Alaskan Snow

Prologue

“The future lies before you,
like a field of fallen snow;
Be careful how you tread it,
for every step will show.”

-Unknown

The snow fell softly onto the earth like a dusting of icing sugar upon the ground. Only the occasional snap could be heard as the trees protested the icy grip of winter. On the horizon, a figure could be seen moving rapidly across a lake. The sound of a whips cracking could be heard as the figure, or rather figures, traversed across the frozen wasteland before them, it was a dog sled. The dogs were in a gangline formation with 9 dogs in total, the lead dog appeared to be a wolfdog with a coat of gray, and sky blue eyes. The Musher was a woman of european descent with blue-hazel eyes and skin nearly as pale as the surrounding snow. Her most striking feature was the autumn coloured hair that cascaded in voluminous waves around her shoulders. Snow could be seen dancing across her sharp features as she sped through the oncoming snow with a cargo of furs upon her sled.

The dogs strained against their harnesses, their muscles protesting at the weight of the heavy load. The ropes groaning in protest as they were stretched to their limits. Snap! The force was too much for the ropes, the whole team of dogs became separated from the sled. “Stoy!” shouted the woman. Gripping their paws into the snow beneath their feet, the dogs barreled to a halt, trembling with energy, eager to move again. The woman grabbed a spare length of rope and a knife from the bag on top of her sled and, stashing the knife in her boot for ease of carry, she began to walk towards her dogs cautiously, it was early into winter and she did not know just how strong the ice was. With each step there was a resounding crunch as her boots trampled fresh fallen snow beneath her feet. Everytime her boot touched the ground she made sure to test her weight before moving again. When she reached her dogs without incident her shoulders slumped back as she allowed herself to relax a small measure. Bending down she inspected where the rope had snapped and began to replace it. After she had cut the new rope to length she moved the dogs nearer to the sled and began to fasten them to it once more. Before she could finish she began to hear a noise, it was soft at first but soon grew in volume. She had scarcely looked at the web of cracks beneath her before she was plunged into a world of ice and darkness.