Chapter 57 Trek Into Danger
As we packed up, after a breakfast of porridge and sausage thanks to our lycanthroids friends, I realized that I felt easier—like I could breathe a little better.
It had to be the feeling that we weren’t totally alone.
Granted, we had Otsiano and the Glass Unicorn on our side, but their help felt more theoretical at this time.
A belly full of hearty oatmeal and savory sausage, and the offer of an easier way through the mountains, went a long way in taking precedence over the vague promises of supernatural entities.
I noticed that Brynn and Aisling were talking a lot—they seemed to hit it off.
Of course, she was modifying most of what she was telling him, given our actual origins, but that didn’t really matter.
The gist was there. I heard her mention her boyfriend, but quickly tuned out. I didn’t want to intrude.
“So, where do we go from here?” I asked. “Higher up the mountain?”
“Yes, for a spell, then we turn off the trail, east. Our home lies through a tunnel and in a valley beyond,” Magdala said.
“How do you manage, given you live so far up in the mountains?” I asked. “Can you even grow any crops?”
“We do have a short summer season,” Magdala said.
“We can grow root vegetables, and we have a few fruit trees that are hardy at high elevations. We can also grow summer greens, and we dry a lot of produce and smoke a lot of meat. It’s hard work, but this area has been our home for generations.
I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.” She shouldered her pack, as did the others, after everything heavy had been packed back into the wagon.
As we set out, stretching out across the trail since nobody was in sight coming toward us, it occurred to me that I had to stop thinking of everyone I met as potential enemies.
I glanced over my shoulder to see Aisling walking beside Brynn. I nudged Ray, who was walking beside me on the other side, and gave a quick nod over my shoulder. He turned to look, raising his eyebrows, but he said nothing.
Thornhold was walking beside Rupert, and Reggie was walking with Sean and Alina.
The mood was lighthearted, even given the harsh weather.
Snow was falling at a steady rate, making me think of The Snow Queen.
It felt like we had entered this long winter, and I was surprised that the mountains ever saw any sort of summer.
“How long do the winters last?” I asked.
Magdala shrugged. “As long as they last,” she said. “It will be many months before we see the other side of the season. I know that you have haste to make, but I am surprised that you dared chance the pass in winter. It’s a dangerous place for those who aren’t used to it. Did no one tell you?”
I shook my head. “No, and even if they had, we’d still have to chance it.
I have to get rid of this key, and I can’t just yank it off my head.
It won’t budge. I wish there were some magic I could use to just make it disappear.
I hope that the Summer Queen can do something for me.
I gather she has no love for her sister, given Devastey did her best to kill her. ”
“Among our people, it’s considered treason to turn your back on your family.
Brother does not go against brother. Devastey would have been executed for her actions, if she belonged to our people.
In lycanthroid culture, unless you have been pronounced pariah, going up against one of your own is punishable by excommunication. ”
That told me a lot about the lycanthroids. It told me enough to know not to get on anybody’s bad side, if at all possible. “Then your people are very family-oriented?”
Magdala grinned at me. “That’s the understatement of the year. We band together because we have to. Otherwise, we’d be in danger of attack from every which direction.”
“Do you live in a village?” Thornhold asked.
“Yes, although it’s spread out a bit. And it’s in a valley thicket, so we’re protected by the trees.
Two or three times a year we make the trek to the village.
We trade and get what we need for the coming season.
We usually hike down the mountain at the beginning of spring, mid-summer, and the beginning of winter.
We won’t be going back until the snows stop. ”
Magdala was leading the group at a fairly quick pace. Beneath her fur boots, she wore short, wide snowshoes, which helped her walk atop the snow. I was able to walk on the snow’s surface as well, but the others in my party were sinking in ankle-deep.
“Is there any chance that we can buy snowshoes from you?” I asked. “Being an elf, I don’t have problems walking atop the snow, but the other members of my party are finding it more difficult.”
“I’m sure we can do something for you,” Magdala said. “I’m surprised no one in the village offered to sell you any.”
“I doubt if they realized we didn’t have any,” Thornhold said. “I can’t believe we didn’t think about it. It seemed so obvious now, but even the most common-sense person can slip up.”
“True,” Magdala said. “But a lack of common sense in these mountains can lead to death all too easily. We’ll do everything we can to help you when you set out again. Although you won’t need them as much if you take the hidden route that we can show you.”
Once again we fell silent, focused on putting one foot in front of the other. I wrapped a scarf around my face to keep the air from chilling my lungs. Thornhold was having the hardest problem, given he was so short, but he managed to keep pace with us, and his stamina as a dwarf only helped him.
Behind us, the others had fallen silent as well. Magdala’s pace was quick, but not taxing, and we slowly wended our way up the mountain trail, pressing further into the pass.
A couple of hours later, we were almost at the point where we were ready to break for lunch.
I turned to Magdala, ready to suggest a lunch break, when a loud roar echoed through the air, coming from ahead, just around the bend.
Startled, I froze in my tracks as three large creatures appeared from behind the curve.
They were massive, over twelve feet tall, and I immediately realized that we were facing three mountain trolls, and they looked hungry.