Page 11 of The Arcane God

Over the next several days, they began to descend to lower elevation once more. Ena thanked Gaia for their return below the tree line, as it meant fires were possible again, and game was once more accessible, though significantly less plentiful than she was used to. They’d been able to catch a few white rabbits and even a fox. It, too, was white, and Ena found herself endlessly fascinated by the differences in the flora and fauna on this side of the Chasm Mountains.

Of course, the color of the animals wasn’t the only difference, because there was also the cold. They’d all dressed in their warmest clothes, and yet the frigid air still seeped through her layers, numbing her fingers as she rode Mahnin.

The snow was deeper than anything she’d ever experienced too, and it just kept coming. It snowed on and off constantly, sometimes making it extremely difficult, even with her and Turner’s magic, to keep a fire going.

But, on the positive side, at least her nausea had mostly stopped. By her estimation, she was about fourteen weeks along in her pregnancy, and that meant she was entering her second trimester. Her extreme weariness had worn off too, and her food sensitivity had lessened, making it easier to eat her meals without queasiness.

But the strange cravings—those had gotten worse.

Ty’s wound had healed nicely, and quickly—as expected—so she was no longer subjected to the sight of his blood. But still…at night, when she laid down beside him, she could hear it—his beating heart, his blood pulsing through his body. It was so loud, it sometimes became all she could think about.

Even now, as she rode atop her horse, in between Ty at the head, and Turner at her rear, she caught herself watching the small sliver of skin on Ty’s neck she could see above his coat. There was a vein there, and it pulsed with his beautiful, crimson blood. It was so mesmerizing, it took her far too long to notice that the snow and the wind had picked up, suddenly making it so that she could hardly see him anymore.

“Ty?” she called through the snow, hard flakes pelting her face.

“Are you two alright back there?” he called, his voice partly carried away by the wind.

“Yeah,” Turner called. “But the visibility is getting rough! Do you see anywhere to stop?”

“I’m not sure,” Ty called back. “I can hardly see the trees in front of us anymore!”

Ice battered Ena’s face as she squinted, trying to keep it out of her eyes.

“Wait a second,” he called again. “I think I see the mountainside—this way.”

Ena urged her horse to move faster so they were as close to Ty as possible, and she sensed Turner do the same behind her so that they formed a tight-knit single-file line. Together, they followed Ty’s horse through the dense falling snow until she saw the gray stone mountainside emerge out of the white haze.

They walked along it as it guided them downward, until a small overhang, just big enough for the three of them and their horses, became visible.

“Let’s hunker down here for a while, until the storm lets up,” Ty called back to them, nearly yelling to be heard over the sound of the wind.

She nodded, but she wasn’t sure if he could see her. Regardless, they followed Ty into the low overhang, dismounting so they would fit, and led their horses as deep into the space as they could get.

The wind still howled around them, rushing in and out of the small cave—if it could even be called a cave. It was more like an indent, but it at least kept the worst of the snow out and she could see her companions once more.

“Should we start a fire?” she asked as she led her horse over to the others so they could huddle for warmth.

“Wouldn’t hurt,” Turner said. “Who knows how long we’ll be here.”

“I’ll go back out and get some wood. You wait here, okay?” Ty said, coming over to kiss her gently on the forehead.

She nodded up at him, giving him a smile. “Be careful,” she said.

“Always,” he said, winking at her, despite the snow that covered his beard and lashes, before dipping back out into the storm towards the trees.

She and Turner worked to clear a space for the fire, then broke into their packs for lunch. Ena devoured her portion of rabbit meat and dried prunes, still feeling just as hungry when she’d finished as before. But she counted her blessings that she wasn’t nauseous.

A few minutes later, Ty came back, a soggy, snow-covered bundle of downed branches under his arm. He tossed them onto the floor of the cave, and Turner got to work setting them up before using his incendia to slowly dry out the pieces until they caught fire.

The blaze felt nice as they all huddled around it, the snow slowly melting from their hair and cloaks. But outside, the wind howled and the snow continued to fall in dizzying amounts, and she began to wonder how long they would be stuck here.

“Don’t worry, viper,” Ty said, as if sensing her discomfort. “We’ve plenty of supplies if we get snowed in for a while. The storm won’t last forever.”

Ena turned to look at him, finding solace in his stoic green eyes, as always. “Okay,” she said, releasing some of the tension in her shoulders. But inside, her thoughts whirled.

She had known this journey would be difficult. She hadn’t gone into it thinking it would be easy by any means. But as the snow continued to fall, and the three of them watched it pile up before them, she couldn’t shake the pit of worry in her stomach.

How much longer until they found Ty’s mother Kaya and the Omnis worshippers? Would their supplies be enough to last them? How many more peaks would they have to summit to get across? How would they find them when they finally did?