It was cold. Very cold in fact. Never mind that, I had to find that weird old guy that Gale had instructed me to. He didn’t tell me anything about the man though, only told me to go find him. It’s pretty hard to find one specific person in the middle of an endless blizzard where you see nothing but the pale snow, as it turns out. As treacherous as this journey was, I kept going and eventually heard -it’s pretty impressive that i could still hear with my ears nearly frozen off- an old voice.
“What brings ye all the way ‘ere, lad?” he asked, which was one good question. What did I need from this old man anyway? Gale’s so smart that he sometimes scares me, so he must have known something. The bum slowly emerged from the white fog. The first thing I noticed was that his mask was shifted away from his face, placing the warped spiral of a face that all snow husks have in clear view. The mask itself had a bell drawn on it instead of the usual spiral, which was very odd as this would be considered heresy in the snow cult. The second thing I noticed was that large, rusty bell he was carrying. I didn’t bother asking him about it, but he told me about it anyway. He simply described it as “This ‘ere bell is what I live for. It guides me way.”. He did speak strangely, and act strangely too in all fairness, but I didn’t really see anything special about him. Why would the smartest snow husk in the whole blizzard send me to some old geezer with an obsession over bells? Regardless of the answer, I asked him what to call him. His response was simple once again: “Ye can call me Bell Saint. I’ve left most things from my life behind.”. While this was a little cryptic, I proceeded to tell him that Gale’s command was in fact what brought me here. Upon hearing this, Bell Saint brought me over to a pile of snow and bells next to a tent and sat me down.
“Gale, lad? Ye mean the foul lunatic brainwashing all ‘is followers?” he asked me in a disturbed tone. The way he described Gale had me in shock. I always found him and his cult a little intimidating but I never thought of him that way. I was quite confused, so I asked him to elaborate. He proceeded: “Just look at him lad. Ye never questioned how much smarter he is than all the other snow husks? He uses ‘is superior intellect to manipulate the husks to blindly follow him. They think they’ve figured the world out, yet they know nothing. Ye’re just following along too, eh? Must not be long before he turns ye into one of us too, lad.”. Being barely able to handle everything the Saint had just told me, I told him I’d help him eliminate Gale. Impressed with this, the Saint exclaimed “Really, lad? Seems ye aren’t too far gone down those fools’ path after all!”. I didn’t quite know the way back to the Isle of the Recital though, but once again Bell Saint had a response. “I’ll take ye there, lad. I know me way well.”, he bid. So we ventured off into the unending snowstorm.
And he really did know his way well. The fog is thinner near the Isle, so Gale’s glacier reached our range of sight not too long after we took our leave. He didn’t notice the Saint, as he always just looks off into the snow in adoration. The Saint stopped. “Go, lad. Speak to their leader.” he told me. So I did. Gale heard my emergence, turned and greeted me. “Ah, great friend! Have you seen him, friend? The one with the bell?” he inquired. As I hardly knew what to say, it was a little difficult for me to respond. I knew how much power the tyrant held. I ended up blurting out “Yes, and he helped me figure out the truth. I must put a stop to your sick and twisted beliefs.”. I could tell that Gale was caught off guard with what I had just told him. I felt the scourge staring daggers at me, even though his face was in the form of that cursed spiral. Clearly angry, he insisted “Do you hear what you’re saying, friend? Look at the gorgeous snow and the beautiful spirals. I refuse to believe that you’re just going to betray the snow like this, friend.”. I was dead serious, so responded accordingly: “You’re insane, Gale. So are all the poor souls you’ve brainwashed into worshipping the snow.”. Upon hearing this, he swiftly pulled out a dagger and lunged towards me. I froze. It was a race against time, just as I wished for some sort of miracle, Gale froze too. I felt -I can only assume that he felt it as well- the ringing of bells throughout my entire body. We heard Bell Saint from a moderate distance. “The bell tolls for ye, lad.” was all he had to say. Both Gale and myself had been knocked back, and before I could get up I heard three slams that sounded like they were performed with a large rusty bell. Once I stood up, I only saw Bell Saint there. “The fool got what he deserved”, he said.