* * *
Aiden jolted awake, a throbbing pain in his head and a burning sensation upon his chest. He reached a hand up and pulled away the shard from its contact with his skin, for it was glowing red hot, leaving a small burn mark.
Glancing around, he was dismayed to see it was completely dark. A bitter wind howled across the frozen landscape, chilling him to the bone. His mind was still addled from his bizarre experience, but the memory of his demise was coming back to him faster than he would have liked.
Reflexively reaching a hand to his head, Aiden felt the place where he had been struck by the axe, only to find the weapon had been removed and the wound closed. His momentary relief was immediately overwhelmed by the realisation that he was lying amidst a pile of bloodied corpses, half-covered by the snow, and his friends were in trouble somewhere nearby.
Aiden felt a strong measure of guilt and responsibility at their defeat, for even though they had been bickering and arguing with each other since their troubled journey to Ferrumgaard, it was Aiden who had been instrumental in bringing them along on this fateful journey.
Aiden slowly began to rise, keenly feeling the cold through his body. He wrapped the winter cloak tightly around himself and checked to make sure his gear was still intact. His leather breastplate was gouged in several places, but it would serve for the time being. His sword was gone, which didn't come as a surprise but made Aiden's task that much more difficult.
Reaching into his backpack, he frantically fished around for anything that might come in useful and pulled out the strange pair of lenses, fixed to a leather strap. He remembered what they were and recalled the night he had gone through the treasures of Ferrumgaard with Sayana.
A momentary feeling of dread overcame Aiden as he realised she too had been captured, despite assuring her he would protect her. She may well be suffering the most of them all. He quickly pulled the lenses over his head and was instantly able to see across the land around him as if it were lit by a full moon.
The first problem solved, Aiden then rummaged around and pulled out the heavy sceptre he'd been lugging around in his pack. If he'd remembered it, he might have chosen to leave it behind to save weight, but if he could figure out how to make it work, it might just turn out to be the thing that saved them.
Setting aside the sceptre, he retrieved the scroll cases and opened one up. The lenses that allowed him to see in the dark didn't provide light however, so he couldn't make out what was written on the scrolls. He briefly considering lighting a torch, but didn’t want to risk being spotted.
Girding himself for the journey across the frozen wastes, Aiden could see heavy footsteps in the snow and knew he was on the right track, yet the prospect of facing dozens, if not hundreds of akoran warriors in order to free his friends weighed heavily on his mind.