Page 107 of A Kingdom so Crimson

He cleared his dry throat, "So it's true your guardian made you do this?"

I gave him a weary smile. "How many know?"

"All of us."

I laughed despite the deep hunger gnawing at me. "So much for secrets."

"That's why you didn't touch your food at the dinner?" he observed.

The thought of that meal made my mouth water, wishing I now had it in front of me.

I shrugged. "Among other things," I expressed, more bitterly than intended. The image of Lord Winslow waiting for me crept into my mind, and I shivered. "Let's hop off the path here and see if we can find any nuts or wood for a trap. I'm not sure how much energy I will have without food."

We veered off the path, pushing through the underbrush until the foliage began to change, welcoming us with tall evergreens and pines shooting up like swords into the sky. The ground was uneven and covered in a layer of dead leaves and twigs as the cold air bit at our exposed skin.

As we searched, the forest seemed eerily silent, the usual sounds of wildlife absent, causing me to wonder if there was anything around to catch. The wind rustled the branches above, adding to the sense of desolation. We moved carefully, scanning the ground for signs of edible plants or potential trap materials.

Astor paused beside a cluster of pine trees, examining the pinecones. "These might have some nuts within," he said, reaching up to check the branches.

I knelt down, digging through the litter of leaves, hoping to find something useful, yet every rustle and crackle seemed amplified in the stillness. "Keep an eye out for any thick pieces of wood we could use for a trap," I advised, my voice low as he dug into the pinecones, splitting them open with a rock, and continued doing so, pinecone after pinecone.

Minutes felt like hours as we scoured the area.

Finally, Astor held up a small handful of nuts, his face lighting up with a hint of relief. "It's not much, but it's something."

I nodded, grateful for even the smallest find. "Let's gather what we can and set up a trap nearby."

The process was slow and painstaking as our fingers were numb from the cold, but together, we worked quickly, gathering materials and setting a rudimentary trap. We put the pine nuts underneath it, hoping it would catch anything.

We hid behind a large boulder nearby, waiting in tense silence. My energy was nearly depleted as night loomed closer, and the cold began to seep deeper into my bones. We made no sound except for the shivering patter of our breaths, keeping close to one another for warmth as we watched the sun's light disappear into an indigo blue.

"Maybe we should keep going," Astor rasped, barely above a whisper.

I nodded in agreement, feeling the weight of exhaustion mingling with a surge of frustration.

We stood up, took the pine nuts from under the trap, and set off. Our feet grew heavier with each step as we finished the juicy nuts and found the path again. The moon and stars illuminated our way, casting a pale light on the rocky trail. My feet throbbed with each step, and each breath became shallower as the cold pressed deeper into my bones. We walked in silence, the darkening sky our only cover.

The path ended at the base of a large mountain alcove, which cut smoothly into a dark, eerie, narrow canyon that looked barely big enough for one person to walk through at a time. The canyon walls rose steeply on either side, their surfaces rough and jagged, looking like the deepest, darkest trenches where nightmares dwell. The air within the alcove was colder, and the shadows were deeper, making it feel as if the canyon pass was the entrance into the mountain's belly.

We stepped to the canyon's eerie opening, and the sound of our footsteps echoed in the confined space. The oppressive darkness shook me to my core, begging me to run. It was too dark to see anything except a few feet before us. We were cornered against the mountainside with nowhere to go except back up the path or continue through the dark tunnel of the canyon.

"You're not actually thinking about going through there right now?" Astor whispered with terror in his voice.

I looked back at the deadly canyon, fear spiking through me, knowing what might be ahead.

"Maybe there's another way?" he said, already stepping back several feet. "We should wait until morning."

"And then what?" I snapped. "Wait until the other beasts eat us with nothing to protect ourselves?"

His only response was a single blink. "But we don't know what's through there," he said, pointing to the terrifying darkness. "I'm not going through there. We can wait until the first light."

I huffed, letting my anger sizzle through my shivering and hungry body. My stomach ached for more food, and my eyes were heavy with exhaustion.

"Fine, I'll take the first watch—"

"No, you need sleep. You're running yourself dead," he interjected with the same bitterness.

I clenched my jaw and fists, reluctantly letting him win this battle. But deep down, something didn't feel right. The need to run was more urgent than before, a burning desire to escape this icy, dead terrain.

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