CHAPTER TWO #2
The fire cast dancing shadows across their faces as they settled closer to its warmth. Luna had gone uncharacteristically quiet, her gaze fixed on the distant horizon where the last light was fading. Suddenly, she pointed.
"Look," she said softly. "The Rimspires."
Thalia followed her gesture and felt her breath catch.
There on the horizon, barely visible in the gloaming, rose the jagged silhouettes of the mountain range that cradled Frostforge Academy.
Even at this distance, their majesty was unmistakable, sharp peaks that tore at the sky like the teeth of some colossal beast.
A sudden, unexpected fondness welled in Thalia's chest. Despite all the hardships she'd faced in those mountains—the brutal training, the prejudice against Southerners, the constant threat of failure or death—they were beautiful.
And compared to the awful outpost in the Reaches, Frostforge was like home.
It was the place where she'd found allies, where she'd learned to hone her current-sensing abilities, where she’d first discovered her talent for smithing.
The place where she'd transformed from a desperate slum-dweller to a fighter with magical gifts of her own.
Yet even within that familiarity lurked trepidation.
Returning to Frostforge wouldn't mean returning "home.
" It would mean facing Roran's trial and possible execution. It would mean her own potential punishment for desertion, when—not if—she was caught. She bit her lip, thinking of the possibilities. She’d never known any deserters; she had no idea what to expect.
A loss of opportunities for promotion, certainly.
Permanent servitude in the icy, desolate North.
Potentially, if she were unlucky, a frost-brand upon her skin, the mark of a deserter.
She had yet to see a soldier bearing one of these brands, but she'd heard a few of the older soldiers speak of them in hushed, grim tones.
A frost-brand forever chilled the flesh it adorned and marked the bearer as untrustworthy, cutting them off from any position of respect or authority.
It was a punishment designed to cripple a person's future.
"We should rest while we can," Ashe said, interrupting Thalia's thoughts. "We've got a long journey ahead, and the terrain only gets more challenging from here."
They arranged their sleeping furs close to the fire, and Thalia volunteered for the first watch. "My nerves are going to prevent me from sleeping anyway," she admitted, settling on a flat rock where she could see both the sea and the approach from the land.
Luna and Ashe didn't argue, exhaustion clearly pulling at them both. Soon their breathing deepened into the rhythm of sleep, leaving Thalia alone with her thoughts and the crackling of the fire.
For some time, the night was quiet save for the crashing of the waves.
The fire died down to embers, casting a dim red glow over their small camp.
Thalia listened to the ocean, her attention focused seaward.
Of the myriad threats that could present themselves by night, the Isle Wardens seemed the most dangerous, and their attacks would come from the direction of the ocean.
She kept her eyes on the dark waters until she heard it: a long, mournful howl from behind her, beyond the dunes.
The first howl was followed by two more in different pitches.
Rimwolves.
Thalia shuddered, turning so that she could split her attention between the sea and the land behind them.
She’d forgotten about the dangers posed by nature, by the Reaches themselves.
Years of training for war had taught her to beware human enemies, but the wilderness was a formidable foe on its own.
Around an hour after she’d heard the howls, she noticed glinting eyes catching the moonlight beyond the edge of the firelight's reach. One pair became two, then four, the gleam shifting as the creatures moved with predatory grace along the periphery of their camp.
She slowly drew her military-issue ice-steel blade, her heart climbing into her throat. Moving cautiously toward her sleeping companions, she placed a hand on Ashe's shoulder, then Luna's, cautioning them in a low voice as they stirred.
"Rimwolves," she whispered. "Don't make any sudden movements."
Ashe was instantly alert, her hand finding the crossbow at her hip and nocking an ice-steel-tipped bolt in one fluid motion. Luna was less graceful, scrambling upright and fumbling for her sword in the semi-darkness, nearly upsetting the glowing coals of the driftwood fire.
A low growl rumbled from beyond the dunes, closer now, the sound vibrating in Thalia's bones.
The first Rimwolf stepped into view. It was massive, its fur bristling with frost, the pale blue sheen of its eyes fixed on Thalia with predatory intent.
Behind it, more shapes emerged, padding silently across the snow until eight or nine wolves could be seen in the dim light.
They prowled at a distance of several yards until they had formed a loose circle around the camp; then they went still, watching, waiting.
Their breath plumed in the frigid air, rising like smoke against the night sky.
"Back-to-back," Ashe murmured, her voice taut with controlled fear.
They formed a tight knot, facing outward toward the wolves that encircled their camp.
Thalia's grip tightened on her blade, her palms slick with sweat despite the cold.
She'd seen Rimwolves before from a distance, had studied them at Frostforge, but knowing their strength and speed in theory was very different from facing them in the flesh.
One wolf lunged without warning, snapping for Luna's leg.
Luna twisted aside just in time, her sword flashing in a low arc that caught the wolf across the muzzle.
It yelped and recoiled, but another immediately darted in from the opposite side, jaws clamping onto the edge of Thalia's cloak and wrenching her half-around.
She tore free with a violent jerk, slashing at the beast's flank and feeling the jolt as her blade struck bone. It snarled, retreating a few paces but not fleeing.
Ashe's crossbow thunked, an ice-steel bolt burying itself in a wolf's shoulder. The creature staggered but didn't fall, a growl rumbling from its throat as it bared its fangs.
More wolves surged forward in coordinated bursts, testing their defenses, retreating, then attacking again from a different angle. The ring tightened with each pass.
A massive, white-furred alpha pushed through the line, its lips curling back from teeth as long as Thalia's fingers.
It feinted left, then launched straight at Ashe, who was struggling to reload her crossbow.
Thalia lunged without thinking, ramming her shoulder into the alpha's side and knocking it off balance before it could bring Ashe down.
But in doing so, she had left herself exposed.
Another wolf took advantage of her distraction, bowling her over from one side.
She hit the pebbles hard, the impact driving the air from her lungs.
The wolf pinned her, its weight crushing, its hot breath washing over her face as she struggled to keep its jaws from closing on her throat.
Panic surged through her veins, bright and electric.
Her arms trembled with the effort of holding the beast at bay, its teeth clacking together just inches from her face.
And then, suddenly, the wolf's snarls turned to whimpers. Its weight lifted as it was hauled bodily off her.
Brynn stood above her, twin ice-steel daggers flashing in the firelight as she drove the wolf away with fierce, precise strikes. The beast snarled one last time before retreating into the shadows beyond the dunes.
Thalia scrambled to her feet, too shocked to speak. Around them, the tide of battle had turned. Luna had backed two wolves toward the water's edge, and Ashe had managed to reload her crossbow and was keeping three more at bay with steady, well-placed shots.
With Brynn's unexpected arrival, the pack seemed to reconsider the wisdom of their attack. The alpha gave a short, sharp bark, and as one, the wolves melted back into the darkness, their eyes glinting once more from beyond the reach of the firelight before disappearing altogether.
For a moment, no one moved. Then Brynn flicked the blood from her blades with a practiced twist of her wrists.
"You're welcome," she said, her voice cool despite the exertion evident in her heaving chest.
Thalia stared at her, still trying to process what had just happened. "You followed us," she said finally. "You... you saved us."
Brynn made a show of scoffing, stepping forward to prod the dying fire with the toe of her boot, avoiding anyone's direct gaze.
"Don't flatter yourselves. I'm going to Frostforge to fix the joke of an assignment they gave me.
I worked too hard at the academy to be stuck with rank-and-file grunt work.
" She glanced up, her expression deliberately dismissive.
"I just happened to come across you. Luckily for you, or you'd be a meal for Rimwolves now. "
Ashe checked her crossbow string and began to collect fallen bolts, relief evident in the loosening of her shoulders. Luna grimaced, kneeling to revive the fire with fresh driftwood, saying nothing.
No one pressed Brynn further. They all recognized her pride for what it was: armor, protecting her from having to admit that this wasn't just about attaining an officer's rank. She had come to aid her comrades, whether she'd acknowledge it or not.
As the fire grew stronger, casting its warm light over their small circle, Thalia felt a strange sense of rightness settle over her.
Aside from Ashe, they were deserters now, bound by their shared defiance and the long road ahead.
Whatever awaited them at Frostforge—Roran's trial, their own punishment, or something else entirely—they would face it together.