I’m really not equipped for this. Recruit thought as he trudged forward.

The snowfall was thick and blinding. Blanketing everything in a deep white silence. It had been falling for hours and the white powder underfoot was steadily getting deeper and deeper. If he stayed in this blizzard much longer, frostbite probably would be the least of his worries.

Recruit stopped for a moment and tried to get a sense of his surroundings. The road was quickly becoming impassable. The pine forests nearby would offer some shelter from the snow, but not much, and he expected the underbrush would make for difficult travel.

As he stood evaluating his options, he felt a call reverberate through his chest and head. You must go DEEPER into the storm. A voice said into his mind.

Im never gunna get used to that. Recruit thought as he shook his head to clear it of the lingering vibrations. You’d think if they were gunna send me into this cursed snowstorm they’d at least equip me with a good pair of boots.

Resigned to his quest, Recruit pushed onward into the storm. With every step forward the snow fell harder and the wind rose. He hadn’t gone far before he was struggling through buffeting hail and winds that threatened to throw him off his feet.

If I die out here I’m gunna be really pissed.

Suddenly he stepped out of howling winter into a warm spring night. For a moment Recruit’s mind went blank and he just stared at the scene before him. He was in the eye of the storm. The sheer white cliffs of the blizzard’s storm walls framed a clear sky full of twinkling stars. The light from the stars seemed to drift down and swirl around in the center of the calm eye, as if the whole storm was serving to funnel and coalesce the essence of the universe into a single drop of pure magic.

“Essence of Starlight…” breathed Recruit. “Well I’ll be...”

As Recruit walked forward to complete his quest he was struck by the beauty of what was in front of him. If I ever get the feeling back in my toes, I might do this again.