They plan on stopping by a bunker they are friendly with to contact their home bunker to update them on what's going on.
What they end up finding on their way to the bunker is a man dying in the snow. He is wearing normal clothing, but nothing that could keep him warm for long. They worry he is a criminal who was cast out, but take him in anyway.
Einar and Dean want to check for a criminal branding, but Ilyas and Kymil agree that it would be wrong to do such a thing before he is well again. They take him in and set up camp to start trying to warm him up.
The group asks Kymil to heal him, but Kymil finds no injuries, explaining that their magic heals, but doesn’t warm. Ilyas is asked to keep him warm as the sun starts setting due to his higher body temperature, and the two end up bunking together.
The man wakes up sometime in the night, panicked. Ilyas manages to calm him down, and explains where he is as well as how they found him. The man calms, and seems relieved if not nervous. Ilyas tells him his name and asks for his in return.
His name in Qwin.
Ilyas asks him why he was in the snow, and Qwin dodges the question, telling Ilyas that he was kind to help a stranger, and expresses that he is cold. Ilyas drops the topic and lays back down to rest, mentioning that the rest of the group wanted to check for brandings, Qwin brushes this off, and Ilyas takes that as a sign that he didn't need to worry (he is a bit gullible).
Ilyas does not fall asleep until Qwin does, just to be safe. He is grateful that even if Qwin was to rob him, Kymil would be awake outside to stop him.
Qwin wakes up the next morning slightly better, but with the low temperature of 97.
Ilyas has grown cold in the night and is unsure why. He warms up by the fire in the morning.
Einar questions him, Qwin attempts to brush off accusations and doesn’t take the questioning seriously. Einar and Ilyas discuss how they can check for a criminal brand. Qwin is surprised by Kymils existence