The momentary lightheartedness evaporates like mist meeting a flame. My heart clenches as I think of Estela working in the kitchens. I see the plants… plants she brought to the under mountain.
Lifethat my mate brought to this dying place.
Life that now blossoms in my soul, climbing up the walls of my stoney insides and wrapping themselves around my fleshy heart before carving her name with a thousand thorn pricks. Gods, I just miss her. Even though I slept through the night, my weariness returns.
I compose myself and reiterate, “There isn’t anyone I would rather trust to take care of Enduvida than you and Svanna, my friend. Though I appreciate your willingness to come with us, I need to know our home is safe in my absence.”
Ra'Salore speaks up as he finishes packing his creature. “I would remind you that I am not so willing to visit our betrayers.”
I grind my teeth. “Remember what I said yesterday—there aren’t enough of us. If what Turalyon says is true, then we aren’t meeting with those who betrayed us. This is an off-shoot group of considerable size which could give us hundreds of soldiers.”
My gaze travels to Ra’Salore, and he nods, subdued but not convinced. “I will follow you.”
“High praise,” I return. Silence follows as we all mount the creatures.
“Not so fast,” Liana says.
She reaches toward the reins and brings me close to her, producing a clump of smoky quartz from within her dressing robes and holding it up to my forehead. She moves it back and forth, singing a simplehlums’dorsong. The small ritual is familiar, a parting blessing for travelers to find safety on the road. One by one, she blesses us all.
Then she places two pieces of swirling, green sardonyx in my palm. “These are speaking stones. I didn’t have time to prepare more. Each is only good for one message, so be careful with what you send.”
I put the gems in my pocket, nod, and whisper my thanks. She pats me on the shoulder and then gives me a playful shove.
“Go!” she calls after us, and we push away. The rush of air is instant as we follow the warm tunnels around their twists and turns, emerging in the open air.
Sunlight beats down on us, reflecting off the snow with blinding rays, and I hold up my hand to shield my eyes from the assault. A thousand new smells whip past my face as the clear, fresh air swirls around us in abundance. To one side, the frozen sea glitters in the sunlight, and to the other side, the forest with snow-dusted tops.
As riders, we must be the eyes for ourglacialmaras. I turn to look at Ulla, and find her frozen, mouth agape as we hover several feet above the ground. Niht races up behind her reaching out to tap her on her shoulder.
She makes a surprised sound, and then laughs, leaning forward and racing after him. Unlike the two of them, Turalyon and Ra’Salore wait for me to move. Our clear crystal steads take on a blue hue as we nudge our mounts forward and fly down the mountain. We whip past the spot where Estela was attacked by a cold one, where her blood seeped into the ground, and onward. I see the trail the giants used to travel to our mountain.
It could still carry her scent, and I push aside the urge togo and smell her. We race on to the east, toward our cousins. I shudder as I think of the cold ones that threatened her life and came into our tunnels, changing those with their black bites.
I just pray we don’t find any more along the way.
After riding for several hours,the five of us set up our first camp amidst the icy forest. Ulla and Turalyon light a small fire, and I unpack the dried supplies while Ra'Salore keeps watch in the corner. Niht roasts a couple of small beasts he shot with his bow.
I watch Niht bite down on a leg of meat while I tend to a roasting creature.
“I swear. I saw a rat this large in the middle of two bushes,” he boasts, holding his hands far enough apart to accommodate a small child while Ulla shakes her head.
“That was a fox or a wolf, you giant fool,” she says, but she’s laughing.
I smile when Niht shakes his head. “I come from seven generations of the most respected hunters in our history. Do you think I wouldn’t recognize a… what did you call them?”
This time, I can’t help but chuckle along with Turalyon and Ulla. For a minute, the catastrophizing stops, and I don’t think of every horrible outcome. I can picture all of us making it home with my mate.
“A wolf, oh, great hunter,” Ulla mocks.
Niht shakes his head before looking up. He points into the snow. “Look, there?”
We all scramble over the fire to look exactly in the direction he points and see…
“Gods on their stoney thrones, Niht. Itwasa wolf,” Ullastarts laughing hard enough that the furry beast spares one last look at us before dashing off.
Ulla claps him on the back, but the tops of his cheeks are slightly purple.
“You haven’t spent much time out of the cave. I heard you say so yourself earlier. Animals love me,” Niht says.
