Kat and Grace headed off, with Grace leading the way, followed by her Timmy that would follow in her wake, and then by Kat who was just admiring the scenery.
After five minutes of trudging Kat decided to speak up "So, not that I mind the pace, but isn't this a bit slow? I mean how did you keep up with me if this is the pace you were traveling at before"
Kat couldn't see it but she was sure Grace was biting her lip as she responded "Well, I was able to use my mana for speed before. Now I have to use it for protection against the weather. I used a bit more to head in your direction, but I don't really want to waste it now"
"Hmmm" said Kat "So is whatever your looking for just in this direction?"
"Ah, yeah roughly?" said Grace
"Nice" said Kat with a smile. Increasing her pace she scooped up the second Timmy and placed it on her head with her own. Then ran into Grace and scooped her up in a princess carry.
"Eep" Grace let out a squeal as she was picked up and felt the tips of her ears turning red "What are you doing"
"Well" said Kat as she pushed her flame into her feet "You see, I'm able to make better time by freezing the ground I walk on. Like so"
Kat quickly picked up the pace rapidly entering a sprint. She still sunk slightly as she ran, but it was nowhere close to the piles of snow Grace was wading through.
"Put me down Kat" said Grace "This is unnecessary"
"Yeah perhaps" said Kat "But I'm pretty strong, and this uses about as much energy as not carrying you, and it's much faster"
Grace looked like she dearly wanted to argue with this point, but seeing the trees fly past and snow stay firm under Kat's strides decided to just try and enjoy the ride.
Grace may have gotten a little to relaxed though, because after a few more minutes of Kat's soft footfalls over the compact snow Grace fell asleep.
*Naw, she actually looks calm for once. No more nervous shivering or anger attempting to masquerade the fear. Guess I shouldn't wake her then*
Kat continued forward hoping that she was going at least roughly in the right direction. The wind and hail buffeted her somewhat but with the morning sun it had greatly lessened and so Kat could even dodge most of them that came her way if she was a little bit careful with her footing.
As Kat ran, she admired the landscape. In the soft moonlight it had already looked stunning but the morning sun took it to another level. The trees for one, weren't frozen trees like previously thought but trees made entirely of ice. With the sun on them it shined through the branches and lit them up like city lights.
The snow on the ground glistened with the suns rays and looked like a collection of diamonds someone had scattered nearby. The wind didn't howl, so much as it was a comforting companion that carried upon it slowly falling gems.
Kat took a deep breath and smelt the crisp morning air. The faint smell of water alongside the hint of something else Kat couldn't identify. Pushing some demonic energy into her nose to try and identify something, Kat was surprised to find that nothing happened.
Pushing even more energy yielded the same result. Confused, Kat pushed some to hear ears and could instantly hear the sharp crunch of the snow as she ran. The dripping of the melting snow under the sun, the soothing rhythm of the wind.
*Ok, so clearly it isn't my energy that's going off. I guess smell is the one thing I can't enhance… And touch maybe? I'm not sure how I'd test that one. Aw well it isn't really a big deal, I mean, eyes and ears are probably the best two. Oh and of course the speed and agility from my limbs… and the flight… Ok I have a lot of cool powers, I don't mind not having a few more.*
As Kat was reminiscing over her powers, she spotted what Grace had meant… or at least she was pretty sure. Without enhancing her eyes, all Kat could really see was the corner of something… but considering the sharp edges and the fact that whatever it was, while white, didn't have any snow on it caused Kat to take notice.
Kat slowed her run to a like jog, careful not to change pace to abruptly and wake Grace, before angling herself to head straight for the strange object. As Kat got closer, she could make out it's squarish shape and sharp edges. Something seemed to be carved on it but without using her enhanced sight, she couldn't make out the details.
Slowing further Kat took in the sight before her. The squarish shape she had seen appeared to be more akin to a vault then a box, with sharp edges and a massive wheel on the front. The object itself seemed set into the cliff but had more than enough sticking out to show that something was abnormal.
The vault wheel however was the strangest part. It was made up of several interlocking circles increasing in size as they went out. Each disk had a few lines on it that Kat could pretty easily see needed to be lined up in some way
Looking over the lines and how they connect, Kat could already start to make out the answer to the puzzle. It wasn't designed to be that hard, and Kat was sure with a little trial and error she could solve it in no time.
The trial part was the issue though. Kat glanced down at the woman that was taking up her hands. Glancing around there really wasn't a good place to just put Grace down. The container itself was rather tall and there wasn't a great way to place Grace on top of it. Then the surroundings were obviously covered in snow, and while the trees might have been an option last night, seeing them in the morning sun made it clear they were unsuitable for human, er, elves to rest on.
**This looks like a job for the intrepid Timmy!* "Hey, Timmy's can you perhaps turn the wheel for us. I don't need you to solve the puzzle just turn it a bit. I don't want to wake up Grace, so my hands are tied, but you guys can help right?"
Kat felt one of her passengers jump from her head and onto the nearby wheel. The Timmy then proceeded to try and fail to move the wheel at all and then shrug back at Kat.
"Ok, I see your point" said Kat placing her tail, spade end flat to pick up the Timmy and return it to its viewing platform atop her head.
As Kat did this though, another solution readily presented itself. How could I ever forget my trusty tail. Once Timmy was safe and sound on her head again. Kat moved a bit closer. Once in position Kat tried to jam her tail into the gap.
As she did this though, the tip of her tail easily bent, and rather than simply sitting neatly in the line it flattened itself against the wheel instead. *Right, ok… not quite what was planned. Then again, I guess my tail is really quite bendy, so this is to be expected.*
Taking a different approach Kat tried to flatten out her tail against the wheel and try to move it with friction. To her surprised it did, rather smoothly in fact. Despite her tail sliding around, if Kat applied a bit of extra pressure the wheel spun rather freely.
Kat quickly got to work using her tail to correctly line up the individual spokes. There were three sections to the wheel. Each wheel had at least four exits that she needed to line up but the trick once noticed, was that there only needed to be on complete line, for the unmovable centre plate only have one entrance and one exit it on it.
In the end Kat made short work of the puzzle, and as she finished lining everything up heard a loud click… and then nothing. Kat looked around for what it was and managed to notice that the disks within the wheel had slid in place.
Taking her tail and hooking it around one of the large spokes around the edge Kat gave it a heavy pull. The wheel itself spun freely and rapidly around and as it did so the door began to creak. Slowly the seemingly thick door inched forward, leaking what looked like steam as it did so.
Kat stepped well out of whatever range the door might have had and kept a close eye on it as the contents were slowly revealed to her.