Kaspar was wearing similar clothes to both of them, only without a neckerchief so that the collar of his shirt lay open against his chest. He instead had opted for a burgundy cloak, tied around his throat by wide ribbons. The excessive material swished behind him, reaching to his knees when he took a long stride. The trousers were just as tight, in the same linen material, sticking closely to his legs and emphasising how strong he had the potential to be. They reached the edge of the forest, the line between urban and wild blurring here. The ethereal smiled, and then disappeared into the foliage.
Asa had to run to keep up with his pace. It was as though he was flying over the ground, covering as much distance per step as the ethereal could in five. He could hear Avery thudding behind him, both breathless with surprise at the sudden change in tempo. Asa could only see glimpses of purplish material through the tight trees ahead as he wound through them, desperate not to get lost. They were a good few hundred metres away from the town now, and Kaspar had taken them such a convoluted route, he was sure that he would never find his way back alone. He pushed himself from tree stump to fallen log in his haste, not able to consider waiting to go around. Avery chose instead to go around, and they were side by side when finally they burst into the clearing where Kaspar was standing, waiting for them.
“That was fun,” he said complacently, admiring his own tanned hands.
Asa swung his arms by his side, looking around the woods around them. No birds sang. There were no squirrels in the trees. He gave a small sigh and fixed his attention to the path in front, where he could see Kaspar’s moderately broad back draped in burgundy wool.
“Thoughts?” he inquired.
Avery smiled and shook his head. “None worth speaking of.”
This caught his attention. Asa turned to his friend, walking sideways in his eagerness to be told what the secret was.
“Liar.” He grinned. “Tell me.”
“No.” Avery blushed. “I mean—no, I have nothing to say.”
“Why are you lying, Avery?” Asa pouted, moving closer to his companion. “Am I not your friend?”
“‘Course you are,” Avery muttered.
“Then tell me!”
He punched Avery’s arm. The blond moved his shoulder out of reach. Asa darted around him and began teasing him, attempting to invoke some other emotion in his friend. Avery pushed him away but he kept at it, knowing fully how irritating he was being. He enjoyed it when, after a good few taps and nudges, Avery gripped him in a headlock and held him there. He continued to walk, dragging Asa’s kicking body with him by his neck. Asa struggled, playfully at first, but changing to frustration when he realised that he was not going to be able to beat his friend.
“Feeling better?” Avery ruffled Asa’s hair patronisingly.
“Oh, fight me,” Asa cursed.
“You don’t want that.”
“Please tell me.”
Avery dropped Asa to the forest floor. He thudded painlessly to the mulchy substrate and rolled once before picking himself up. He sprang after his friend, tugging at the sleeve of his shirt.
“Asa, it’s embarrassing,” Avery pleaded.
“Embarrassing, you’ll see.” He paused, realising the source of the problem. “Oh.”
“What?” Avery huffed.
“A pair of dark eyes?” Asa inquired. “A pretty girl who you kept a flower from?”
The blond turned crimson and rubbed his face.
“Well.” Asa relished the sound. “Aren’t you a romantic?”
“No!”
“You can’t even remember her full name!” His tone was bordering on irritation now. He was bored. The girl was now boring. He was completely finished with that topic of conversation.
“Uh, I do,” his friend said. “She is called Lili, so there.”
Asa stifled a scowl. He nodded darkly as Avery spoke, a weak smile plastered over his features. The blond’s eyes were lit up with a reverence Asa had never seen before. He looked completely changed as he talked, even when their thread of conversation had moved on. There was a lightness in his step that was beyond belief, given the situation that they found themselves in. Kaspar’s cloak snagged on branches as they climbed farther up the incline of the mountain woods, always a few steps ahead of them. The pace was slow enough but excruciating to keep up over long periods of time, and soon Asa’s feet and lungs burned with a dull pain.
It was getting dark when finally the tall figure ahead of them stopped. He turned to motion for them both to hurry up, and then lead them down a narrow mud path that had been cut between the close trees. It wound left and right for quite a long way, until Asa could hear even Avery’s breathing grow heavier at the punishing pace. Eventually, it opened out into a small, clearly man-made clearing that was surrounded by trees.
It was a safe place, Asa decided, a completely safe place. The trees that lined the rectangle of grass were tightly packed; so much so that he doubted even a fox or a rat could fit through them. The only entrance that he could see was the one through which they had come, and unless they were to be attacked by eagles, the skies were blissfully clear and safe tonight.
“Sit.” Kaspar gestured to some tree stumps at the edge, near a spot of scorched earth. Asa prodded his with the toe of his boot, unsure of the structural security of it. The ethereal pushed him down. “I said sit!”
“I’m sitting,” Asa protested, allowing himself to sink down onto the natural stool.
The ethereal flicked a tongue of fire into the pit and swept a faggot of wood into it with his foot. Asa wasn’t one hundred percent sure that the wood had been there before Kaspar was. He moved closer to the delicious warmth of the flames and allowed himself to relax. His feet ached but he couldn’t bring himself to remove his boots. The night was mild enough but he was chilled, lips a delicate shade of blue as a breeze rustled the branches of the trees around them.
“We will have dried potatoes tonight,” the black-eyed man stated, removing a cloth pouch from the bag and dividing the contents on a stump of wood. “It’s an ancient delicacy. I’m sure that you will appreciate it. This is how meals shall work: breakfast will be high-energy honey loaf, for luncheon we shall have maybe some fruit, and supper will be a preserved dish of my choosing, based on the amount of work we will be doing the next day. I have brought some apples and lemons with me to keep our diet healthy.”
He took a round yellow fruit from his bag and Avery pulled a face.
“We’ve had them,” he groaned. “They taste dreadful.”
“They will keep your little teeth from falling from your skull like icicles from a stove,” Kaspar said archly, handing each of them equal portions of thin circular chips of some beige substance. “But no, if you fancy that then I won’t stop you.”
Asa took a potato fragment and nibbled on it as he stared at the fire. It was bland and chewy, like the apples that his mother had used to bake for him at home but without the flavour. He wasn’t too hungry and only managed half of the portion that he had been allocated, before sliding the rest onto Avery’s lap. His friend either didn’t or chose not to notice, as he took the new number of potato slices in his stride and devoured them. Kaspar cleared his throat and raised an eyebrow at Asa’s behaviour, but made no comment.
Asa blinked. It may have been a trick of the flickering firelight or his own weary eyes, but Kaspar’s solid eyes seemed to glow as they stared back at him. It was hard to comprehend, glowing black, but Asa couldn’t describe it any other way. His face must have betrayed his thoughts, because Kaspar laughed.
“Yes, they are rather attractive, aren’t they? Moths are a problem in the summer, though.”
It was fully dark now. Kaspar pointed at the ground in a condescending manner. Asa and Avery looked at him, not quite as confused as they would have liked to be.
“Um, what?” Avery inquired, somewhat cheekily.
“Sleep.” The ethereal’s tone left no room for comment. “I will seal our perimeters, but I expect you
both to be lying there by the time I get back.
The two of them sat in solemn silence, as Kaspar walked off, then lay on the grassy ground, unused to it. Asa slipped his hand into his friend’s and they were quiet before Avery broke the silence.
“Don’t you think”—Avery checked behind him before continuing—”that he’s a bit of a slave driver?”
“He has control issues,” Asa admitted. “But what other choice do we have?”
“Run.” Avery’s face was alight with a manic gleam. “Leave. Go on alone.”
“That’s madness,” he replied. “And you know it. He’d kill us.”
“Come on, Asa!”
“Go to sleep, Avery,” his voice was tired, but firm. “We’ll discuss this further in the morning.”
Avery soon fell into an easy rest, his hand growing slack in Asa’s. Yet Asa found that he was unable to do so. He felt the chill of the wind on his back, the scratchiness of the blades of grass below his body, and the bleak loneliness of their situation as he did his friend’s callused palm. The night grew darker and stiller. No moon rose to light the sky, and the stars were so far away. He hoped that Kaspar was asleep as he turned onto his stomach and let out a low and despondent sigh, curled in a protective ball on the ground.
“Do you hate me, Asa Hounslow?” Kaspar spoke in the darkness, the slight glow of his eyes the only light visible to Asa, who froze and lay as still as he possibly could. “Don’t just lie there. I believe that I asked you a question.”
“No,” Asa murmured, voice dry. “No, I don’t.”
“Liar,” Kaspar said, amused. “I took great pleasure in the look on your face as I was torturing your pathetic friend’s love-lost heart. Fighting won’t help us, you said. But I knew that you were dying to let him hurt me. But you were so aware that I would have destroyed him that you merely mewed like the feeble kitten you are.”
“I am no kitten,” Asa’s tone was steady. He turned onto his back, keeping track of those lion-like eyes as they glowed back at him.
“You’re playing with the big cats now, boy,” Kaspar’s voice came through the gloom. “If I were you, I would watch my words. We wouldn’t want to aggravate any of my wilder characteristics, would we?”
“You are quite mistaken.” Asa stuck his chin up as he looked into the inky dark. “If you think that I fear you.”
“Then you live a fool,” the ethereal chuckled. “And you will die a wiser man.”
Asa lay back down on his dry bed of grass. The oak tree that branched out over his head provided a merciful amount of shelter for which he was grateful. Yet still, even in this uncomfortable situation with a proven killer just steps from him, he was glad of the stars. They sparkled just like they had in Salatesh when he was young, only clearer here, brighter. The eternal sky reached up as far as he could ever see, no borders to its magnitude. As Asa finally managed to get to sleep, those tiny pinpricks of light were burnt into his vision, there even when his eyes were closed.
TEN
THREE DAYS PASSED. THOUGH he would never have admitted it, Asa was growing increasingly uncomfortable with the ethereal’s presence. Kaspar was everything that Asa disliked. He was volatile, smug, and sadistic with a curious and sinister talent of making animals around them fall silent.
Their booted feet sank and slid on the mulchy ground, and the tree roots seemed determined to send them tumbling head over heels down the mountain. Asa could not believe that they had not managed to reach over the mountains yet, but Avery assured him that they were indeed going in the right direction. Still, neither of them would have put it past Kaspar to send them to their deaths.
The magical creature controlled every movement. When he saw them doing something of which he did not approve, he would merely freeze them in position and leave them there until their joints cramped and they groaned with stiffness and pain. Occasionally Asa and Avery would lie together at night, seeing the stars reflected in the other’s eyes but unable to talk to them for fear of Kaspar. Asa was by that time convinced that their journey was hopeless. They were never going to be allowed to survive.
He coughed, wiping his hand on his tight trousers in a way that he would have proclaimed as disgusting two months ago. They were nearing the top of their current climb, which had taken them the better part of a day to complete. There were few trees and the land around them was plagued with strange dryness. The grass was dead and yellow and the streambeds dry. Asa swallowed for what seemed to be the hundredth time that day, mouth not producing quite enough saliva to cover the ache in his throat and lungs. He paused for a moment to catch his breath but found himself propelled forwards by an unstoppable force.
“Just . . . let me . . . breathe,” he wheezed, tripping over his feet as he was pushed up the mountain.
“Fine.” Kaspar relinquished his hold on Asa, causing him to stumble backwards at the lack of pressure. “We will eat and then press on.”
Asa moved to a rock that stuck out of the ground near him and collapsed onto it, slouching as he worked to untie his bootlaces. His shoes were tighter than usual, rubbing the skin on his feet raw as they were walking. Avery sat next to him and pulled Asa’s boots off, looking concerned.
“Asa?”
“Mm?” Asa grunted.
“You alright?” Avery’s eyes were boring closely into his. Asa looked at his sore feet.
“Great,” he intoned.
“It’s time for luncheon, anyhow.” Avery smiled.
The blond reached into the bag and pulled out two apples. Halfway through his portion, Asa set the apple down on his knee, nausea churning his stomach so that he did not feel he could eat even another small mouthful.
“You should eat this.” he pressed the fruit into Avery’s unsure hands. “I’m full.”
“Poppycock.” Avery took the apple, but unwillingly. “You’ve barely eaten.”
“Yeah,” Asa sighed.
“I can’t eat this.” Avery held the half apple of Asa’s in one hand and his stem in the other. His stomach growled and Asa chuckled.
“Go on, then.” he smiled. “You’re hungry.”
“If you say so.” Avery finished off Asa’s lunch, and Asa leant against his broad back, closing his eyes to try and stop his thoughts from racing. He heard Kaspar’s sinister footsteps walking up to them and kept his eyes shut, refusing to give the ethereal the privilege of his gaze. His breathing evened out and his heart rate slowed, falling in time with the strong slow beats of Avery’s.
“Is he dead yet?” Kaspar snickered, foot whistling less than an inch past Asa.
“That’s not funny,” Avery said. “He’s just tired, thanks to you.”
“Thanks to me?”
“If you didn’t make us walk everywhere at bird flight speed, then he wouldn’t be so tired.”
“Oh, Avery, dear,” Kaspar crooned. “That’s not why he’s so tired.”
“Give me a good reason why, then,” Avery snapped, stiffening.
“He’s dying, Avery. Don’t you remember?”
Avery paused for a moment, before answering. “I know.”
Asa quailed at the way his voice broke on the two small words. He didn’t want his friend to be sad because of him, that wasn’t a good enough reason. Far greater people were dying and he, who had just one friend and no family, was not worth bothering about, let alone crying over. He heard Avery inhale and shake beneath his body and realised, with shock, that he was struggling not to cry. Now that was wrong. Avery was as tough as nails and never cried. No one could make him sob, even as a child. Why, he would sooner be hit a million times than shed one tear. Asa’s heart sank as the breaths grew lighter and Avery’s demeanour softened.
Kaspar stood, and as if drawn by an invisible lead, Asa and Avery stood as well, stretching their sore limbs. Kaspar walked past them and they saw him get onto the path that they were following. They trudged behind him automatically, aware that any other action on their part would result in a painful punishment from the powerful bein
g’s magic.
“Faster!” the ethereal shouted, voice caught by the wind and blown back to them. “We must cover more ground.”
“Where are we even going?” Asa tossed back, hurriedly tugging his shirtsleeves down to cover his hands.
Kaspar turned to them, black eyes unreadable. “We are going to see a dear member of my family.”
Asa caught up to him, curious. “Not Erebus?”
“Not everything revolves around Erebus,” Kaspar snapped at him. “We are travelling to meet my sister Gil.”
He shoved past Asa as they left the path and started to walk upon the dry grass, going up the slope of the mountain. The ground grew much steeper here, littered with rocks and scratchy bushes covered in flowers. Their pace increased yet again, and Asa found his feet being pushed faster than he could have, unwillingly drawn along next to Kaspar.
“Where does she live?” he asked, huffing with the exertion of their climb.
“In the mountains,” Kaspar muttered.
“Really?” Asa’s tone contained so much latent sarcasm that he knew that he was in for it. “How could I have guessed that?”
“Enough,” Kaspar growled, stopping Asa in his tracks. “I have had quite enough from you for today.”
He turned on Asa with a feral glint in his eyes. Asa swallowed, stepping away from the outstretched hands, though he knew that it would not do much good. The ethereal tensed, his unfocused gaze somewhere above Asa’s right shoulder. Tingles of something sinister ran up and down his spine. He fought to move but found that he was trapped to that same spot on the ground, mutely twitching as Kaspar won control of his body. He watched, dumbfounded, as Kaspar’s copper-coloured fingers closed into the man’s palm. A spasm of burning pain radiated throughout his chest, holding him immobile for a moment, and then pulling back. Asa dropped to the ground, clutching at his torso. He could feel phantom pricks of fire all over himself. Looking up, he saw a polished black boot.
His Frozen Fingertips Page 18
