After several minutes, Deniigi gave the two a nudge to wake them. "Sorry to wake you early, but Kaden finishing up his puzzle as we speak. The path will be cleared by the time we are ready to move," he said, standing to get ready himself, "We'll be able to rest easy once we get back to the village. Food and proper first aid will be top of the list when we get back."

Looking up sleepily, Ahnah let out a yawn before standing. "I'll be visiting mother first once we get back. I promised her I'd be there to say goodbye," she said, looking over to see the cracks widening in the wall, "It hurts to know she wont be able to recover, but I can at least make her last wish come true."

"They are rather unsettling to se. I've only seen a handfull in my lifetime, andI've only had to fight one to protect someone. I'm sure you've seen Aipaloovik's scar," Deniigi said, picking up Kaden, "Right now, I'm more concerned with what Alignak will do when we returne. He still wont be able to break the spell used top open the barrier, but there's no telling what he'll do when he gets free. At any rate, I'll be staying with him until the spell expires. You two should be able to make it back safely."

"If we can't, then we have no business being on this jouney," Ahnah said as the wall shattered, "And there's our cue to get out of here. The only thing that's keeping us in now is the lock on the door, and we have the keys to unlock it."

Once Midnight made it back to the group, she went stiff once more before seeming to return to herself. "Oh, that's someting I hope I'll never have to do again. I could hear and see everyone, but there was no way I could respond," she said, shaking the last of the frost from her scales.

Goldenscale gave a frown.  "The second he shows hostility towards anyone, I will know and he will be in trouble.  I do respect the ways of your village, but I do not respect him enough to let him do what he wants." she said with a snort.  Goldenscale then gave another snort as she stood.  "Well, now you can talk to us again." she said.  "Where to now?" she asked Deniigi.

"The moment we step out of the barrier is the moment he looses his title and rights in the village. Whatever happens to  him once we get back is of no concern to the village. While I'd rather he live, it is out of my control if he throws his life away or not," Deniigi said, leading the group towards the exit, "The door out will have three notches in it  for the stones. All we need to do is place the stones and wait for the door to open."

"IF Alignak tries anything, I'll be more than capable of handling him. Unlike when I left, I now have the strength to overcome him should the need be," Ahnah said, placing a wing over Midnight to take the chill off of her, "Once we leave the barrier, I will no longer have to hide to keep the peace. As much as he'll hate it, he'll have to accept me as part of the clan."

"I'm just glad we can get back to some place warm. I'm not sure how much longer I'll be able to fend off the cold," Midnight said, leaning into Ahnah's side, "I'll be glad when we enter warmer lands."

Goldenscale nodded when Deniigi finished gving her instructions, limping behind.  It was a tad difficult walking on three legs with one missing in the front.  Balance was something she had though, so maybe she would be fine.  "I won't allow it if he tries to harm you, Ahnah.  I know I'm injured, but I still will fight him if he tries to hurt my family.  But then again, we don't know what he will do.  So we'll just see what he does." she said to Ahnah.  she then listened to what Midnight said afterwards.  SHe then chuckled and nodded in agreement.  "Well, at least we will have this done and overwith.  Hopefully we won't have to be someplace cold anytime soon after this." she said.

"We shouldn't need to go to a place as cold as this after this, but we will eventually head to a place that's the complete opposite.As for father, I know you wont let him harm me, but that is a fight I'd rather take on personally. If he's so determined that I shouldn't be aprt of the village, he's going to have to fight me over it," Ahnah said as the reached the door. Dotting the center of the door was three indentations with symbols over each one, each symbol standing for each aspect of life.

"Well, once we exit this Fortress, we need to make our way to the barrier as fast as we can manage. I suspect we only have a few hours left," Deniigi said, passing Kaden off to Ahnah. "I left the door to my house unlocked so you should be able to walk right in."

Once the last sphere was placed, all three spheres seemed to sink in and melt over the door. After a few moments, the door faded to reveal the bare world of snow that was outside.

"I can agree to that. While he shouldn't be much of a hastle, there's always the chance he will get the upper hand," Ahnah nodded, readjusting Kaden before stepping out. "I'll meet you back at Deniigi's place. I need to hurry back to Mom," she said before heading off down the slope.

"Well, we made it out alive. Looks like we have a little more time than I though. That's good, we wont be in such a hurry to make it out of the barrier," Deniigi said, stepping out and waiting for Midnight and Goldenscale, "If you two want, I can accompany you till we get to Alignak."

Goldenscale quickly ran back a few paces once the door began to open, not really wanting to be close to whatever was outside the door.  She then groaned when she saw that the door opened to outside.  Great.  She would now freeze more.  At least the inside of the cavern had maintained its level of warmth because it was enclosed, but they would soon go back out into open fields of snow where heat would be sapped like water into the air.  She then nodded to Ahnah after she spoke.  "Alright then.  I hope we made it in time." she said to her before turning to Midnight and Deniigi.  "I don't know about what Midnight wants to do, but I think it would be a good idea just to sprint it or fly to the village as fast as we can.  If we try to draw it out, it might make it harder on us." she said.  "But don't let me make the decision.  I want to make sure Midnight gets to say something too." she added.

"I'm fine with that idea. Whatever gets us out of the cold fastest would be preferable. I don't want to be out in this cold any long than I have to right now," Mindight said, giving a nod, "It would probably be for the better health of both of us that way."

"You'd probably want to fly back then. While it's safer to walk the ground, there's less snow in the air than on the ground," Deniigi said, "In the air, the only thing you have to worry about is ice forming on you, and ice clusters that might hang in the air."

Goldenscale nodded to Midnight after she replied, then turned to Deniigi as he spoke.  It did seem like a better plan, flying.  That way they didn't have to worry about freezing their hands and feet and having to jump to make it out kf the snow every time.  "Okay.  Do you think you can do it, Midnight?  We can always figure out something else if you think you can't." she said to her.

"I can most certainly try. I'm not sure how much longer I can stand this cold. Ice in the air should be easy enough to dodge, and ice wont form on our wings so long as we keep them moving I think," Midnight said, lifting off the ground to hover, "I can't say I know it to be true, but wont flying also alow us to build up body heat?"

"It will if you put a lot of offort in while flying. It wont if you just casually fly from one point to another though.You'd need to be forcing yourself faster or higher than normal," Deniigi said, starting down the slop, "However you decide to go, I'll meet you back at my place. Regardless of Alignak's reaction, he wont have the strength to overcome me should he attack now. The spell would have drained most of his energy."

Goldenscale nodded once then turned to look at the sky.  "We better hurry then, Midnight.  We've been in the cold for too long.  See you back at your house, Deniigi." she said as she too took off and began to hover.  "Let's get to higher skies.  We might be able to get more of the suns rays and we'll be able to warm ourselves faster." she said as she began to pump her wings.  She was already having to pump her wings faster because of how hard the ice clamped onto her feathers, but she would manage.