Chapter 58
No one questions what I saw. No one doubts that my mind, my visions, somehow took me to an army of Rottings. Not aloud, anyway. And part of me wishes they would. Maybe if they questioned my sanity, it would make me do the same.
‘Do we need to go back?’ Caz suggests. ‘You said it looked like the Sunken Temple. Should we be heading back there? Maybe that vision has the answer to … to … to …’
It’s as if the word is stuck in her throat. She lifts her hand to her neck, her eyes meeting mine as clarity dawns, followed almost immediately by an expression of horror.
William. That was what she was going to say. Maybe the vision has the answer to what’s happening with William. But apparently the vow doesn’t like to be broken. Thankfully so, since Kyor is standing only a couple of feet from her.
‘To controlling your powers,’ Benny finishes for her.
‘Right … yes, that’s what I was going to say.’ Caz nods her head vigorously. ‘To controlling your powers.’
Thankfully, Kyor doesn’t seem to notice, although I suspect Ruben, like Benny, is well aware of what she was about to say.
‘Maybe the Issen are behind the Rottings?’ Ruben tries, backing up Caz. ‘Maybe going back isn’t a bad idea.’
I’ve barely even contemplated the question when the pressure hits, this time accompanied by an icy burn on my middle finger. My eyes shoot down to my ring.
‘No,’ I say with a conviction that comes more from the item than myself. ‘We can’t have come this far just to turn back. The mountains are only a couple of days away. We find the Issen, just as we planned.’
Silence follows my words, but Kyor quickly breaks it. ‘You heard her,’ he says, moving towards Elska. ‘The weather’s going to get worse from here on out. We should make the most of these last few hours of daylight.’
No one objects again. We get moving.
‘I’m not the only one who can’t feel my toes, right?’ Benny asks as we trudge through the snow.
We have no idea exactly where we are, all having agreed that staying away from the front lines was the sensible thing to do.
While there are undoubtedly routes to the Issen lands from the battlefields, there is also the distinct possibility of us getting killed trying to get through.
In a mountain range the size of this one, it makes sense that there’s more than one place to pass through, and we’re hoping to find a ravine or valley so we don’t have to risk summiting one of the mountains – if we even reach the damn things.
The visibility has been decreasing with every passing hour, and for the last four hours we’ve been without the horses.
Though they’re better equipped to handle the freezing temperatures than we are, the terrain means they would only slow us down.
It feels like every ten minutes we’re switching between clambering upwards, scrambling on our hands and knees over sharp rocks, or wading through the snow, and we’ve not even reached the base of the mountain range.
After my slippage to the cavern of Rottings, we picked up our pace, yet we barely managed four hours of walking the day of my vision before we had to give up.
Yesterday was little better as we held out leaving camp, hoping the weather would clear, only for it to get worse.
And even though we’ve travelled since dawn this morning, progress is slower than I’d like.
From the occasional grunts and remarks from Fen, I’d say the wolves are struggling almost as much as we are, though I know there’s no chance of Fen admitting it.
‘And the tops of my ears, too,’ Benny continues to whine. ‘I’m pretty sure I’m going to lose them soon. You can still hear without the tops of your ears, right?’
‘Don’t worry, we’ll set up camp as soon as we find somewhere appropriate,’ Ruben replies. ‘I’ll get you warm then.’
‘I think I might have to jump the queue on that one,’ Kyor replies. ‘Benny got more hugs last night than I did. And he’s not alone with the ear issue.’
‘Is this a hug with you and Rose, or just you by yourself?’ Ruben replies. ‘Just checking as I’m open to either.’
A bolt of lightning flashes across the sky, but it’s barely a crackle compared to what Kyor’s capable of.
‘Okay, I get it, you want me to yourself.’ Ruben grins, and though Kyor rolls his eyes, I see the humour dancing there.
‘Any chance that the next friends you make could be slightly less dickish?’ Kyor asks.
‘Maybe, but I doubt it,’ I respond, grateful for the smile I feel tugging at my lips. Grateful for the way my friends are trying to make this feel like some fun adventure rather than the worst thing we’ve endured since the Retterheld.
Still, there’s no doubt I feel a sense of warmth that Kyor and Ruben’s relationship has shifted so much that they’re now joking and teasing.
For two days now, the temperatures have continued to plummet, and we still have no idea how far we have to go. It’s why we all value Ruben’s hugs more than ever. They’re hugs for survival now, not a frivolity, not a luxury.
‘The Hirathean Path ended almost half a day ago,’ Caz says, her mind on the same matter as mine as she scans the area around her as if she’s actually able to see anything other than white snow. ‘There has to be a route into the Issen territory somewhere.’
‘Yeah—’
‘There is,’ Benny replies. ‘Over those damn mountains. You know, it’s unfair that the Gods made them so big. I keep feeling like any second we’re going to be right there, at the base, but nope, they’re still there, freaking miles away.’
I know exactly what he means. Every now and then, when the weather clears and the view becomes visible, we glimpse the looming range rising above us. The peaks above the mountains are lost in the clouds, but there has to be some way through it.
‘When we set up camp, we can look at the map,’ Caz says. ‘There has to be something on there. A clue. I copied it exactly. And the Issen get through into our territory, right? They can’t climb over the mountains every time, surely. There has to be a pass through them.’
I’m sure she’s right. There has to be some sort of ravine or passage cutting through the range and taking us into Issen territory, but where the hell it is and whether we can find it before we freeze to death are other matters entirely.
Not to mention, I was the one who finished the map, and as diligent as I was, there’s a good chance I missed something.
After all, it wasn’t like I had much sleep the night before my experiment with cartography, not with what had happened with Kyor…
‘I can get everyone warm, too,’ Ruben says. ‘If you can give me a boost, Rose?’
It’s how we’ve survived since the weather and terrain got decidedly worse. His power has saved our lives, but I’m not ignorant of the fact that that’s not the only reason he’s doing it.
I saw his mother, there in the Rottings’ army, hovering in place between life and death, and no matter how much he tries to distract himself – either by helping us or flirting with Benny – I know it must be filling his mind.
I can’t imagine how I would feel if it were a member of my family, so if he wants the distraction of helping people, then I’m all for it.
Still, warming all six of us in temperatures like these is likely using more of his magic than he’s ever expended before, and the last thing he needs is to drain himself.
But no matter how much pain he’s going through, Ruben’s got a good head on his shoulders. He wouldn’t let that happen.
There’s a small cave up ahead, Little Raven, Fen’s voice comes through in my mind. We can shelter there for the night.
Small will do, I think to myself. Less effort to keep the space warm, although less privacy, too.
Kyor and I seem to have reached an unspoken agreement not to talk about what happened the other night, but it’s safe to say that it wasn’t a one-off.
Not after Galreck. Not to mention how we’ve spent each night curled up next to one another, while Caz continues to comfort Thessa over the loss of Stide, and Benny and Ruben …
well, I’m still not exactly sure what’s going on there, but there’s definitely something.
Something far more than just the shared caring of Loch in his continually variable states.
The opportunity to discuss it hasn’t exactly presented itself, and if this cave Fen is talking about is as small as I’m thinking, then tonight’s not going to be the ideal time to raise it either.
Elska has found a husk of a hare, Fen’s voice comes through me again. She is already going to hunt. I will join her after bringing you to the cave.
I’m glad he’s staying close, not least because it offers me the occasional opportunity to bury my hands into his fur and warm them just a fraction.
‘Fen found us a cave he’s going to lead us to while Elska hunts,’ I tell the others. ‘It isn’t too far away. Not even an hour, I don’t think.’
‘Hunt?’ I can hear the question in Benny’s voice before he’s even finished. ‘Is there even anything to hunt here?’
‘He says there are hares.’
‘We’d better ration it,’ Ruben replies. ‘I’m sure it’s going to get harder to find things, even for the wolves.’
I don’t disagree, although my head is filled with thoughts of the Issen.
They have to eat, so there has to be food here.
But maybe the terrain is different on the other side of the mountain range.
Lower, warmer. Less sparse. Although the chance of them laying out a banquet for us upon arrival feels slim.
By the time we reach the cave, my eyes are stinging from the cold.
While the first thing we want to do is light a fire, it’s not exactly easy with limited wood, and even that is damp with snow.
We’re going to have to find something, though, so we can cook the hares and not freeze to death overnight.
‘You get the others warm,’ Caz says to Ruben. ‘Thessa and I will see what we can find to add to the fair bit of kindling we picked up before we left camp last night.’