No sooner had the S̆algū realized they'd been spotted than they'd descended on the small group, screaming like a horde of banshees. There were more than fifty of the beasts, who were every bit as intimidating as Jasper had remembered them. At nearly double his height with the girth to match, their twisted black horns, fangs, and claws made and thick, shaggy hair made them a deadly opponent up close, and that was without including their innate talent for ice magic.

With a savage curse, Jasper flung Soul Sear their way as he spun around and shoved Nīla into the center of the group. "Keep them off her, we'll do the rest," he screamed at the guards, as he cast Punishing Hand.

About a third of the S̆algū stumbled as the pale hand danced across the glistening ice, but the remainder of the group was too strong to be held in its trance, and he cast Soul Sear again, a fraction of a second before a wave of wind exploded from Tsia's hand.

The spells struck in near synchrony, but the effect was underwhelming. Though a few of the S̆algū staggered as Soul Sear's orbs exploded in blue fire, they shrugged off the flames with minimal damage. Tsia's windblade only fared slightly better; the cutting power of her spell was blunted by their unnaturally thick fur, but at least the concussive force was strong enough to fling a dozen of them off their feet. But it wasn't enough to stop their charge. Instead, Jasper barely had time to prep a second spell before the remaining third closed in around them. Seraph's Burst.

As Jasper collided with the leader in a blur of metal wings and razor-sharp feathers, the sheer force of the spell was enough to send both of them spinning to the ground despite the disparity in their bulk. Used to the spell's dizzying rotation, Jasper was the first to his feet, a long, spectral scourge already forming in his palm as he raised his arm to strike, but he was met with an unpleasant sight.

Though the iron feathers of Seraph's Burst had torn giant chunks of the creature's white fur out, they'd failed to penetrate the tough skin below - not even a speck of scarlet marred its pristine coat. As his swing faltered, the S̆algu swept Jasper's legs out from under him and lurched forward, pinning him against the ground with a single massive hand.

His eyes watered as the creature's fetid breath washed over him, his ribs groaning as the beast pressed down and began to speak, its words barely understandable through its massive fangs. "Fwir canna mel-"

The Salgu's words were unceremoniously cut short as Jasper, spying a faint trickle of blood leaking from its gums, shoved the spectral scourge into its mouth. The creature spat it out promptly, more confused than harmed by the ethereal whip, but the scourge had received its sacrifice.

The pressure on Jasper's ribs eased as the S̆algu was ripped off him by the hungry ghosts, and he rolled to his feet as their shadowy claws and blood-stained teeth tore chunks out of the S̆algu's flesh like sharks in a feeding frenzy. Snatching his glaive out of the snow where it had fallen, he hammered into the beast's throat - one blow, two, then three before the tough skin finally parted, and a torrent of hot, scarlet blood stained the snow.

But he had no time to revel in his victory as he was tackled to the ground from behind. His right arm snapped as he was driven into the glacial snow, and his back was torn open as the S̆algu's claws dug in, but he managed to turn to the side, throwing his left arm up as a pair of black fangs descended toward his throat.

Somehow, he snagged hold of one of the beast's fangs, his hand slipping on the cold and slimy tooth as he mustered his strength and shoved it to the side. He screamed in pain as the fangs scraped his cheek instead and buried itself in his shoulder, ripping out a portion of his tendons as it poised for another strike - but it had bought him time. As the Salgu lunged again, Jasper met it with a torrent of flame.

While the S̆algu's fur may have been fire resistant, its gray, icy eyes had no such protection. The beast flung itself off him, howling in pain as it clawed at its burnt-out eyes, and Jasper staggered to his feet, his right arm flopping limply as he summoned the essence for a second cast of Scourge of Despair, but he needn't have bothered. The S̆algu's piteous cries were cut short as a glowing arrow punched through its throat and, with a wet squick of its rapidly expanding blade, cut its head off.

Diverting the essence into Circle of Forgiveness, he dodged to the side as a shadow flitted across the ground in front of him. With a grunt, a S̆algu crashed into the ground beside him, flinging shards of ice as sharp as glass in an arc all around him, and slicing up his freshly-healed skin. But Jasper wasn't the only one that was wounded. As the S̆algu lunged into his feet, Jasper spotted the pair of arrows buried in its underarm, the dribble of blood staining its otherwise pristine fur.

He could feel the wind against his scalp as he ducked beneath its next, wild blow and, with a flick of his wrist, unfurled the scourge. The S̆algu's next blow connected, rocking him off his feet as its black talons scraped across his chest, but it was already too late for it. By the time Jasper had staggered to his feet, the creature had fallen beneath the horde of screaming specters.

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Panting heavily, he could barely focus enough to cast Circle of Forgiveness again as his eyes swept over the icy slopes, expecting to be attacked at any moment, but to his surprise, he realized the battle was over. More than a dozen blood-stained corpses littered the ground around them, less than a third of the force that attacked, but the others had turned tail and fled, their white backs already blending into the landscape nearly seamlessly. Cowards.

But he was grateful for their cowardice as he limped toward the group, scanning them anxiously for any sign of serious injury. Save for a nasty gash across S̆ams̆ādur's chest, they were fine - and judging from the man's preening stance as he stood over a pile of five of the beasts, he wasn't in too much pain.

"Did you take all of those out yourself?" he asked, impressed, and the durgu grinned.

"Aye, those fiends were the best sort of enemy - just smart enough to be vulnerable to mind spikes, and too stupid to have any sort of defense against them. I could have taken them all myself, I think, if I weren't such a generous soul," he said with a wink. "Wouldn't want to steal all the fun."

"Please, don't hold yourself back on my account," Jasper snarked back, as he pushed past the man and met the ambassador's eyes. She, more than anyone else, had been the one in danger. "You alright, Nīla?"

"I'm fine," she replied, her teeth rattling and her lips blue, as she rubbed her hands together. "But I've been warmer."

Jasper hadn't even noticed the drop in temperature that had accompanied the creatures' attack, but her struggles ceased as he placed a hand on her shoulder and chased away the cold with his essence.

"Th-thanks," she stammered out as color began to return to her face.

"No problem. Do you still want to continue?" he asked, glancing up at the golden temple ahead of them. They were probably two-thirds of the way up the slope by now, definitely closer to the temple than to the city far below, but the path had proved more dangerous than he'd anticipated, and her safety was their first priority. "It's fine if you want to go back; we've still got a great view," he offered.

She didn't hesitate for even a moment, though, her long hair flinging ice in all directions as she shook her head vigorously. "No, I can do it - we're almost there."

"Ihra?" He asked, glancing over at his friend, and she understood the unasked question well enough.

"I think the danger's passed now. I don't sense any other creatures near us, so as long as you've got enough essence to keep us warm-" she shrugged.

"Eh, it barely takes anything," he waved the concern aside. "If everyone's agreed?"

Though the guards refused to meet his eyes, no one spoke up to object, and the rest of his party - even the usually less adventurous Erin - nodded their heads in agreement. "Then we're headed on up."

The rest of the climb was surprisingly uneventful. The path, which had all but disappeared midway up the slope, reemerged as they neared the summit. There was no mystery here - several dozen temple servants were actively tending to the walk, shoveling aside snow and chipping fresh stairs out of the glacial blue ice that barred their way.

The most remarkable part, though, was the servants' clothes, or relative lack thereof, as most of the servants wouldn't even have been able to gain entry to a beach side bar Jasper wasn't sure if they were simply so high-level that the cold had ceased to bother them altogether, or if they were somehow warmed by the power of their lord - he was the sun god, after all - but the majority of the servants didn't even wear shirts or shoes, opting only for thin linen skirts plaited with gold, or a strange, one-piece garment that reminded him vaguely of a jumper.

All other sights were forgotten, though, as they finally reached the top of the stairs and got their first glimpse of the temple in its entirety. The walled compound was not the largest structure Jasper had seen in the Empire - a country known for its extremes - but it was certainly the most opulent. Every inch of the walls and outer buildings was covered in precious metals - gold and silver, copper and platinum - which gleamed brightly in Samsa's light, somehow free of any snow or ice despite the bitter cold and deep drifts that surrounded them.

The explanation for that became clear as they stepped through the temple gates and were met with a rush of almost tropical heat.

A star hung above the courtyard, quite similar to the avatar of Lord Nūr they'd encountered. This one, though, was unmarred by corruption that had destroyed that cursed world, and its rays filled the entire plaza, transforming the top of the mountain shrine into a tiny pocket of verdant life.

Pilgrims lounged around the courtyard, luxuriating in the bubbling azure pools or resting beneath the dense bamboo forests, while deer and foxes begged for food. In one corner, stalls were set up in a small marketplace, hawking relics and souvenirs alongside fur coats and fresh provisions, while in the back, through the twisting path beneath the swaying bamboo, rose the final flight of steps - and above it, S̆ams̆a's Throne.

Jasper had been to several temples of S̆ams̆a before and, if one included the fallen temple of Nūr, had even been to one on a similar scale. But the similarities ended there.

He'd known, of course, that S̆ams̆a actually existed - after all, he'd met the sun god's sister and wife more than once, and while Kas̆dael might not be a big fan of her big bro, that only made it more obvious that he was real. But there was a difference between knowing and knowing.

The presence that pressed down on them as they approached the temple summit was so overwhelming that Jasper was nearly driven to his knees. Most of the others were less fortunate; Nīla and her guards crumpled to the ground like discarded napkins, and even Erin and Ihra were forced to one knee, even as the pilgrims around them remained unaffected. Did we do something to piss the god off?

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