It was time to walk.
Chapter 21
The trail changedbeneath my boots sometime around midmorning, and I was the only one who noticed.
It was subtle, the way the snow compacted differently underfoot, slightly less give, the ground beneath harder and older than what we'd been crossing. The rock formation to the northeast sat at an angle I didn't recognize from any caravan route I'd ever walked. The mountains far in the distance reflected like sunlight on glass, and I could only imagine how dazzling that would be if you got any closer.
I had no plans of ever getting closer.
I had been farther north than most people in Crystallese would ever go.
The temperature felt like it plummeted, and with every breath I inhaled, I could feel the ice scratching at my throat.
The tree line, sparse as it was, had thinned to almost nothing.
Nothing grew here.
Nothing.
Those trees were dead husks. How they still stood was a question for someone far more clever than me to answer.
The landscape was breathtakingly beautiful if you liked pale gray skies and crisp, frozen white. The Frozen Mountainsloomed, giving an ethereal feel to everything in the absolute quiet of our surroundings. But the danger in this land lay in its simplicity.
If the temperature didn’t kill you, the gnawing hunger in your belly would. I was grateful for the rations we’d gained from the soldiers we’d lost. I had agreed to take these people north, but I also had to take them back, and that would be just as difficult.
And still, I kept walking north. The snow reached my knees at points, but I still kept leading them north.
I kept my pace steady and my expression neutral. I was reading the land the same way I always did, but now it was with intention rather than instinct and educated guesswork dressed up as confidence. The difference between those two was one I felt acutely, even if nobody else could see it.
Because out here, farther than I’d ever traveled, I couldn’t find the trail as easily. This was the very edge of what I knew. Everything past here was nothing more than assumption. One wrong step, and I could lead them to their deaths, and mine.
Baxley fell into step beside me sometime later. I knew it was him by his height. The cold and wind chill had all of us buried under our cloaks, hoods low, neck warmers, and face wraps nearly covering our entire faces. I knew Baxley’s height, Captain Marson’s straight back, Larana because she was slighter than the men, and Nicco… well, I would recognize him anywhere, I think. I recognized the hunter in him, in the way he moved, the way he held himself. Yes, Nicco, I would know him in the darkest of nights.
The others in the group? To be fair, I hardly knew them before we all wrapped ourselves up like we were walking bedrolls.
I waited for Baxley to speak.
“I find it strange that you never pushed for an answer.”
“What was the question?”
“Why we're going to Iskaeld.”
I was quiet for a moment. “I assumed I'd find out when it was relevant.”
“Mm.” He was quiet too, for a few steps. “It's relevant now. It’s not much farther now.”
“You’ve been before?” I asked in surprise.
“Me? No.” I saw his eyes crinkle as he smiled beneath his wrappings, and I glared at his evasive answer. “Met someone who’s been before. They told me, roughly, what to expect.”
“Then tell me. And while you’re at it, tell me why you’re doing all this for only ten gold.”
He laughed at that. “Only?”
“It’s a life-changing amount for me. For you? Not so much.”
Baxley gave a noncommittal shrug. “Maybe.”
