Opalina (prime)/The Voice in the Snow

The Voice in the Snow

This is a creative work set in the world of Elanthia, attributed to its original author(s). It does not necessarily represent the official lore of GemStone IV.

Title: The Voice in the Snow

Author: Opalina Jalcon

From the journals of Opalina Jalcon- 1-27-2002

The cold of Pinefar had always been honest.

It bit exposed skin. It stiffened fingers. It whispered through the pines with the voice of winter.

Those things I understood.

But the voice inside my head...

That was something else entirely.

At first I tried to ignore it.

I sat beside the fire in the Trading Post while Darjun wrestled with impossible locks and Aysia shattered stubborn chests with that enormous claidhmore of hers. Around me people laughed, bargained, cursed failed traps, and celebrated little victories over stubborn steel.

Normal sounds.

Comforting sounds.

I even tried to lose myself in work, examining brass locks so intricate they seemed crafted solely to mock rogues like me. The sulfur smell from one trap stung my nose. My picks refused to find purchase. Again.

"This thing's tough," I muttered.

It wasn't the lock that frightened me.

It was the silence that always came just before he spoke.

Then—

The pressure returned.

Like icy fingers pushing against the inside of my skull.

"I have returned once again..."

I froze.

The fire was warm.

The room was full.

Yet I had never felt so alone.

I answered aloud before I even realized I had spoken.

"Yes I can avoid you!"

Several heads turned.

I barely noticed.

The thing haunting my thoughts laughed without laughter.

It promised it would find me.

Promised to destroy everything I cared about.

Promised that hiding only delayed the inevitable.

My heart pounded so hard I could barely breathe.

No.

No.

No.

"You cannot have me," I whispered.

Then louder.

"Nor feed on me!"

I clenched my fist until my nails bit into my palm.

"I will not submit to your lies."

The words sounded brave.

Inside, I was terrified.

I knew what had happened in Icemule.

The Council was no longer imprisoned.

Something had escaped.

Something ancient.

Something that somehow knew my name.

Every heartbeat seemed to echo with one thought.

Koar.

I had to reach Koar.

Not tomorrow.

Not after another lock.

Now.

I begged anyone who would listen.

"Is anyone going to the Rift?"

"Please... I need to get to Koar's altar."

Aysia stopped what she was doing and looked at me—not with annoyance, but with concern.

"What do you need up there?"

"I need to pray."

The words felt strangely small compared to the terror inside me.

"I need his help."

She didn't laugh.

She simply nodded.

"I can take you."

Relief nearly stole my knees from beneath me.

The journey north became a blur of white.

Snow swallowed the world.

The wind screamed across endless tundra as if the mountain itself wished to drive us away. Every step across the frozen wastes seemed slower than the last.

Yet the voice never stopped.

"Do not hide..."

"Embrace what I am..."

"I shall visit you soon..."

I argued with empty air more than once.

"If I feed you, you'll kill them anyway!"

The wind carried my words into the storm.

Darjun finally asked the question no one else dared.

"Who is looking for you, Opalina?"

I swallowed.

"The Council in Icemule have escaped."

Even saying it aloud made it more real.

The mountain loomed before us like the spine of some sleeping god.

Each icy ledge demanded balance.

Each glacier threatened death with one misplaced step.

Aysia climbed without hesitation.

Darjun followed.

I followed them because I had no other choice.

Not because I feared the mountain.

Because I feared what waited behind me.

As we climbed higher, the cold stripped away every comfort until only determination remained.

Then, at last...

The voice faded.

"I shall be visiting you soon..."

Its presence withdrew like a tide receding into darkness.

Not gone.

Never gone.

Just...

waiting.

I exhaled for what felt like the first time all day.

The snow still fell.

The mountain still groaned beneath ancient glaciers.

But somewhere above us waited Koar's altar.

Perhaps the gods would hear me.

Perhaps they would not.

Yet I would climb every frozen step if it meant standing, even for one heartbeat, beneath Koar's gaze.

Because faith is strongest when fear walks beside it.

And on that mountain...

I had never been more afraid.