Through the snow-covered lands they rode, their horses' hooves crunching through the white drifts that had piled up during the long winter.
The wind bit at their faces like tiny knives, and their breath came out in white puffs that quickly disappeared in the cold air.
Jaenor had never been so far from Frostvale in his entire life. Rena and others, too. They had tense expressions on their faces; on one side, they were leaving their home and their family, and on the other side, they were going into something completely unknown.
Every tree, every rock, every hill was new to his eyes.
The mountains around them were bigger than anything he had imagined, reaching up toward the sky like the fingers of sleeping giants.
It took them several hours to make their way out of the mountain passes. The horses struggled sometimes in the deeper snow, and they had to stop often to rest and let the animals catch their breath.
