"Whoever you're speaking about should get in line," Reverie said as she joined them. Hands on her hips, she glared between the pair, eyes finally landing on Corbin.
"Are we ready? I thought we would be underway by now," she asked him.
"Waiting on Hagen with the map," Corbin replied.
"Perhaps he should send Katla with us to show the way instead," she snapped at Dorian. "At least you'd behave then."
Hagen met them with the maps and a few more supplies after the exchange. He showed Corbin the route and left Dorian to tack the rest of the supplies to the horses with Reverie. She had hardly spoken with him, and he wondered if there was something else the matter other than his teasing her the night before.
Whatever was wrong would have to wait, though. Because with the sun rising quickly, they needed to make it to the first marker before nightfall or else they would die from the cold. The day marker was a cave where they could huddle out of the snow before starting their ascent to the Bryn on the second day.
"Hey, Prince?" Hagen called to him as they started to ride out.
Corbin's horse stammered beneath him, ready to go. "Yeah?"
"I hope you do not find what I fear," Hagen said. "And if you do..."
"I'll take care of it," Dorian promised. "And if they have any Scrolls, I'll find them."
The mention of the Scrolls stilled Hagen. "There is one, in particular, I want you to look for," he said. "The Red Moons Scroll."
Dorian frowned at the unfamiliarity of it. "Why that one?"
"Because if they have it, they'll destroy it," Hagen said. "And if they destroy it, Haerland will never be free again."
By the time they stopped at the cave marker that night, a great snowstorm had begun.
They'd hardly been able to see their way, but Corbin luckily found it. Dorian felt worse for the horses. He was glad Hagen had been smart enough to have them bring quilts along for them and extra food.
The cavern was a well-open space, and Dorian realized why it was the preferred halfway marker between the towns. There was a small area towards the back where water dripped down, the puddle being no more than a few inches deep but enough that the horses were able to have drinking water.
Hagen had sent them with a stack of firewood. He told them it was customary to bring it and leave whatever you didn't need for others. Dorian was able to light a fire without the wood, so they stacked the firewood against the wall with the rest of it.
The wind whipped and whistled outside, but it did not reach inside the cavern as far as them. The three settled around the fire, furs wrapped around their bare shoulders. The snows had soaked their clothing, and they hoped it would be dry by the next morning.
Dorian couldn't concentrate on anything Reverie and Corbin talked about as they sat. He leaned back against the wall, staring at the navy fire dancing on the rocks, thinking about what the next day would have for them. But Dorian could only see the yellow eyes of the Infi in his head. What it would mean if they did find only Infi at the town the next day, and how they would know that's what they were. It concerned him that they had nothing to compare the Bryn Elder to or any of the people. And if they did find that the entire town was Infi... How was he supposed to get rid of them?
"I think we need to sneak into town tomorrow," Dorian blurted, catching Corbin and Reverie off guard.
Corbin frowned. "Why?"
"Because I can't imagine it's comfortable for Infi to be in shifted forms if they don't have to be," Dorian continued. "If the entire town is Infi, and they see us coming, they'll shift. If they don't see us—“
"I can go alone," Reverie interjected. "I'm the smallest. I can move quietly. I can find out what we're up against and report back."
Dorian wasn't sure he liked it, but he knew she was right. He nodded in agreement. "If you're caught, do you know how to kill it?" he asked her.
Reverie stared at him, and he swore something of a fear passed into her features. But she blinked and turned back to the fire, avoiding his gaze when she spoke. "I remember," she said softly, poking at the flames.
Dorian and Corbin exchanged a glance. "You have to knife it to the neck to paralyze it and then cut out its heart—“
"I said I remember," she snapped, and he wondered if she'd been in the crowd when he'd killed the one at Scindo Creek with Draven.
Dorian chose not to push it and turned back to Corbin, who seemed to share his same thinking. Dorian's heel began to tap nervously on the ground. "The part that worries me is if we find the entire town is Infi," he said.
"I wondered that too," Corbin agreed, staring at the fire. "We can't exactly line them up one by one. There were hundreds of people there the last time."
"We can't get rid of that many," Dorian stated. "They have to be taken back to the caves. How are we supposed to move that many bodies?"
