The days were no longer days as far as Cyrdic could tell, though it was Ivan who said it aloud first. There was an endlessness to the sky, as day and night no longer functioned this far north. The ice and snow turned to barren rock, and the horizon began to shift and coil with iridescent colors that caught and tugged at one's sanity. And even now, Ivan let slip that they still were within the lower boundaries of the Chaos Wastes. It was still many miles until they were truly within the realm of Chaos. 

"Let us hope that we can tuck tail and go back before then." Yantz said, and he gave a sideways glance at his mistress as she muttered incantations under her breath. It was a day before the cold had left that she had begun to shield them with her magic. The Chaos taint could affect a man as soon as they had entered into Norscan territory, but it would take weeks for such mutations to begun. But now? The cracked, bleeding ground they walked upon could mutate the barefooted. The very air, rank with chaos winds, could transform any of them into a wretch of the dark gods within hours. Dietrichia's enchantments upon them would last as long as her strength did, which she judged could last days. But Cyrdic and the others were also warned that during this process, she could not utilize her powers in their defense in combat. They would simply have to make do. 

Cyric had lost the scent of the barbarian. The wasteland was too bleak. The howling wind of the snows, and the phosphorous air of the wastelands had driven off all scents and markings of those that passed by. But he had smelled him. He knew that if they had gone west or east, he felt confident the barbarian would have been seen, unless he had died of frostbite or eaten by monstrosities. 

But no one had been seen passed the army of Wulfrik, and so they continued northwards. Though Ivan, Skaldi, and Dietrichia remained silent and steadfast, the others had begun to show doubts of their journey forward. The Greatswords that were left began to sweat and gaze backwards often, muttering to themselves and gripping their swords tighter. Even looking at Cyrdic with disdain, as though the very land around them poisoned their minds and brought forth their smallest inklings of mistrust. As they did so, the Kislevite's began to speak their native tongue among themselves. Cyrdic only knew a few words in Kislevite, but they spoke the word Ursun as if it were a curse. Ivan had to silence them with a barking order thrice before they buttoned their lips. 

Ahead, the eerie red mist of the wasteland began to fade in certain spots of their vision, as if at random. But an hour later they saw a sight that brought them to the very edges of their willpower to remain on course. 

"Valya's mercy..." Skaldi breathed. The group ducked as the two headed Chaos Dragon soared above the sky lazily, traveling as if searching for something in particular. Its body was bloated and its two maws were contorted masses of teeth and spittle, only barely resembling the nobility of its uncorrupted kin. It almost looked as if it swayed in the sky, and the distortion of the horizon could not give the group an indication of its exact location. Even Dietrichai was not sure, and her normally calm face was filled with dread at the sight of it. As one of the heads belched flame, the other vomited acid into the wasteland not miles away, though soon it seemed Skaldi's prayer had been answered, for over the course of what seemed to be half a day it flew no closer to the companions, and disappeared as abruptly as it had been first spotted. It only drew their eyes forward and downwards, to spot a mountain range that seemed to have grown out of the very ground.

In the air, Cyrdic smelled the same scent he had caught earlier. And gazing through the miasma, he could see the barest outline of a broken outpost within the mountain rocks. Its architecture sloped and eloquently made, with motifs of dragons and lions emblazoned upon the cracked buildings. 

They were of Elvish make...and something was occurring within the blasted ruins... 
[@Penny]