The seventeenth day in Eldridge Reach began with a sound that no one in the valley had heard in years.
It was not the howl of wind or the crack of ice on the river. It was a low, deep groan that rolled down from the northern ridges like distant thunder trapped inside the stone itself. The ground trembled beneath Aelric's feet as he stood outside the keep, splitting the last of the frozen wood for the fire.
He froze, axe held mid-swing. The mana hum inside him surged violently, screaming a warning that made his teeth ache. A moment later the groan became a roar. Snow and rock cascaded down the steep slope above the upper pastures in a white, thundering wave.
An avalanche.
Not a small slide. A full shelf of snow and loose stone had broken free high on Broken Ridge, the jagged spine of rock that guarded the northern edge of the valley. The avalanche roared downward, gaining speed, smashing through the thin pine forest and heading straight toward the upper grazing pastures where several families kept their precious goats and sheep.
Shouts erupted from the village below. Men and women poured out of their huts, pointing upward in horror. Children screamed. Elder Brannor's voice cut through the chaos, barking orders.
"The herd! Get the herd out! If they lose the animals now, half the valley starves before spring!"
Aelric dropped the axe and ran.
His legs burned as he plowed through knee-deep snow toward the upper pastures. The mana hum thrashed wildly inside him, flashing images of collapsing structures and emergency calculations, but he shoved them aside. This was not the time for visions. This was the time to move.
He reached the pasture gate just as the first villagers arrived, panting and wide-eyed. The avalanche was still thundering down the ridge, a white wall of death picking up speed and debris. The goats and sheep milled in panic, bleating desperately, trapped behind the low stone wall that had seemed so sturdy yesterday.
Doran Steelvein was already there, massive hammer in hand, trying to smash the frozen gate hinges. Mila Greenthorn and three other women were shouting at the animals, trying to drive them toward the only open path. Lio appeared beside Aelric, face pale.
"The gate is frozen solid!" Lio gasped. "We cannot open it in time!"
Aelric's mind raced. The avalanche would reach the pasture in less than two minutes. The animals would be buried. The families who relied on their milk and meat would lose everything.
He did not hesitate.
"Break the wall!" he shouted. "Not the gate! The wall on the south side is weaker!"
No one argued. Doran swung his hammer with a roar, smashing at the lowest stones. Aelric threw himself against the wall beside him, shoulder slamming into the frozen mortar. Pain exploded through his arm, but the mana hum answered fiercely, flooding strength into his muscles. The wall cracked. Another blow from Doran. Another shove from Aelric. Stones tumbled free.
The first goats bolted through the gap, bleating in terror. Villagers herded them frantically down the slope toward safety. But the main flock was still trapped, and the avalanche was almost upon them.
Aelric saw the danger instantly. A massive boulder, dislodged by the slide, was tumbling straight toward the center of the pasture where the last sheep huddled.
He ran.
Snow dragged at his legs like wet cement. The roar of the avalanche filled his ears. The mana hum screamed inside him, pushing every drop of power into his limbs. He reached the sheep just as the boulder smashed into the ground ten paces away, sending a spray of snow and rock flying.
"Move!" he yelled, waving his arms, voice raw. The sheep panicked and finally broke toward the broken wall.
But the avalanche was here.
The leading edge slammed into the upper pasture like a hammer. Snow and stone exploded outward. Aelric felt himself lifted off his feet as the shockwave hit. He tumbled through the air, snow filling his mouth and nose, and slammed hard into the ground near the broken wall.
Pain flared across his ribs. His vision swam. For a terrifying moment the mana inside him went completely wild, flooding his mind with a torrent of alien knowledge: stress calculations, leverage points, emergency bracing techniques. The visions were so vivid he could almost see the diagrams overlaying the chaos around him.
He forced himself up, coughing snow. The avalanche had stopped just short of the village proper, but the upper pasture was buried under tons of snow and rock. Several sheep were missing. One goat lay motionless. Villagers were already digging frantically with their hands.
Elder Brannor appeared through the swirling snow, face grim. "We lost three sheep and two goats. The rest are scattered. If we do not find them before nightfall, the wolves will take what the snow did not."
His eyes found Aelric, who was still on his knees, blood trickling from a cut on his forehead.
"You ran straight into it," the elder said quietly. "Most men would have stayed back."
Aelric wiped blood from his eyes. "The animals are the valley's life. I could not watch them die."
Brannor studied him for a long moment, then nodded once. "We need every hand. The upper ridge is unstable. The big flickers have loosened the stone. Someone must go higher, into the wilderness beyond Broken Ridge, to check the snowpack and bring back any surviving animals that wandered that way. It is dangerous. The mana is wild there. Flickers are stronger. Wolves are hungry."
The elder's gaze swept the gathered villagers. Many looked away. The trip meant hours in deep snow, possible rock falls, and exposure to the most unpredictable mana currents in the territory.
No one volunteered.
Brannor's voice hardened. "If we lose the rest of the herd, we lose the winter."
Still silence.
Aelric pushed himself to his feet, ribs aching, head spinning from the mana surges. "I will go."
The words fell into the snow like stones.
Mila Greenthorn's eyes widened. Doran frowned deeply. Several villagers muttered.
Lio stepped forward instantly. "I will go with him."
Brannor looked at Aelric for a long, measuring moment. "You are still half a boy. And strange things have been happening around you since the big flicker."
"I know the risk," Aelric said steadily. "But I am lighter. I can move faster in deep snow. And I have… something that helps me sense the mana flickers before they hit."
The elder exhaled a long plume of white breath. "Take what supplies we can spare. A rope, a small axe, dried meat for one day. Leave at once. If you are not back by full dark, we will assume the ridge took you."
No one cheered. No one wished him luck. The skepticism hung thick in the cold air. But no one stopped him either.
Lio grabbed a coil of rope and a small pack from the supply shed. He thrust them into Aelric's hands, eyes bright with a mixture of fear and excitement.
"You do not have to do this alone," Lio whispered.
Aelric met his friend's gaze. "I know. But today I do."
He turned toward the northern ridges, the wilderness beyond Broken Ridge looming dark and jagged against the iron sky. The mana hum inside him surged again, wild and eager, as if it, too, sensed that the real test was finally beginning.
Behind him the villagers watched in silence, their faces a mixture of doubt, indifference, and the faintest flicker of something new.
Hope? Or fear that the strange boy might actually succeed?
Aelric did not look back.
He adjusted the rope over his shoulder, gripped the small axe, and started walking into the deep snow and the waiting wilderness.
The dangerous situation had come.
Now the accident was only one step away.