The priest was already asleep, snoring softly. Father Marus was not the one he was concerned about. He lowered himself down onto the bed slowly. He spent most of his life in tents. He always appreciated inns. Even the worst inn bed was still fairly comfortable, all things considered.

It was the girls that concerned him, though. He wasn't worried about Kyla, even though she was about the same age as the other two. Kyla was a strong woman, capable and mature. Despite his frequently reminding himself that both Niza and Jetha were of marriable age, he still saw them as just girls.

Jetha was impressing him more and more, showing the regal nature a wizard ought to have, but she was still a bit young for the burden placed upon her. Niza, he was starting to suspect, was growing more on this quest than she might have for much of her past.

He fell asleep worrying yet again that he would have to bury one or both of those girls before everything was finished. He understood the implications of what Jetha and Marus had discussed. The last time the ritual was performed it was a group of wizards, and only Alldeh had survived, if you could call it that. This time it was just Jetha, and although no one spoke about it, he thought that maybe she knew what that implied as well.

He woke in the morning feeling physically refreshed, but not mentally. He ate breakfast quietly, as he had been lately, and listened to the others. Niza looked better than she did most mornings, but he could tell that her sleep had not been a sound one.

He kept the breakfast talk professional. He reminded them to leave clothes out to be washed, and that he had already made arrangements yesterday before dinner to have it all tended to. He suggested that they get all their errands done early, so that they would have the afternoon and evening for resting and relaxing.

Once breakfast was over he gave them all a few minutes to do any last-minute things they needed to before they took the horses to the man he'd arranged to sell them to. The man handled the sale of most livestock in the area, and kept a stables in town which currently mostly housed some pigs and a couple of cows. The pigs were easily ready for slaughter, and the two cows were both milk cows that the man had tried to sell to Ullden the day before. Ullden knew he could have gotten a better price for the horses if they had been in a city, but had only pushed a little when striking the deal. While they put on a brave face, he could see that the town was struggling to get by. A month before there had been a stream of people who'd come through, heading away from the Elar front. News of the Elar coming in through the tribal lands had diverted people further west, however, and now the traffic had dwindled to nearly nothing. The bandits in the road had been attacking what few merchants and travelers had still been on the road, leaving them unable to make trade once they finally reached the town itself. Cormin had told Ullden that some townsfolk had packed up and left already, leaving the town without a few of its usual resources.

After selling the horses, he took them to the local grocer, where he delivered the items he'd arranged to sell there and collected the money for them. The grocer had been easier to deal with, as he knew that Ullden planned to spend most of the money there anyway, and Ullden introduced the man to Jetha and Niza while looking over the bags of flour and other items he'd arranged to have ready. Ullden distributed money around to each of the members of the group, having divided it into funds for the supplies and smaller bags with money for them personally. Niza, he noticed, seemed surprised and almost reluctant to take her share. He suspected she'd make use of it, however, as she had the least of anyone in the group.

Once the money was distributed around, he and Kyla made their way to the general store across the street. There, he priced grain for the horses, conferring with Kyla as to how much edible grasses there would be for the horses as they entered her lands.

"We are coming up on winter," she commented. "Much will begin to be covered with snow in a month or so, but there is still plenty to feed the horses for now."

"What kind of terrain and weather should we expect?" he asked, stopping her.

"You are headed to mountains my people have avoided for some time now. It will be colder there, and it will be winter when we get there. Even when we did go there it was only in the warmer seasons. In the winter it is called the Land of Freezing Death."

"Oh, that's just wonderful," he said with a sigh. Yes, he thought, it's never the land of happy safe places...

"Then we'll need winter supplies," he added.

"The mountains are very tall," she said emphatically.

"And climbing supplies."

"The road will be narrow and treacherous. You will not be able to bring your wagon into the mountains."

"You've been there, then?" he asked.

"No, but the way there is still taught."

"Why?" he thought to ask. "If it's a forbidden place, why not just stop telling anyone where it is?"

"Because people go to places they have not been before. Young warriors undertake journeys to strengthen themselves. Some might find the path by accident. Knowing where it is helps us avoid it."

"So what was this place to your people?"

"It is the tallest place in the world," she answered. "There is no better place to touch the sky. It is a sacred place."

"Deep within the tallest of the moutains is said to be the Source Of All That Is," she continued. "It was from this Source that our world was created. Within a cave that has no entry or exit, Earth, Air, Fire, and Water all combine to form an energy that fuels the very core of the world itself, the warmth that keeps nature whole. Aldanara was charged by the creators to look after it, see that it was not disturbed, and to watch over all that was formed from it."

"Do you think this could be the cave we are looking for?" he asked.

"If it has no entry or exit, it is unlikely," she replied, frowning. "But there are many caves within the mountains that can be reached."

"You may want to share this information with the others," Ullden said, picking up a coil of rope to add to the growing pile of supplies they would need to buy. "It might help someone figure out our exact destination."

"Very well," she said, shrugging.

They spent the rest of the morning buying supplies for the journey. Kyla impressed Ullden with her knowledge of what could be obtained from the plants and wildlife within her lands, greatly reducing the amount of supplies they would need to carry. They made a list of the items that would need to be saved and preserved while they traveled, however, as Kyla told him hunting would be scarce and there would be little that could be foraged once they were in the mountains themselves.

Once they were done shopping and had arranged for the supplies to be delivered to the inn, the two parted ways. Ullden bought more supplies for making repairs to his armor, and some other odds and ends for his personal use. Then he made his way back to the inn for lunch and an afternoon of relaxing. He took the opportunity to soak in the tub for a while, knowing it might be his last chance for such a luxury in a long, long while. He stoked the fire until the water was good and hot before he got into it, and replaced a considerable amount of it once he was done. Most of his clothes had been cleaned already for him and he changed into some of them to have the ones he'd been wearing washed as well.

He also took the time to shave properly, instead of the usual quick morning scraping he did against the daily stubble. It felt good to be clean-shaven and bathed again, although it reminded him again of Anessa.

He took the rest of the time left before dinner and sat in the common room sipping a beer. He grabbed an extra chair and put his feet up, discretely watching the reactions of the local patrons.

There weren't many others in the room aside from the innkeeper and some of the kids about cleaning. There were a couple of locals that looked like they had finished their work early and were taking some time to relax. They were the ones he watched.

At every small-town inn he had ever stayed at there had been a few common trends he had noticed. One was that there was always someone loitering about. Those were the local gossips. Another was that the more he looked like he did not care what anyone thought of him, the more people watched him.

So this was the little game he played from time to time. He would pick a chair to sit in, prop his feet up, and play up a little to get different reactions from the locals. Sometimes he would sit and clean his nails with a knife. Sometimes he would go a little out of his way to leave his sword and armor visible to let the locals speculate on what kind of person he was.

He never tried to shock anyone, of course. He never knew when he might need to come back to a town, and he did not want to offend the locals. But he did enjoy making them wonder. Sometimes he would spend some time trying to guess what theories they had amongst themselves. It was harmless sport, all in all, and it passed the time until dinner.

He suspected he'd already made enough of an impact with the town mayor, Donnan. The man had certainly not wanted to take the Elar prisoner off of Ullden's hands, and Ullden knew that the Elar was chained up in the mayor's cellar to keep him out of sight of the rest of the town. In the end, the only reason Donnan agreed was because Ullden threatened to just let the Elar go, right in the middle of town. He had realized early in that rumors had given the Elar a rather overblown reputation here, and the mayor believed that they had some of the powers of the demons they summoned. Somehow it escaped the mayor that just having the Elar tied up wasn't really enough to stop him if he'd had any such powers, but Ullden wasn't ashamed to use the man's fears to get him to take the Elar willingly.

The young man, Cormin, seemed to have a head on his shoulders though. He had remained quiet during Ullden's dealings with Donnan, but then confronted Ullden afterwards about what power the Elar prisoner might really have. After explaining to him that the Elar was no real threat unless given a weapon, he had warned Cormin about the possibility of an Elar force headed their way. The young man had considered the news before agreeing that it had to be broken to the mayor in a careful manner. Cormin suspected that Donnan would consider only himself and run for safety, leaving the town in a panic.

Tonight, however, Ullden amused himself by inspecting the mug carefully, as if searching for flaws. Now and again he'd put it up to his ear, as if listening to it, nodding silently. He kept an eye on the locals as he did so, thinking they might be a little easier in their opinion of Alldeh if they thought that another of the party was slightly mad as well. If nothing else, they wouldn't mark Ullden as predictable. He hated being thought of as predictable.

He gave up the game as the group began arriving to join him for dinner. Kyla was the first, which didn't surprise him, followed shortly by Marus and Alldeh. Niza and Jetha straggled in a little bit late, and Ullden noticed that Niza was wearing newly purchased clothes. He gave her a smile and a nod and was surprised to see the girl blush. The redness in her cheeks remained a few minutes more as Marus noticed her new attire and complimented her on it. She looked uncomfortable about all the attention, but was saved when the clatter of plates heralded the arrival of the evening meal.

During dinner they chatted a little about their purchases. Niza had three new outfits, and the discussion got her blushing again. She all but hid behind her dinner as she ate. He found it amusing.

He let them know that they'd be coming up on wintry mountains, and that he had already arranged for additional cloaks and blankets. He did not mention that they would eventually end up leaving the wagon behind. He decided he would discuss that privately with Marus first along the way.

"Relax tonight," he warned them. "From the sound of things this is the end of civilization for a while." He also, of course, said nothing about his private feeling that some of them were likely to not leave those mountains, and that for some of them, this could very well be their last chance at relaxation.

He finished his dinner quietly, mulling that thought over somberly while letting them chatter on. Kyla told them some more about her lands and how they traveled through it. He noticed that she talked about the prairie lands, and not about the mountains.

There was more dancing in the evening, but he sat it out that night. Marus at one point gave him a brief suspicious look, but said nothing. Niza and Jetha danced and laughed, and Niza seemed to be done blushing for a time. The two seemed to genuinely have a good time.

Marus excused himself and Alldeh not long after dinner. Kyla sat and watched the others with him.

"Do you think any of us will survive and come home from those mountains?" he asked quietly.

"I pray that we succeed. If we do not, then my people will end completely. From what I have seen, your people will not be able to stop them, and will be enslaved. You will go on as a slave race, but I do not see that anything else will stop them if we fail."

"If Jetha fails, you mean," he said, regretting saying it out loud immediately.

"She is stronger than you know, and you are stronger than you let show. If you will excuse me, I must go outside and pray."

She left without another word. He offered a prayer into his beer mug, and kept watching the girls dance and laugh until they started yawning and excused themselves for the night. He nursed his last beer until it was gone and then he eventually went up to turn in himself.

He expected to have trouble sleeping, his mind being full of gloomy expectations as it was, but he nodded off shortly after his head hit the pillow. Morning still came far sooner than he would have liked, however, and he was glad he had not indulged in more ale the night before. He was still awake before Marus, and he washed his face in cold water and got himself dressed before waking the priest.

He went into the hallway and knocked on the doors to be sure the others were awake as well. Kyla had been awake already and was dressed and looked packed, although he wondered if she had unpacked anything at all. Jetha and Niza, on the other hand, took a little bit to rouse from sleep. It was Niza who came to the door, bleary-eyed and yawning as she peered into the hallway at him. Then Ullden returned to the room and packed most of his belongings before going downstairs to breakfast. Marus had gotten dressed by then, and went to fetch Alldeh. The two came down to the table only moments before Jetha and Niza arrived. Kyla had waited in the hallway and followed Ullden downstairs silently, almost like a shadow. He wondered how it was that she seemed to know instinctively where to put her feet and not make noise as she walked, even indoors on the creaky wooden floorboards.

Breakfast itself was bland, but filling. It was the standard fare that most inns seemed to offer. Some eggs had been whipped with milk and cooked, accompanied by bread, overcooked bacon, and some juice. It was somehow reassuring in a familiar kind of way and Ullden's spirits were lifted a little by it. Once he was finished, he went upstairs to don his armor and finish packing. He paid a couple of boys to see to bringing his bags down and then went to see to getting the horses and wagons readied while the others were finishing up. He was surprised, and pleased, to see that everyone was ready to leave by the time the wagon was packed and hitched and the horses ready to go. The air was cool and crisp, and the rays of the sun spread across the horizon as it rose, lighting the morning in golden reds hues.

The young man, Cormin, met them as they were leaving town, waving an arm to stop them.

"Ullden, sir," Cormin called. "I thought I should let you know. The Elar prisoner you brought with you has escaped."

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that," Ullden replied. "Not my problem, though."

"Ullden, we can't just..." Father Marus started.

"But...," was all Cormin managed to say.

"Hey, Donnan and I had a few words," Ullden explained, "and he was not the more civil of us in the discussion. Now, I'm sorry you've got that problem to deal with, but it's not bandits. You were going after the bandits, one unarmed Elar should be something you can do something about."

"But, you see," he continued, "the Elar are invading all over. We are on a quest to put a stop to them. The longer we delay here, the more lands they conquer, and the more likely it is that their actual army will show up here."

"Besides," he finished, "if Donnan wants my help he can damn well run out here and ask himself--and ask nicely, at that."

"Ullden," Marus said, "we can't just leave them to fend for themselves."

"We discussed this, Marus. We can let them fend for themselves, or we can let the whole world fend for themselves. Which'll it be?"

"Kyla is great at tracking," Niza interrupted, "how long could it take her to find him?"

"It is one Elar," Kyla stated. "You know the direction to start in for today. You cannot possibly out-distance my horse with your wagon. I can take care of the Elar and catch up to you in a few hours."

"But shouldn't we stay together?" Jetha protested. "Now that we've got everyone with us it seems risky to separate."

Ullden considered the options for a moment before making a decision.

"If she doesn't catch up with us by lunch, we'll turn around." He turned and nodded at Kyla. "It should be easy enough to bring him down with your bow, considering he no longer has his armor."

Kyla nodded and turned to Cormin.

"Show me which of your buildings he was imprisoned in. I can track him from there."

"Thank you," Cormin nodded at the group, looking genuinely grateful. "This way please, Miss."

Ullden waited a moment, watching Kyla silently turn her horse and follow Cormin. He was frustrated about the whole situation, his optimism that had been building shattered again. He turned to Marus, angrily.

"This wouldn't be an issue if you'd let me kill him in the first place." He urged his horse into motion, getting the group moving out and away from the town. He kept himself a few paces ahead of the wagon for a while, not allowing Father Marus the chance to say anything in his defense. He knew the priest was accustomed to taking a pacifistic stance, however the man was wearing armor and training to use a sword now. It concerned Ullden that Marus was still unwilling to kill those who were so clearly the enemy. He feared that Marus would hesitate in battle, when it was important, and possibly cost one of their lives.

Eventually, it was Niza who caught up to him. It took her a few moments of riding alongside him before she got up the nerve to actually speak. He noticed that she'd become a much better rider in recent weeks, finally looking comfortable in the saddle.

"About the Elar," she began, sounding as if she expected him to snap at her. "Even you agreed that it was a good idea to try and interrogate him. Father Marus isn't really to blame..." she trailed off, looking down the road instead of at him.

"I would have gladly beaten the information out of that lizard-skinned bastard," Ullden stated. "As it is, Marus wouldn't let me do that and so we got nothing out of his scaley hide. He would have done the same to us, if not worse, trust me."

"Just because he would have done the same doesn't make it right to do it," Niza said quietly. "Father Marus says if we resort to such measures it makes us no better than they are."

"Father Marus is a wise man on many things," Ullden said. "But he does not understand war. We are at war here, Niza. It is kill or be killed. We haven't the time, resources, or ability to capture every Elar we come across on this journey. From what I know of them so far, they understand this too. Anyone who does not convert to their beliefs is killed. They will try to kill us if they find us. And I will kill as many of those who try as I can. If you are not willing to do the same, then there is little point in you training with Kyla as you are. She is a warrior, Niza. She will teach you how to kill, not subdue, your opponent. She understands when an enemy must die."

She seemed to shrink back from him in her saddle, and let the horse slow so it fell back to trot alongside the wagon. He mentally chided himself for being harsh on the girl, but saw no other way to explain it to her. She would have to learn the hard way otherwise.

He rode in silence waiting for Kyla to return. Even this short distance from the town the farms were tapering off quickly as they rode. Copses of trees were also starting to become more sparse. The little village and its farms had been nestled amongst the last real forest in the area.

After a few hours of riding they came to the end of any real forests. Waving golden grasses rippled in the wind as far as he could see ahead of them. It reminded him of the ocean. He let his horse carry him forward. He did not feel like he needed to actively guide the horse at that point. The wagon creaked along, parting the waves of grass.

He tried to imagine life in such a setting. The grasses were about knee high, but he suspected there would be areas where they would be taller. He suspected that smaller animals could hide easily within it, while larger ones--or people--would have no where to hide. He also wondered about wood for fires, or finding a safe spot to even build a fire.

Kyla caught up with them at that point, and she rode up to him directly.

"The Elar is dead. He did not provide any challenge. The townsfolk will deal with the body."

"Nicely done," Ullden told her. "Thank you."

"Where was he hiding?" Niza asked as she moved her horse closer.

"He had not gotten far," Kyla told them. "I tracked him returning the way we had just come from. If there are more troops following us, then it is likely he was heading to join them."

"If there are, then he won't be able to give them any information about us now," Ullden said. "Although we should still keep clearing the tracks to try and keep them off our path."

They continued on the rest of the day, conversation sparse and quiet, mostly amongst the girls. He overheard Niza asking Kyla questions about her people and culture, and found himself listening in on some of it, partly interested himself and partly wanting to know what to expect if they were to encounter one of the tribes if any still remained. Kyla seemed to think it was unlikely that any tribes were still intact, and that they might find the occasional survivors at best.

Kyla found them a clearing where the grasses thinned out near a small stream, declaring it suitable for a camp. Ullden found himself asking her advice on how it would be best to set up, and found he had no arguements with her suggestions.

Author's Note

Today isn't starting off well.

The next day they got started early. They did see trees now and then, although certainly nothing remotely resembling a forest. The trees were narrow-trunked, and obviously had no value as heavy timber.

When they stopped for lunch, Niza asked Kyla how they cooked with so little available firewood. Kyla explained that dried animal droppings burned. Niza thought about that quietly while Jetha clearly found the idea disturbing. Ullden just nodded.

From time to time they found small streams and creeks. They took advantage of each one to drink and top off all their skins. It was three days before they came to a major river.

It was not terribly swift running, but it was wide--too wide to throw a stone over. For two days they followed the banks upstream before they came to a tributary they had to cross.

The wagon was too heavily loaded to float properly. They had to unload much of the supplies from the wagon. Kyla showed them how to make a little boat from reeds along the bank to float their supplies on. Getting the emptied wagon across turned out not to be a challenge at all, but it did get very wet. Ullden also learned that horses could swim some, which was something he had not had cause to suspect before. Jetha and Niza seemed surprised to learn it, so he tried to shrug as if he had known. All and all, they spent most of a day crossing the river.

They made their camp early that day, a short distance away from where the tributary met the river. He spent extra time with Father Marus, working on the priests skills with the sword, and he noticed Niza and Kyla doing the same. Jetha spent the extra hours of daylight with her notebooks, while keeping Alldeh out of trouble. The madman hadn't caused any difficulty in a while, which only made Ullden more nervous that he'd do something especially problematic when he did. He could tell that Marus had been keeping a closer watch over Alldeh too, suggesting that Ullden's fears weren't unfounded.

Since reaching the river, Kyla had been fishing when they stopped for lunch, having fashioned a spear from long, stiff reed. On the second day, Niza attempted to try it too, but was unsuccessful. Each day, however, Kyla came back with a couple of large fish, which she skinned and prepared for Jetha and Niza to cook. Sometimes she'd suggest particular roots or plants that could be cooked with it to enhance the flavor. Ullden had to admit that the two girls were getting better at cooking now that Kyla was giving them the occasional tip. The taste of the food was subtle, but flavorful. The girls had been a bit heavy on the spices before, and some of the food had seemed nearly inedible. Kyla's addition to their group was also extending the length of time their supplies would last too, as she frequently hunted and foraged for them.

Just as they were starting to retire to their tents for the night, a sound came to them across the river. It was a low, rumbling noise that echoed across the water and caused countless birds to take flight. Ullden frowned, looking at the sky. The noise could easily have been mistaken for thunder if it hadn't been for the lack of storm clouds above them. In all directions there was nothing but starry night and the occasional wisp of a cloud, nothing that could possibly be bringing a storm.

The others were all looking around as well; all but Alldeh, of course.

"Not rain," Alldeh said, poking at the ground gently as if checking to be sure it was really there. "Blood."

"Yeah," Ullden agreed, "no clouds, so it's not thunder and rain."

"That can't be good," Jetha commented.

"No," Ullden agreed again.

"Do you want me to leave my body again and go look and see?" Jetha asked. A chilling wind swept over them from across the water.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea. I think it's too dangerous."

"Then I should ride out and scout in that direction," Kyla suggested.

"No," Father Marus said. "Whatever it was, was evil. I can feel that. I will call upon Ogrun to reveal our enemies to me."

Marus took out his sword and pushed the tip into the ground in front of him. He kneeled before it and spoke softly. Ullden caught Ogrun's name, and something about enemies and darkness. Then the priest was silent and motionless, his eyes closed.

That continued for several minutes, and no one said anything. Ullden was afraid to disrupt whatever prayer the priest was using, and assumed the rest felt the same way. Even Alldeh was being quiet, drawing something with a stick in a small patch of open dirt.

"There are a hundred Elar," Marus finally said, "and they have just summoned a large demon. They are about ten or a dozen miles ahead of us, directly on our path."

"Then we must alter our path," Kyla said. "We cannot hope to defeat so many. We must veer away from the river to avoid them."

"How many days out of our way would that take us?" Ullden asked, his mind racing to find viable options.

"At least a week," Kyla said. "Maybe as much as two. There is a chasm we would have to go around as well. If we continue close to the river, we would pass this side of it. To veer away from the river means we must go around the other end of it. It is far too steep for the horses, much less the wagon."

"Two weeks!" Jetha exclaimed. "We can't! The longer we delay, the more people the Elar have time to kill!"

"Is there anywhere the river itself gets narrow enough that we could cross it?" Ullden asked, putting up a hand to stall Jetha from further outburst. "If we could go to the other side of the river from them, that would be just as good, if not better, than veering around them. Then we could cross back over once we're closer to the mountains."

"It splits into many, smaller rivers and streams, easily crossable, as we near the mountains, but here it is very wide," Kyla replied. "I do not know that there is anywhere this far out that we could make it to the other side."

"What if we built a bigger raft?" Marus asked. "Surely it would take less time to build a raft than it would to go around the chasm?"

"The reeds would not support much more weight than we were already transporting today," Kyla said. "For a big enough raft to support a single person, we might be able to do it. For one that would support a horse, however, it would need to be made of wood. We do not have the time, nor resources, to build such a raft. Unless there is some way to move us across magically, I see no other option than to go around the chasm."

"Jetha?" Ullden asked, suspecting she would be the most likely source of a spell that could help them. "Anything in that book of yours that could help us?"

"I know that there is a spell that exists that can make a person able to fly through the air, but it is not in the notes Nordithet gave me," Jetha said, looking about to cry. "I don't think I have anything that could help."

"Blood runs cold," Alldeh said. "Like ice."

"What?" Marus asked, turning towards Alldeh. "Jetha, he's drawing again. Does this mean anything to you?"

"Well, it's the symbol for water--the old symbol, and air," she explained. "But he's added something around it, altered it a little..."

"Oh, wow," she said eventually. "That's clever!"

"What is," Ullden asked, impatient to have some option that did not involve a two week delay.

"Blood runs cold, like ice, he said. I don't know what it means, but he mentioned ice, and there's a symbol for water, and whatever these other bits mean... Let me try."

"Try what?" Marus asked, looking more than a little concerned.

Jetha moved towards the water, raising her arms out, chanting something he wasn't sure how to spell, let alone have any chance of understanding. The air grew warmer, and a mist rose from the water. The wind picked up, but it was a warm wind that carried the mist. More mist came to replace it. Little eddies of mist formed over the water.

There were low cracking noises. It took him a moment to realize they seemed to be coming from the river. Then he saw ice start to form. She kept chanting, and within just a few minutes a stretch of river easily a hundred feet long was frozen over. Jetha collapsed down to one knee, he moved in quickly enough to support her by one elbow, preventing her falling completely.

"Wow," Niza said.

"Never mind the raft idea," Kyla said.

"Will it support the wagon?" Marus asked, looking a little skeptically.

Alldeh was at the edge of the ice before anyone noticed him. He took the first step onto the ice with no apparent hesitation, and it did not even creak beneath him.

"I think so," Jetha said. "What I don't know is how long it will stay that way."

"Let's get across quickly," Ullden suggested. "Just in case."

Marus pulled Alldeh back for the moment, managing to convince him to wait for the others. Ullden started giving instructions, having everyone pitch in to hastily break down camp again. He redistributed the weight, to be safe, having more packed on the horses and carried than usual to put less weight in the wagon.

He took the first step out onto the ice hesitantly, but was reassured as it didn't seem to give or crack at all under his weight. Still, they eased the wagon on slowly, listening for sounds of distress in the ice. The further across the river they got, the more cautiously Ullden went, instructing everyone to keep silent and listen for cracking noises. He also cautioned everyone to watch their footing. The ice was slippery, and the horses pulling the wagon were having a hard time finding traction, making the whole process take longer.

Once they passed the halfway point, he began to breathe easier. The wagon had made it that far, and not seemed to crack the ice at all. The mist rising off of it made it difficult to see the other bank, however, and he found himself making a small prayer that the ice stretched all the way there. Once he could see the other bank, however, he realized that the ice was not the issue.

The bank was too steep for them to pull the wagon up onto. While they had had a gentle slope down onto the ice where they had left the bank, this side was much higher, with more trees and roots leaving narrower spaces to get up onto the bank than before. He looked to either side and saw where the ice ended and water began, but no other area of the ice appeared easier for getting back up onto land.

As he pointed this out to the others, trying to decide how to get up onto the bank, the first cracking noise came, loud and long. Beneath his feet, the ice shook, and small cracks appeared, seemingly random across the surface.

"We'll just have to haul it up the bank," Father Marus said with a new urgency to his voice.

"Up that?" Jetha protested, pointing at the rocky, rooty slope. Another loud cracking noise came, and some of the ice shifted.

"Let's just get there first!" Ullden ordered, and they all picked up the pace to hurry as much as they could.

At the far end Kyla helped guide the horses up. A couple of them had trouble with the climb. It was only about four feet. From solid footing the horses could probably have jumped up, Ullden thought, but not from ice. The ice cracked more and more, and now water was starting to splash up through the cracks.

"A shame the spell didn't protect the ice any," Ullden grumbled.

"For all that winter is coming," Father Marus said, sounding almost apologetic, "the water is still too warm for freezing."

"We need something we can use like a ramp," Niza recommended. "Then it'd just be like a gangplank on a ship, and we could roll the wagon up."

"That's a good idea," Jetha said, "let me see what we can find." She scrambled up the bank while Marus helped Alldeh, whose inclination seemed to be to look down at his feet and point out the ice excitedly. Ullden grabbed rope from their supplies and started securing some to the wagon, hoping to literally just haul the wagon up. He thought he could use some of the trees at the bank as pulleys.

"Get the horses unhitched from it!" he yelled to Marus, seeing the ice towards the middle of the river begin to break apart into chunks. "We can't risk losing them if the wagon falls in!" He wondered briefly how deep the water was at this side of the river. If it was shallow enough, they'd be able to save the supplies that were still in the wagon, even if they couldn't get the wagon out. He hoped it was a gentle enough slope underneath the water, despite the steepness of the bank.

He jumped up onto the wagon and made his way to the other side, jumping back down again to tie a second rope. As his feet touched the ice, however, they slipped out from underneath him and he fell, sliding away from the wagon and back towards the middle of the river. He tightened his grip on the first rope he'd tied onto the wagon, feeling it cut deep into his hand as it tried to slip away from his grasp. He managed to barely keep hold of it, however, and stopped himself from sliding. He pulled himself forward and wound it around his wrist a couple of times for safety before trying to get to his feet again. It took him a couple of tries before he was able to get his footing. He ended up using the rope to steady himself as he made his way back to the wagon again.

Marus nearly had the horses unhitched by the time he had the second rope secured. The ice behind them was rapidly falling into the water in chunks, and lazily drifting away from the main mass. In the moonlit night, the steam rising from it all glistened and sparkled almost serenely, despite the loud cracking noises that heralded the approaching peril. Ullden tried to focus on his footing as he followed Marus as he tried to keep the horses upright while getting them to the bank. He looked ahead, trying to see which of the trees looked sturdy enough to secure the ropes to.

He'd chosen two trees, one for each rope, by the time the horses started to ascend the steep slope of the bank. The horses were bucking and screaming, their hooves slipping repeatedly on the ice, threatening bring them down. Kyla had reached down and grabbed hold of the reins of one, holding a small tree with her other hand for support as she helped pull it up onto the ground. Marus was halfway up the bank with the other one when Ullden felt the ice give way beneath him, a sharp crack splitting the ice under his feet in several pieces.

Armor, he thought with a panic. The ropes were pulling him downward and back towards the wagon as it began to sink behind him. Gods help me! I'm still in my armor! He fought against the water as it rushed over his head, the weight of the heavy metal armor dragging him towards the bottom of the river. He hadn't even thought to take a breath of air as his head had gone under, and he found himself trying to scream, losing what little air he had in his lungs in the process. Then something hard hit him across the head.

Damn, it's deep, he thought, almost idly as the darkness of the water faded to a darker unconsciousness. I think that was one of the wagon wheels. I guess I shouldn't have left my helmet with my horse...

Chapter 23 - Bad to Worse

One of the horses was still floundering in the water. It was mostly just panicking, and once it was calmed down it would be fine, and anyone could guide it out of the water.

Most of the ice was broken up at that point. There were large gaps between the largest chunks. She pulled her bow away from her and dropped it quickly on the soft ground, along with her quiver. She dove off the bank, dropping into one of the watery gaps.

The water was fairly deep right there, and she had to push herself down to the bottom. She found him there, unconscious. She knew he could be saved if she was fast enough. She grabbed him and pulled. His lungs were full of water, and between that, the armor, and his own weight, it was all she could do to get him to move at all.

'I know we have disrespected you,' she thought to the river. Rivers were living things to her people, and the magic spell had been a command on Jetha's part. Her own people never commanded, and so when they asked things of nature, nature was generally agreeable.

'Please help me now, these people know not our ways,' she pleaded, pulling more and starting to feel the desperate need for air. If she let go of him, she told herself, he would die.

She pulled again and moved him some, but it was a long way to air. The current picked up and he shifted with it. It made him easier to grip, so she adjusted her hold on him and kicked with all her might.

She she tried to quell the rising panic, as her heart pounded angrily at her chest and her lungs burned. For a moment, she almost gave in to the temptation to just give up. But the current swept them upwards and for a moment her head rose above the surface of the water. Kyla gasped in as big a breath of air as she could before she sank back down again. Trying to anticipate the bobbing up and down that the water was now causing her to do, she hoisted Ullden upwards, into the current with her.

The water was carrying them further away from the bank, and the river was moving faster beneath the surface than it had appeared before. In the starlit night, she could see the others slowly shrinking smaller. One of them was on horseback, riding towards her, and she focused on that person whenever the current brought her upwards again. She kept kicking as hard as she could, but realized she'd never have enough energy to get him to the bank on her own. However, she also knew he didn't have much time. She needed to get him above water fast.

Her shoulder brushed up against something and she grabbed hold of it with one hand, trying to use it as leverage to hoist herself further up. It wasn't much, a large branch of wood that was floating in the water, but she was able to lift Ullden closer to the surface when she wedged it under one of her armpits. The person was getting closer, almost alongside Kyla on the bank. It looked as if it was Niza, and she had brought a coil of rope. Kyla did her best to try and kick closer to the edge, in case the rope wasn't long enough to reach. Niza rode past, stopping a short distance further down the river before trying to throw the rope out towards Kyla.

Author's Note

The rope sailed towards her before falling a couple feet too short. The current slowed, but pulled her farther from the shore. Ullden's body shifted in the current and nearly pulled her from the branch.

'I should remove his armor,' she thought as she struggled with his weight. She grabbed and kicked harder. She knew that he was going to need that armor to give them a chance at surviving. She had to save him and his armor. She prayed to the river once more, asking for just a little help.

The current softened, and pushed against he less. She kicked desperately, and got a little closer to the bank. Niza had reeled the rope back in and threw it again. This time the distance was right, but the girl's aim had been off. The rope landed a little upstream of her.

She kicked against the current, hoping that she could slow her movement enough to let the rope catch up to her. It floated on the surface, but Niza was already starting to reel it in to try again. Kyla could not afford the air to call out. Just as Niza had gotten most of the slack up Kyla grabbed the end of the rope.

Jetha was also there, with the priest, and they all started pulling her in. She hung on to the rope and did her best to keep her own head above water. It seemed like an hour before she was pulled to the bank and they took Ullden from her. Weakly she crawled up the bank, Niza gave her a hand and helped.

"He is not quite gone," the priest announced. "It is not too late to save him." He knelt down over Ullden, praying. It was a very long couple of minutes before Ullden sat up abruptly, coughing up a large amount of water. He was weak, and it took the priest and both Niza and Jetha to help him to his feet.

"Thank you," he said to the priest.

"No, thank her," Marus said, gesturing to her.

"You jumped in after me?" Ullden asked.

"It was that or let you die, there was no choice to make," she explained simply.

"The wagon is gone," Marus said apologetically. "Let's get back to our things and get you two dry." They walked back to where the horses were waiting, loaded up with supplies. There was no sign of Alldeh.

"Oh, Gods!" Marus cried. "He didn't stay with the horses. I didn't have time to think."

"Kyla could track him," Niza offered.

"No, I can't," Kyla shook her head. "That spell that hides our tracks is still working. There are no tracks to find."

"What if he went into the water? What if he's drowned?" Marus hovered at the water's edge frantically. "Why didn't I just bring him with?"

"What about that spell you used to see the Elar, Father?" Ullden asked, grabbing the man by the shoulder. "Get hold of yourself, Marus! Could you find him with that?"

"No," Marus said, after a moment of thought. "That prayer is specific to finding one's enemies. It won't work for finding Alldeh."

"What about you, Jetha?" Ullden asked, turning to her next. "Do you have a spell that could help us find him?"

"Well, I could leave my body again - " she began.

"NO!" Father Marus interrupted. "We know the Elar have a demon with them. If it should see you, then you could be hurt or killed! We could also lose the advantage if that group doesn't already know we're here."

"Actually, there's another way," Jetha said. "A spell Nordithet taught me. I just need something that belonged to him and some items I have with me. Then I will know the path to find him by."

"Good, we'll make camp here. The wagon may be lost, but we might still be able to get some of the supplies out still. Jetha, you cast your spell and find Alldeh. Take Father Marus with you in case he's hurt. Kyla, if you could take care of the horses and see to setting up what we can of camp, Niza and I will see what we can recover from the wagon."

"Are you sure you're up to that?" Marus asked worriedly.

"I'll be fine," Ullden said, starting to strip off pieces of his armor. "We'll set up a line of rope between the wagon and the bank. We can use it to make sure nothing happens. It was this armor that was the problem before."

Fortunately, most camp supplies had been hastily distributed around between backpacks and saddles before crossing the river. Some things were still with the wagon, but she got started setting up what she could.

The tents were unnecessarily complicated, but she had helped set them up before and knew how they worked. Her own people used tents that she could have set up in half the time, but again she said nothing.

Ullden made several trips into the water. Apparently the wagon had sunk more or less straight down. Some supplies had sunk with it, and some had been carried away. A heavy bag of grain for the horses had gone down with the wagon, and Ullden left it down there, proclaiming it ruined.

He brought up another tent, which he helped set up once everything salvageable had been brought up.

"We were going to have to leave the wagon behind eventually," she reminded him, "but the grain would have been good to have."

"Alldeh might be harder to manage on horseback than just sitting in the wagon," Ullden pointed out.

"Didn't you say that the wagon was just slowing us down?" Niza asked.

"Yes," Kyla answered.

"So, at least we should be able to move more quickly now," Niza concluded.

"When we reach the mountains, the grasses that the horses can feed on will give way to barren rock," Kyla said. "The grain was to feed them when that happens. We can stock up on grasses along the way, but it will not last as long as the grain would have. We should only take what horses we absolutely need when we reach the mountains, and set the others free while they are still in grassland and can survive."

Both of them nodded at her wordlessly, which almost surprised her. She wondered how ready any of them would be to give up their mounts when the time came. Ideally, they would not bring any horses into the mountains, as it would be difficult for them to navigate, but she found it unlikely that Ullden would be so willing to give up his horse. While it was well-trained to do his bidding, she had noticed that he commanded it instead of asked it. He didn't seem to specifically mistreat the horse in any way, as she heard some outlanders did, but the animal had once had a fierce spirit that had been broken to accomodate it's rider. Except for the horse with Kyla, all the others with the group had a sadness about them.

Once again, however, she kept her thoughts to herself. She would approach the idea of setting all the horses free once they were much closer to the mountains.

"I wonder if they have found him yet," Ullden said, breaking the small silence that had risen.

"They haven't been gone for long," Niza reminded him. "I don't think we need to be worried yet."

"I'm worried whenever that madman is out of sight," Ullden sighed. "And it's getting late. We should have turned in for the night already."

Kyla shrugged, not having anything to contribute to the conversation that would be helpful. Jetha had taken one of Alldeh's shirts and put it into a bowl with water, some other liquid from a vial, and some herbs, chanting over it for a while before it glowed, with an odd greenish light. Then she and Marus took the shirt and left, following the direction in which the shirt seemed to glow more brightly. It wasn't the most stealthy way to go about finding someone, but she couldn't exactly track a man who wasn't leaving tracks, so she couldn't provide them with another alternative. She just hoped there weren't any Elar scouts this side of the river to see them.

Author's Note:

For those who celebrate, have a Happy Easter today!

Niza started yawning, and Ullden told her to go ahead and sleep. The girl nodded and crawled into her tent. Kyla moved to stand next to the warrior.

"In the morning we should gather what dead wood we can carry," she suggested. "There will be times in the mountains where we may not survive the night without a fire. I know part of you would rather restrict fires because they may give away our position. But mountains are more dangerous than rivers. If you do not respect them, they will have no reluctance to kill you."

"You talk like they're living things," he commented.

"How do you know they are not?" she questioned. "To my people, a river is a living entity, one that can be treated with understanding or that can be offended. How do you know that the river did not take your wagon because it was offended by her ice spell?"

He did not immediately respond either way, where she had expected some kind of debate from him. He looked thoughtful, and she appreciated him taking the time to think about what she was saying.

"I can't prove it either way," he said eventually. "But if rivers can speak, they've never done so to me."

"You cannot go your entire life expecting others to start all conversations. Everything speaks, Ullden. Just because you do not understand the language, does not change the fact that birds sing."

"Yes, but birds do sing," he said.

"As do rocks, and the wind, and rivers. Perhaps you have just never learned to listen."

"Perhaps I'm just not meant to hear," he replied with a shrug. "Either way, what's done is done. Gods know, I've offended enough people over the course of my life, adding a river to that list isn't likely to make it much bigger."

"Hmm," was all she said, keeping the sound noncommital. "I'm sure they'll be back soon." She realized he was more concerned for the others than he was trying to let on, his gaze constantly shifting back in the direction they had gone.

"Let's hope so." Ullden seemed as if he was hiding his worry by sounding irritated. She watched silently as he got up and moved to the stack of bags and crates that had been recovered from the wagon. He began sorting through and organizing items within them, readying them to be carried on horseback instead. She could tell he wanted to focus on something else, to distract him from his concern, so she left him alone with his thoughts. Instead, she moved off from the camp a short way to sit in prayer and meditation until the others returned. She was tired from her exertions earlier, and the meditation was restful. She knew it would help if she did not have the opportunity for much sleep that night.

Ullden was pacing the camp by the time Marus and Jetha appeared on the horizon, Alldeh in tow. The sun was already starting to lighten the sky a little, making Kyla glad she had meditated. The three seemed to be carrying bundles of something, Alldeh swinging his about playfully. He was also singing an odd song as they came near enough to hear. Ullden moved to greet them.

"What took so long?" Ullden asked unhappily. "He couldn't have gotten so far..." He trailed off, and seemed to be waiting for an explanation.

"Components!" Alldeh exclaimed, holding up his bundle as if it were a prize. Kyla was surprised to see Jetha laughing at the man's antics.

"Yes, Components!" Jetha nodded. "Alldeh seems to think we need some of these items. I think they're for the spell we will have to do."

"He wouldn't leave until we'd gathered some of them," Marus added. "He was... um... very insistent."

"What do you mean?" Ullden asked.

"He cast some sort of spell," Jetha said. "We actually couldn't leave until he let us. I'm not sure how he did it yet, but it was quite clever."

"Well, rest a little while you can," Ullden warned. "We need to get moving. So much for sleep tonight..."

Kyla stifled a yawn and then volunteered to get some breakfast prepared. She was capable of sleeping on horseback, and would do some short sleeps during the day in case she was needed at night again.

She got a light breakfast ready as quickly as she could, eager to get them moving. She was not comfortable knowing there was an Elar raiding force near by. The forces she had seen were always several hundred strong, if not a thousand or more. A group of about a hundred would almost have to be a raiding force, and not an invasion force, per se. Either way, it was too much for the five of them to handle on their own.

A lone coyote howled in the distance. No other howling voices answered it, which was sad. It howled once more, a sad and mourning wail echoing across the grasses. It was somewhere southeast of them.

None of the others said anything, so she wondered if they had even noticed. Whether they had or not, she waited a while before recommending that they stick close to the river for a while yet--at least as long as it continued heading mainly north. Ullden had no argument to that. Having water close by would be a good thing, he reasoned. But, he added, they would have to keep moving quickly. If an enemy came at them the river would cut off any escape.

They moved far more quickly throughout the day than they had previously. Alldeh had been helped onto one of the horses that had been pulling the wagon, and the other was carrying some of the burden the wagon had been packed with. The rest of the rescued supplies had been distributed between the loads behind the riders, some items discarded as not important enough to be worth the bulk or weight. There had been quite a few items left behind that she would not have bothered with from the beginning, but they still seemed to be carrying a lot of weight that wasn't really required. She had heard that people from these lands tended to be attached to their belongings, but she hadn't really understood it until now. Ullden seemed to be the most practical in his choices, but even he carried items he could have easily done without.

Alldeh seemed to have surprised everyone with his ability to stay astride the horse. She noticed him talking to the horse frequently throughout the day, and occasionally thought she heard him using words in her own language. He looked comfortable in the saddle, although that seemed to worry Marus more. Both Ullden and the priest seemed especially concerned that Alldeh would ride away from the group, causing need to go after him.

As they made their way upriver, she watched for signs of other tribes, or even a lone survivor of her people. The few signs she could find of any camps or tracks seemed far too old to give her much hope. Most of what she found was from the Elar, and was often such that even the others could blatantly see someone had been there. They found large areas of grasses that had been burned away, leaving the scorched ground behind, often with bodies or remains from the tribes that had tried to stand against them. She found herself praying to Aldanara far too often, trying to ensure that the souls of her people made it to the next life.

Hunting was also becoming harder and harder. The animals that the Elar had not killed were hungry as well. Even the plants she searched out were in short supply. It felt as if her homeland had been stripped clean as the Elar marched and killed their way across it.

She supposed it was the same across the other lands as well. She wondered how people less accustomed to living in harmony with the land were coping with it--if there were people left free at all in those places.

They crossed other tributary streams as the days went on. It meant that they had plentiful water, and they were not difficult to cross. They also found fresher Elar trails, confirming that they were in lands that the Elar had taken and kept.

Ullden pointed out that some of them looked like supply lines for their army. While some of them wanted to try to attack a supply group to hurt the Elar army, Ullden had reminded them that they would only be distracting themselves from their quest. Their quest would ultimately h