Page 32 of The Dark Rises
Rivan isn’t working out, he’s punishing himself. At least, that’s what it looks like. Sweat pours from him, as his muscles strain to lift yet another set of weights. Not once has he taken a break in the two hours I’ve been here. Of course, he could be using exercise as an excuse to avoid me, but the gritty determination on his face makes me think he’s lost to the destructive thoughts in his head.
Turning away, I slip out and head down to the lobby to meet Cormal and Madoc. Today, we’re going to Hiemal. Bitterly cold and practically deserted, it was a haven for me one winter. Through the bond, Leandra often kept me on a tight leash, but with nothing but a frozen tundra outside our door, I could explore to my heart’s content.
Madoc’s eyeing the parka in his hand with a perplexed look on his face. “Why do I need this? I can regulate my body temperature with ease.” He said the same thing about the ski mask and goggles I gave him earlier, but I insisted.
Hiemal is a strange place. Part of The Underworld, it lies in a valley between two mountains, but it existed long before anything else around it was created. A bubble in a time warp, it operates by its own unique set of rules. Time moves incrementally there. A few seconds could mean a day in the outside world. Magic is limited to the most basic of elements like fire, water, and wind. Creatures roam freely across the land. In a way, it’s almost like the Wilds or Avalon, with its unpredictability and fickleness.
I roll my eyes. “Take it. If you don’t need it, then you don’t have to wear it.” Cormal holds my own coat as I slip it on and completely button it, then put on thick gloves.
Cormal chuckles. “You’ll need it. Are we ready?”
Excited, I take a deep breath and smile. “Let’s go.”
Ten seconds later, we’re exiting the portal and struggling to find our breaths. I motion for Madoc to pull down his mask and cover his eyes. Steel-grey eyes are wide with uncertainty as he does what I tell him. He immediately pulls on the parka and buttons it up, then raises the hood like Cormal and me.
With a huge scowl on his face, he raises his hands and creates a small fireball, but I reach out and smother it.
“We don’t want to attract the local wildlife,” I tell him. I slip a hand in his coat pocket and pull out the gloves I stashed in there. “Let me help you.”
Motioning for him to hold out his hand with his fingers spread, I quickly get the first on, then glance up at him. My mouth twitches at the bundled warrior in front of me, lips compressed and eyes glaring at the landscape around us. It only takes a couple seconds to get the other one on. He flexes his hands and takes a deep breath.
Cormal comes back from scouting and raises an eyebrow. “Are we ready?”
In answer, I pick up my foot and carefully place it flat on the ground, then do the same with the other. Ice requires a sort of march to get across it without falling on your ass. Cormal easily picks up the pattern. I hear a curse and crash behind him and when I turn around, Madoc’s sprawled out on the ground. Cormal reaches down and helps him up, then shows him how to walk.
Thankfully, Cormal placed the portal close to the shack where we lived, so we don’t have far to walk. My eyes sweep the area around us, easily picking up the changes from the last time I was here. A couple of trees are down. Some creature marked the trees with its claws. The nearby stream is slightly smaller, but it still flows despite the brutally harsh cold.
Following the barely visible path, I round the corner and get my first glimpse of the small wooden structure. Part of the roof is caving in, and the door stands ajar, but it’s not too bad considering it’s been over nine hundred years since I last visited.
Cormal stops me. “Let me check it out first.”
With a nod, I step carefully to the side and let him pass.
Reaching under his parka, he unsheathes a pair of xiphos from his chest and eases the door open. The short, double-edged swords have been a favorite weapon of his for a long time, and he’s quite lethal with them. Quiet descends as we listen for any movement. Hearing nothing, he slips inside to search. Moments later, he sticks his head out and motions for us.
I push the roughhewn door open wider and peer inside the place I called home for an entire winter. We could never stay in one place for long, but the natural defenses built into the landscape around us provided Leandra with enough assurance to stay put for a few months.
I pull down my goggles and lift up the mask. Ten by ten, the square room doesn’t hold much. Leandra’s pallet was in the far corner, but that’s long gone. The remnants of one of the twochairs are on the floor next to the rickety table and the fireplace. There are a couple of crooked shelves with dishes still perched on them above a cracked porcelain basin.
Madoc stares around the room in shock. “Where did you sleep?”
I sweep the toe of my boot across the dirt floor. “Here. By the fireplace. We had to keep it lit at all times so we wouldn’t freeze.” I smile. “First winter I can remember being warm.”
Cormal’s fist clenches at my statement. “Do you see anything of hers?”
I move to the corner where she slept and pry open one of the boards in the wall. Empty. I glance back at them both and shake my head. “Nothing in the cupboard and the bed she slept in is gone. She burned it before we left.”
Madoc tilts his head and asks, “Why?”
He’s not talking about the bed. “This was a palace compared to most of the places we lived. Here we had water and heat. A roof over our head,” I answer. “And because we were extremely isolated, she had to stock up on food ahead of time, which meant regular meals. But the best part is outside.”
I take one last look around at the dingy floor and walls and silently thank them for sheltering me, then I roll down the mask and put on the goggles. Motioning for them to follow me, I step outside and slowly march around to the back. Ice changes to rocks beneath our feet, and I motion for them to climb the small mountain of boulders in front of us.
It takes us about twenty minutes to reach the top. Once we get there, I point to the pool down below. “It’s a hot spring.” I wave a hand at the forest surrounding us. “Here, she couldn’t give me tasks to carry out. So, I spent all day exploring before I came home to a hot bath, dinner, and warm bed. Heaven.”
I can’t help but glance at Cormal. “He even came to visit me a few times without her knowing.” The memory of me staringup at him, hoping he would make a move, with the steam rising around us. “Do you remember?”
Cormal clears his throat and pulls me closer. “Mmm, our first kiss. I’ll never forget.” His gloved finger traces a soft path across my lips. “One of my top five days ever.”
