Page 156 of Rogue Elves of Ardani

It was the sort of cold that was so intense it was hard to think of anything else. The primal need to escape it was all-encompassing. Every particle of his being was screaming for him to find shelter, to escape, to seek safety and warmth. He suspected that the only thing keeping him going was the panacea.

He was starting to feel the spell fever from the panacea, on top of everything. The overdose of magic made his limbs vibrate and his stomach turn flips on itself. It weakened his already exhausted body.

If Crow hadn’t been there, he’d have been dead long ago. Why did that seem to be the case so often of late? He couldn’t recall ever depending on someone like this before.

He eventually spotted Novikke standing at the edge of a patch of trees, staring stupidly around with wide, blind eyes. It took some coaxing, but he managed to persuade his legs to move toward her.

Blind as she was, she didn’t notice his approach until he was close. She heard the crunch of his steps in the snow and whirled to face him, brandishing Zaiur’s sword.

“It’s me,” Vaara grunted.

She relaxed, and her eyes managed to focus on him as he came closer. He must have looked even worse than usual, judging by her expression. “What happened to you?”

“I fell in a pond. And was stabbed.”

“Gods. You’re still up and walking around after that?”

“Varai are not as delicate as your folk are.” His voice shook and died a little at the end, which somewhat betrayed his words. Novikke looked appropriately unimpressed.

He located Aruna, slumped against a tree a few paces away. His eyes were closed.

Vaara tucked himself into the hollow at the base of another tree, folding his legs against his chest and pulling Crow’s cloak around himself. Alexei’s clothes smelled of something that filled him with vague unease. He would be taking them off and burning them at the soonest possible opportunity. But for the moment, they were the only thing keeping him alive. So he huddled in the pile of cloth he’d collected, and tried to think of anything but the cold.

Novikke stared at him, frowning a little. Her black sword reflected a ray of moonlight across the snow.

She had told him that he reminded her of his brother. Everyone said that Vaara and Zaiur looked alike. Often, when she looked at him, he could tell she was thinking of Zaiur. It would be difficult not to.

A thread of doubt snaked through him, cutting through the cold. For a moment, he imagined her simply walking over and killing him, the way she’d probably killed Zaiur, now that they were alone and he couldn’t stop her. Maybe without Aruna there to curb her cruel human nature, she’d be prone to lashing out.

But then, she sheathed her sword. “Did you kill him?” she asked.

It took him a few seconds to realize that she meant Alexei. “Yes.” The word came out as a sigh.

“Good.”

There was a pause. Then she unlatched her cloak and draped it over him.

He must have looked quite bad off indeed.

“Are you going to make it?” she asked.

He closed his eye, pulling the cloak up over the lower half of his face. “Only the Goddess knows.”

“Don’t go to sleep,” Novikke said sternly.

He squinted his eye open to glare at her.

“You might not wake up again,” she added. “They’ll be angry with me if I let you die.”

Vaara was too tired to respond. He stared across the fields toward the prison.

“Where’s Crow?” Novikke asked.

Vaara tilted his head toward the prison. “Getting help.” He was relieved when she didn’t ask for more details. Thinking was difficult, as if his brain was freezing solid along with the rest of him. Just moving his mouth to speak was exhausting.

She posted up at the edge of the trees, one hand on the hilt of her sword, and watched the horizon with that stupid wide-eyed human look of hers. Guarding them.

And he was surprised to find that it did make him feel safer, having her there.

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