Rook (Book 1 - The Forever Blade)

The flurry persisted for nearly a week in the isolating drifts of the mountain peak. In the bleak and quiet cave in which they had made camp, the party soon found itself running low on rations. There was more than enough melt-water to sate their thirst, but the cherry flavor could only fool their stomachs for so long. They needed food.

"I'm going out there," Rook said abruptly on the third day of the blizzard, "I'm going to find food."

"But you'll freeze!" Roseluck objected, "come on, we can hold out a bit longer. We just have to save our rations."

"And then what?" Rook spouted in disbelief, "Do you honestly think we can hold out in here forever?"

"We can hold on for quite a while," Doctor Stable chimed in, "given the current temperature and the carbohydrate levels in our rations we could probably hold on for as much as a month-"

"Yes," said Roseluck, "and I doubt this blizzard will persist for that long. Please Rook. Don't go out there. You'll never make it back."