneven surface. As if a fiery pit was sealed away by the frost of nature.

Awed, the kids stood with Wooyoung and Yunho to marvel at the spectacle. Hongjoong caught them up with the tales the dwarves liked to tell.

"The countless jewels of these mountains have been frozen for eternities. Though the dwarves burrow at them all day, the rubies in this ice seem never-ending. Legend says this mountain range was once a mighty giant and the wounds the dwarves dug into his skin are now bleeding red. If you drill into the ice, you will find red gems."

"Red gems," Aodhán repeated with fascination. "Rubies!"

"Correct," Hongjoong grinned at him. He peered over the edge, beckoning Onyx to sail into the canyon and spot any potential cave entrances along its steep walls. To Morana, it looked like a death trap, but they had more than enough winged companions to fix their situation.

Wooyoung kicked some snow over the edge and watched it powder over the deadly ice spikes. He looked greedy to dig out some treasure, but this ice was much harder and thicker than it looked.

As he peered around for loose jewels to pick up, his sharp eyes fell on something else. This time, his screech came as a warning.

"And what's that over there?!"

San's hand flew to his sword. A wild animal trying its luck against the gnawing hunger of its dead surroundings? No, this movement was slight enough to pose no threat.

A rock was moving their way. At first, Morana thought it rolled from a greater height, disrupted by age and its weight, but it didn't quite tumble. Two legs brought it forward at a slow and steady pace and a thick layer of snow balanced on its head.

"Pebble?" Yunho brought out when the rock came to stand before them, just at the right size Morana remembered her. It had been a few days since she last saw her around.

Puzzled, the group gathered around. Hadn't they put her in Mulberry's saddle bag for this very reason? Since they would lose her? Did someone accidentally drop her?

Morana picked her up, but as always, the rock didn't speak. She let them dust off her head, pleased to have arrived. 

Yeosang's smile was ever so bemused.

"She has always been wilful. Golems are that way."

While the others searched for a way to the nearby cave entrance Onyx announced with a caw to check it for their search or as shelter for the night, Morana walked around with Pebble in her arms to warm up. Yeosang was by her side, patting the golem's head.

"Was she a guest at the palace?" Morana wondered, still mystified about so many things concerning her sister.

Yeosang shook his head.

"Not at all. She is Hongjoong's creation, but she was made for the golem husband of Seonghwa. A splendid fellow. Always riveted and learning from us."

"Seonghwa married a golem?" Baffled, Morana tried to imagine that. The only golem she knew was Pebble, and she didn't seem like the best spouse material.

"They are allied to the empire, yes," Yeosang snickered about her confusion. "He spoke, so he could do his work as a diplomat."

So they could speak. Why did Pebble not speak?

"Where is he?" Surely, a golem couldn't die in the war? Pebble toddled without a care in the world against all nature blocking her off and the spell animating her didn't let up near the dwarves. Weren't they unkillable?

Yeosang's sigh was wistful. He peered into the far valleys, shrouded in the mists of the incoming evening. Missing the past.

"We don't know... He and Mingi were the ones who disappeared that day. Since only Pebble found back to us, we assume Jongho returned to the rock and his slumber. He had no more obligation with Seonghwa gone."

Sleeping in the earth sounded like a dream. Perhaps Jongho was simply the wisest of them all and didn't delude himself with needless hope. Morana would have loved to meet him and learn more. If he was like Pebble, he was surely interesting.

"Found a cave," Yunho called, beckoning them back over. "We'll explore it, and if it's safe, it's our stay for the night. San is already down there."

Indeed, the snowy white of his wings had disappeared from the cliff. Morana was nervous to go down, but Yeosang lifted her and Aodhán into Mulberry's saddle with a reassuring smile.

"We'll be right there."

Morana nodded, trusting her winged friend to carry them safely. The canyon left just enough space for Mulberry to spiral into a circle. He ducked into a narrow entrance, almost overgrown with ice. Abruptly, the icy wind whipping at Morana's ears stopped. She was greeted by San and Hongjoong - however he got down there - and Mulberry returned to the surface to bring the others. 

Holding tightly onto Pebble so she wouldn't fall into the canyon if she wandered off, Morana lingered near the ice of the entrance. Aodhán knocked his fingers onto its pale surface. No rubies anywhere near to pick up.

Yunho and Wooyoung arrived last after Mulberry brought Yeosang. The human carried Buddy in his arms and whispered to him to stay near. Something in the air made the dog nervous, perhaps the darkness. He ducked his head to stay by his master's side and Morana also nervously blinked into the dark.

No one had visited this area before. Knew of the local dangers. What if this was a tunnel straight into the dwarven mines? What if some wild cat lived here?

"Stay behind me," San whispered to Morana, mindful not to alert any presence to the group. They slowly inched further in, soon leaving the blinding light of the entrance behind. 

Mulberry clicked his beak. His and Wooyoung's talons scratched over the rough rock.

The cave was oddly warm.

Morana huddled behind San with her hand fisted into his long cape. She peered around the shadows, aware of the narrow ceiling that would barely be tall enough to fit Mulberry suddenly opening to a bigger, yawning void. 

When she noticed a gigantic shadow in the round back of the cave, Morana stopped dead in her tracks. No tunnel. A lair.

"What is that?" She whispered, and the rest of the group halted, trying to spy into the darkness. Hongjoong futilely tried to generate a flame with his fingers and failed. Yunho rustled with his clothing to ignite a torch, but Morana didn't hesitate to describe what she saw.

"There is... a heap. Of hair, maybe fur. I can't tell the shape," she explained, feet rooted to the spot. She couldn't move against her fear, and her blood was scorching in her veins. Why was it so hot in here? The snow was so near.

Straining her eyes, Morana swallowed her dread. The others needed her right now. She was the only one who could see.

"It isn't moving. I think it might be a bear? But there are some spikes on its side. It might be a person with a weapon." She couldn't make out details, just the rough outline. Helpless since she could only guess and the others didn't see, she was about to offer to go back outside to come back with fire just in case this was a bear, so they could defend themselves and see.

But Hongjoong's hollow voice already echoed through the cave.

"Those are horns, Morana," he muttered, and something clicked in Morana's mind. Her hands felt for her own horns, their shape, their length. Yes, those had to be horns. But they were massive. Towering over the heap of fur, pointed like weapons.

"It's him, isn't it?" Yunho asked, so blind in the dark that he held onto Buddy for comfort. 

San tensed under his cape when Hongjoong gave a quiet hum.

"I'm absolutely sure."