Chapter 32
Thirty-Two
Pain
The trotting of a horse is a distinct sensation. It bounced me in rhythm to the hoofbeats, and I was vaguely aware that I must be tied to the saddle. I certainly would have fallen off by now otherwise. Odd that I would be tied to a horse when my last memory was blacking out in Eberon’s home.
The sun against my eyelids was bright, and I didn’t think I’d enjoy the light just yet.
Instead of looking around, I used my other senses.
Wherever I was, it was cool. Even Thanantholl with its perpetual crisp air was warmer than this.
My tongue was dry as a bone, and stiff. I hadn’t had anything to drink in some time, I was sure of it.
I fluttered my eyes open, and I saw midnight.
“Thain,” I murmured.
“You’re awake,” Thain said softly, then he raised his voice and looked to the side. “We’re stopping.”
I glanced around, blinking in the bright light. I was riding Boxfield. He slowed his trot to a stop in a rocky field with snow dusting the ground. I could see sharp mountains in the distance, nothing like the mountains I’d grown up in. These were jagged and cold.
Thain undid the straps holding me to the horse and picked me up gently. I winced; my back still burned.
“How are you feeling, little bird?” Eberon asked.
“Sore,” I murmured. “I feel like my back is melting off of me.”
“You’ve been in and out of it with delirium,” Thain noted.
“She seems better today, thank the Stars,” Eberon added.
“I bet you’re thirsty.” Schula brought a waterskin to my lips, and I drained it while she rubbed her cool hands to my seal.
“Thank you,” I croaked.
“We need to keep moving,” Thain said, his voice low as he started walking away.
“Surely you aren’t going to walk her to the Sangolins,” Eberon said. I tilted my head to see the fiery golden fae. His clothes were wrinkled, his eyes ringed with exhaustion.
“We can’t keep riding Boxfield this hard, and we’re getting close to the trees,” Thain said, still striding in the direction of the mountains. “Send him home. I’ll take it from here if she can hold on.”
Eberon adjusted me onto Thain’s back, where he could carry me more easily.
“Go on home, boy.” Eberon took a pack off Boxfield and slapped his haunches, sending him into a gallop the direction we had come from.
“Puko?” I asked.
“Mama Flori will leave out food for him,” Schula said. “I told her before we left.”
“Okay,” I said. I hoped he stayed, for his safety, but knowing him he probably wouldn’t.
“Hold on tight,” Thain said.
Wrapping my arms around his neck without choking him, I concentrated on not feeling more nauseous than I already was.
Thain ran. He ran fast.
There had to be a better way to describe his graceful gait through the countryside, but I was at a loss for words. When I dared open my eyes, I got glimpses of the rocky ground rushing by, which did nothing for my spinning head. I preferred staying in the dark.
We went fast where there was room to run and slower where too many rocks and plants were a hazard.
I concentrated on keeping my seal intact, pushing back at the power trying to claw out of the magic bubble they’d put it in.
I knew I felt hot, and I could tell that I was affecting the others too.
I caught glimpses of sweat on each of them, and while I couldn’t tell on Thain’s dark skin, I could see that Eberon and Schula were flushed.
“It’s getting dark,” Schula said. “We need to get inside.”
“Do you have somewhere?” Thain asked.
“Yes, this way.”
I felt us veer to the right, running dangerously close to a tree line that had finally appeared as we drew closer to the mountains. Schula led us to a rocky outcropping that had a solid wooden door built into it.
“It’s no palace, but climb on in.” Schula held the door open, and Thain carried me through the door first. I let my eyes adjust, but once the door closed and we were in pitch darkness, I wouldn’t be able to see at all.
The walls were limestone; we were in a cave. There was enough room for all four of us to lie down on the ground for the night, but that was about it. I nearly missed the two small vent holes near the top of the wall that allowed fresh air in.
“All in?” Schula asked as she tugged the door closed behind her without waiting for an answer. My heart jumped in the darkness until a tiny flicker provided enough light for my eyes to see by.
Eberon held a tiny flame, barely the flicker of a candle in his palm.
“Normally, we wouldn’t have a light for fear of the flesh hounds,” he explained. “But this won’t add any more heat than we already have, so it should be fine.”
I shuddered. “Why are they called flesh hounds?” I asked.
Schula looked between Thain and Eberon. Finally, Eberon cleared his throat.
“They hunt the flesh of warm things to adorn their own frozen bodies. I think we can leave it at that,” he said.
“Are we in the Unclaimed Wyldes?” I asked. Surely something like that would only be in the dark, frightening places no one laid claim to.
“We’re on the edge of the Winter Lands,” Schula told me. “It’s large and spread out, this place. Most people here live in the Winter’s Teeth, the mountain range to the west. The things that live down here by the plains mostly go unchecked. We should reach the Sangolins tomorrow.”
Listening for any sounds outside, I felt a little better when nothing unusual came up. “So, we’re in this cave because of the dangerous things that live here?”
“The rules here are pretty similar to traveling in the Unclaimed Wyldes,” Eberon explained. “When we’re in the Winter Lands, don’t travel at night, don’t light fires, don’t go deep into the tree line, and when you’re between safe places, don’t stop moving for long.”
The horrors of the Unclaimed Wyldes had been bad enough, but the Winter Lands didn’t sound any better. In fact, they were almost worse.
Eberon pulled food out of the pack and passed it around. We ate in near silence, not speaking much and certainly not about our current predicament.
When we finished eating, we sat in more silence. All I had to focus on was my own horrid imagination of all the things that could be lurking just outside the door, ready to tear me into pieces.
“I’ll take first watch,” Thain said, breaking up the quiet. “You three get some sleep.”
He sat right next to the door, his ears trained on the outside world.
Eberon handed out blankets, making the ground more bearable to lie on, then he extinguished his little light.
I lay down, trying to get comfortable. Despite the snow outside and the cool walls of our safe spot, I was still hot.
I tried to bring myself to sleep. My body and mind were exhausted from fighting my own magic, and I was ready for the darkness to relieve my fight, but I couldn’t quite reach that point.
I tossed and turned, rolling several times on my blanket. At one point, I took off my boots and scooted my blanket away, trying to embrace the cool ground beneath me. I sighed, trying to lie still enough to simply drift off.
I shivered as something slipped up the back of my shirt. Icy fingers pushed the material out of the way, and a cold body pressed against my back. Schula wrapped her arms around my middle and settled in.
I shuddered with relief. When I closed my eyes again, I was finally able to drift off.