Page 7 of Yuletide Orc

Moving through so much snow wasn’t easy. I left a huge and incredibly obvious trail behind me that not even spells could hide. My only course of action was to move fast and hope thatthe heavy snow falling around me would at least keep me hidden from afar.

After the first few minutes, my body finally felt the cold. A jagged shiver coursed through me, sending my teeth clattering together. I pulled my arms around my middle as I charged ahead, cursing myself for not taking even the blanket with me. If I stopped for any reason or length of time, I’d freeze out here.

I lifted one hand before me and exhaled the fire spell once more. At least I could hold a little warmth as I ran.

The forest was silent in only the way a snowfall could bring—save for the sounds of my trek through it. I focused on the timberland before me, convinced that if I looked over my shoulder, I’d find Bikkar chasing me. But no sounds came—not his heavy footfalls, not birdsong. Just snow and the occasional twig snapping from the weight of it.

No sound.

Bikkar’s woodchopping had stopped.

I froze in place against all better judgement and finally turned around. I wasn’t sure now how long it’d been since I’d last heard Bikkar’s axe fall through wood. The crack of it had been so loud before that this realization and the silence accompanying it had deafened my ears. I strained, listening for any sound of him picking it back up again or coming toward me.

Nothing.

My chest rose and fell. I could see my breath spiraling heavily from my mouth. Gone was the fire between my fingers. Fear did that to magic. Either it powered your abilities or scared it away.

Move, I begged my body, but now that I’d stopped, now that cold was beginning to really set in, I found my feet unwilling to follow commands.Fuck.

That was when I heard the heavy footfalls stomping through snow. Bikkar’s heavy breaths. And then—a roar rattled the snowon nearby trees. Bikkar’s rage-filled roar rose goosebumps on my arms and down my spine. Angrier than this morning.Hurt.

I was a dead woman.

I took off, sprinting through snow as panic swept over my body. Adrenaline pushed my feet onward and warmed my muscles. My pulse pounded in my ears. Between my pulse and the quiet, snowy forest, it was like I couldn’t hear anything else. I had no idea how close Bikkar was. Could he see me now? Would he even try to capture me again or just end this all here?

The fear, the mystery, of it all became a strange sort of thrill as I trudged through the snow. It was the same thrill I enjoyed while sneaking into nobles’ houses and even banks to steal and complete high-tension jobs. I thrived in that space of fear and conflict under the right circumstances. Even now, I found my body craving that tension, being fueled by it. But this was so different and so much worse. Death could await me if Bikkar had decided his honor could survive ending my life.

And yet… I liked it. I couldn’t deny it. This chase was different. Until today, Bikkar’s and my relationship had been straightforward. Our parties had often met in battle and drifted apart to rest and regroup. But then he’d refused to kill me today when I’d lost. He’d taken me in as his guest. He’dcared.

My breath strained my chest. The air was becoming so cold that it hurt to breathe. And I was ever aware that no matter how far and fast I ran, with Bikkar already chasing me, there was nowhere to hide. Even if I climbed a tree. Even if I found a cave. Bikkar would be right behind me.

Running had been stupid. But Ihadto try to escape.

I wouldn’t face judgement alone for my party’s collective decisions. At least not without a surefire way to guarantee my side of the story was heard.

I stopped with a thick tree at my back, placing the pine between me and Bikkar. I knew it was better to keep going, toforce my muscles to never stop working until I was in Caiburn, but my thoughts whirred too quickly and too slowly from the cold at the same time. Adrenaline kept my panic in check, but the snow was freezing me through and through.

“Elysia!” Bikkar bellowed. He was close now, so much closer than I’d thought.

Shit.

“This is foolish!” His voice echoed through the otherwise silent forest, a bit muffled from the snow. “You’ll never reach Caiburn in this.”

But the anger in his tone, the biting undercurrent of rage, didn’t promise an otherwise viable option for me. If I revealed myself now, if I didn’t start running again, he’d make sure I didn’t have another chance to run one way or another. That was the only thing I was sure of at this point.

His heavy footfalls sounded closer. He was twenty feet away now, maybe less. The snow made it hard to tell.

Despite the genuine fear coursing through my veins, it was nearly impossible to deny the thrill of this all too. Of being chased. Of being sure but not entirely confident how this would end. Maybe hewouldn’tkill me.

Gods, why was I like this? Flirting with danger. With death. With risk. That wasexactlywhat had gotten me into this predicament in the first place. Instead of sprinting away from this tree, my body thrummed with excitement.

“Elysia!” Bikkar called again. He was right on the other side of this tree. He’d see the lack of forward tracks any moment now.

My chest still heaved as my adrenaline kicked into overdrive right alongside my excitement. I had no weapons, just magic, and a whole lot of forest between me and help. Not much at all to defend myself with.

One final stand, then.

CHAPTER 4

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