by Sara Hubbard
We huddled together, front to back. I couldn’t have been more thankful for the men’s tendency to run a little warm. It was next to impossible to make out shapes and we were without the essentials to build a fire. Given the frigid temperature, the men had no difficulty cuddling one another so I allowed myself to do the same. What choice did I have, really? Cuddle or freeze. Remmie lay behind me, his back planted against the stone-cold wall of the cave. I could feel his body trembling and I rapidly rubbed his arm, which was laid across me, to help warm him.
As the night progressed, we moved so close to one another that I could barely inhale.
I fidgeted. Pushing on Nole, who lay in front of me, I turned to face Remmie, who sounded like an out-of-tune instrument as his teeth chattered noisily in the darkness. I pulled at him and he slowly moved forward. I interlaced his legs with mine and his arms enveloped me. I felt so small beside him and I wished I were bigger so that I could radiate as much heat to him as he gave to me.
“Trade places with me,” I urged him. “Nole will be able to give you more heat than I can.”
“N-no.” He stammered, then sniffled.
“Don’t be stubborn. You’re going to freeze.”
I tried to force him to move but he wouldn’t cooperate and I knew my words fell on deaf ears. I nuzzled my head under his chin and settled it into the crook of his neck, breathing my warm breath onto his exposed skin.
The storm raged on outside; the wind howled and whistled. The horses neighed and stomped the ground. I tried, without success, to imagine myself someplace warm and peaceful. I thought of home, but guilt consumed me. I was warm and more than a little blissful about being interlaced with Remmie—the man who’d hurt my father and brother. I was a horrible, wicked woman. What was wrong with me?
The bright sun pierced the cave’s opening. The snow had stopped but the cold raged on. All of the men continued to sleep; their audible breathing and bear-like snores reverberated along the walls of the cramped space. Except for Remmie. He made no noise at all when he slept this time. I might have thought that the cold had taken him if I didn’t revel in the warmth of his arms. How many women had been enveloped by his strong arms? And how many women had kissed his full lips, now chapped and dry and tinted blue from the cold? I imagined how wonderful they would taste if I were to press my lips against them. I would never know. He would never be mine and it pained me to think about it. Even if we had met under different circumstances, the chances of happily ever after was slim. Did he care about me? I thought so, truly I did, but this was impossible. He would hand me over to his king and break my heart if I let him.
I couldn’t allow him to do that, no matter what. I wouldn’t allow him to hurt me.
The men groaned their way to their feet when they woke. I sympathized with them. The cold, hard floor of the cave was anything but ideal and very hard on the back. They stretched and yawned and cracked their backs, making me wince. They let the horses go shortly after that. Otis shooed them down the trail and then returned to meet us.
“We’ll take turns carrying you, Isame. We can move much faster that way,” Nole said.
I wanted to say it wasn’t necessary and that I could keep up, but I knew that was unrealistic. Nole was the first to carry me. He threw me over his shoulder like an sack of potatoes.
The speed at which we moved, without my hindrance, astounded me. They moved almost as fast as the horses. Riding upside down, banging against a rock-hard back was difficult for my weak stomach. I felt vomit rising up my throat and clamped my mouth shut to avoid soiling Nole’s back. He would have been none too impressed by my weak stomach.
I held out for as long as I could but when I felt it was imminent, I pounded on his back until he abruptly stopped. He eased me down and no sooner had my feet touched the ground did I projectile vomit onto the snow-blanketed mountains.
When I was done, Otis cradled me in his arms and began to run. This was a much better position, and the motion didn’t bother me quite as much as being upside down. Plus, his movements were much more graceful—catlike. With him it felt as if we were flying.
Before dusk, we came across another hole in the rock face and they decided we would take shelter there for the night. Passing a night on the mountains without shelter was not a smart idea, and they were unsure if we would happen across another before dark. Externally, the cave did not look promising. The opening was huge and wouldn’t provide much shelter from the harsh winds. Not far from the entrance we discovered some partially used firewood, still positioned for a fire. Fortunately, Roland kept flint in one of his saddlebags. The men were excited by it and we managed to force the blackened wood to catch. We knew the little wood we had wouldn’t last long so we tried to make it count. The men had bread in their satchels and some frozen morsels of meat that they prepared over the open flame. I had no idea what the meat was, but it didn’t matter. It was edible and I was hungry.
All of the men offered me their food and I reluctantly accepted some bread and a few small pieces of meat. It hardly seemed fair to let them do all the work and then take food from their mouths. We had little opportunity to talk and socialize during our mountain trek. We’d focused on the surviving the cold. Our time around the fire was the only opportunity we had to recharge ourselves.
“Was it all worth it?” I asked them that night.
“Was what worth it?” Otis asked between bites of blackened meat.
“Coming to Copaxa for me.”
They looked at one another and none of them said a word. I took that as a negative. I removed my hood and tugged at my hair, freeing it from its two-day-old knots. I felt dirty and unfeminine, but it was low on my list of concerns at that moment. As I raked my hands through my tangled, windblown hair, my thoughts, of course, returned to my family. I needed to find a way to give them word that I was safe. Surely these men would allow me such a small request considering how cooperative I was being.
I gathered my hair in front of me and worked it into a single braid over my shoulder. When I looked back to the men, I noticed all four sets of eyes watching me. I blushed, knowing how completely unattractive I must have looked to them.
“You’re one of us now,” Otis said smiling, pointing to the braid.
The others had their eyes on the fire. They all wore similar expressions: knitted brows and frowns, like they were conflicted.
“If only that were true,” I whispered. I lay down and curled myself into a ball, close to the dancing flames of the fire.
The moaning started in the dead of the night. Like a soft grumble that beckoned to me and woke me from a deep sleep. My eyes popped open and I listened without moving an inch. What was that? One of the men sleeping? No. Some of the men snored, but this was different. The moan came again now, louder, followed by a long, scraping noise that sounded like nails moving along the length of the rock face. I forced myself free from the men who slept at my sides and they woke too, snapping up to a sitting position.
“What is that?” Remmie asked quietly.
Nole shook his head and slowly moved to his feet, Remmie mirroring his movements. “Don’t move.”
Nole kicked Otis and Roland. Roland sat up and Otis simply grumbled and rolled over, earning him another swift kick to his shin.
“Hey!”
Nole shushed him and raised a finger to his lips. He pulled his sword from his sheath. Remmie crossed his arms over his back and slid his maces out. They stood ready and Otis and Roland soon adopted ready stances too.
The ice monsters. Deep in my gut, I knew it was them that made the noises from outside the cave. I clenched my eyes, knowing the moment when I had to leave the savages was coming soon. That the men I’d unwillingly grown to care for might get hurt or worse. This knowledge made it hard for me to breathe.
But I would run. Because no other response made any sense at all to me.
The grating noise came again, longer and louder. It went right through my bones. The men approached the cave entrance. I
wanted to stop them. Tell them to stay here and stay safe, but I couldn’t do that. I wouldn’t do that.
They left the cave in single file, leaving me alone on the cold, damp floor, the fire dying and giving off just enough heat to prevent me from freezing. I pushed myself up off the ground, my movements slow and quiet. I heard nothing. In the eerie quiet, my heart thumped wildly in my ears. Every step I took toward the entrance made my stomach clench tighter. Could I run down the mountain alone? Without them?
Of course I could. Maybe.
Outside, snow began to fall from dark clouds. The men had disappeared and I spun around, searching for them in every direction. I used to prefer being alone, but now it scared me. Made me feel as if I was trapped in a small cage without air.
I heard a high-pitched cry, like the howl of a wolf. It fixed me in place. I didn’t know if I could move. It came again. My gaze locked on the path I’d climbed with the men the night before and I ran toward it, moving faster than I’d ever moved in my life. I wouldn’t stop until I’d made it down the mountain. The men would be fine. They were savages. They’d live another day. Of course. But the farther I ran from them, the harder it became for me to move. Not because my muscles hurt but because my body felt physically pulled in the other direction. I wanted to stop.
No. Foolish. What was I thinking? I needed to keep going. Then I heard another cry, the cry of a man, screaming out in pain. It went down my spine like a bolt of lightning. I would always wonder who gave that agonizing scream. If the men had died… It was irrational and foolish and nonsensical. But I couldn’t stop myself. My body stopped before I willed it to. When the cry came again, I ran toward it instead of away. My feet moved faster now. I might have been moving as fast as the savages could. I ran past the cave and traveled higher up into the mountains. Another cry echoed through the mountains. It came from my left, through another cave not far from the one we’d camped in the night before. I could barely make out the entrance to a tunnel inside. I crept forward, not knowing what to expect. I found a branch from a dead fire and picked it up, holding it close to my chest ready to strike. The server had said that the ice monsters would respond to weapons but I wouldn’t move without it. I’d take my chances. The log made me feel as secure as I could be, considering.
The tunnel meandered downward and I had to climb hand over hand to lower myself into the space below. Firelight danced in the distance and I headed straight for it until I heard growling and grunting.
What was I doing? I had no common sense. No sense of self-preservation. Why was I here trying to help the men who kidnapped me and hurt my family and fiancé?
When I reached the entrance to a large cavern I gasped in horror and my heart dropped into my stomach.
Chapter 12
REMMIE LAY ON the ground by a dying fire, his arms and legs bound with thick woven rope. Roland lay in the same position, facing him, while Nole hung from a chain suspended from the icicle-covered ceiling. He dangled from his legs and his arms fell limp, almost touching the ground. His eyes were shut, his golden hair disheveled and falling loose from his long braid that now curled on the frosted floor. Otis?
Where was Otis? I heard a grunt and a clamor so loud I had to cover my ears. When I released them, a loud thud resonated through the cavern space, making the icicle-covered ceiling shake. Several of them jingled as they pierced the air and smashed on the ground, causing it to tremble.
I closed my eyes and counted to ten. My whole body shook with fear. I prayed I wouldn’t scream when the monsters appeared. I had to be strong. These men needed my help regardless of what they’d done to me. As much as I hated them, I would hate myself more if I didn’t try to save them.
Heavy footsteps echoed off the walls of the cave. The ceiling shook again and the floor trembled beneath me. The monster stomped closer. It looked nothing like I expected. In fact, it looked quite human.
It was tall and thick like the savages, but it didn’t wear a lick of clothing over its ice-blue skin. And its eyes… Instead of human eyes, the creature had two big black ones. Its claws extended from its fingers to make its hands look twice as long. Scars of white tattooed its flesh in lines through its torso, arms, and legs, as if it had fought with some fantastic force equal to its own.
I covered my mouth. Don’t scream, Isame. Please. Don’t scream.
Remmie stirred and my heart lifted. I wanted to run to him and make sure he was OK, but the creature screamed and whipped its head around to face him. Then it stalked over to Remmie and slashed its razor-sharp claws across Remmie’s chest. Rich, red blood trailed his fur-lined chest and stained the frosted white floor.
No!
I needed a plan and I needed one quick. I was no warrior and couldn’t overpower the monster. If I waited to see if it left them alone it might have killed them before I had the chance to attempt to save them.
In the corner of the cavern I spied a pile of the savages’ weapons. If only I could reach them.
The monster looked in my direction and I ducked back, hiding behind a rock near the entrance to the tunnel. It stilled, waiting or watching or deciding how to respond. I didn’t move. I didn’t breathe. When it stalked toward me I knew I needed to act fast. I hopped over the rock and sprinted across the large space.
The monster screeched. I didn’t need to turn to see it following me because I felt it beneath my feet.
I grabbed the sword but it was so heavy, I couldn’t lift it. I looked over my shoulder and the creature stilled, watching me with its head tilted to the side like a dog. I held my breath, fearing that the slightest of movements would cause it to attack. I turned and crouched by the weapons. I’d played with bows and arrows as a child and it was probably the only thing I had half a shot at using.
“Hey,” Roland muttered between coughs. He rocked side to side, hitting Remmie until he rolled onto his back.
The creature sneered. Its demon eyes darted between Roland and me. Seeing Roland as a bigger threat, it moved toward him. I didn’t know if I should be offended, but I was more grateful I had a moment to react. Carefully, I reached out to grab the bow. Another monster appeared behind Remmie and Roland.
Could this get any worse? I spoke too soon. Another monster appeared. He towered over the first two by at least a foot and he was thicker than two of my savages combined. I swallowed hard. What now?
They may not have found me threatening, but they meant to hurt the savages, and I couldn’t allow that to happen. I snatched the bow and quiver and readied and arrow, pulling it back and setting my sights on the biggest monster. If I failed I would anger them and get myself killed. I had to be accurate. All of our lives were on the line.
As I drew my arrow back, two of the monsters lifted a savage over their respective shoulders while the biggest one looked on. I steadied myself and focused on the largest monster’s eyes. If I could take out one of his eyes, at least he’d struggle to reach me, and then I could focus on the other two monsters that seemed to have forgotten all about me.
“Do it,” Roland muttered. The smallest monster slashed at his chest, drawing blood.
I let go of my arrow and it whizzed by the monster. It turned its head and narrowed its eyes. A split second later it ran for me. Quickly, I drew another arrow back. The cavern was cold but sweat fell from my brows as I pulled the arrow back, and let it fly.
It hit the monster between the eyes, stunning it, but it shook it off and yanked the arrow from its flat nose. I drew another arrow from the quiver, but it snagged on the leather. Cursing myself, I pulled and pulled. The creature lashed out and swatted me, hurling me across the cave to smash against the ice-covered wall. The pain rocked my body from my toes to the top of my head. I rolled to the ground and gripped my chest. I couldn’t get any air, no matter how desperately I tried. The smaller monsters dropped Roland and Remmie and focused their attention on me. I was doomed. All of the savages were bound.
They had no chance of saving me, until I saw Roland and Remmie’s backs were
now to each other and Roland feverishly attempted to untie Remmie’s hands. Falling from the monster’s shoulders had woken Remmie and he strained beneath the ropes, fighting just as madly to free himself as Roland did.
The large monster stood over me now. This was it. My short life would end in an instant, but I didn’t regret my actions. I would have tried to save these men again, even if they felt much less for me as I’d grown to feel for them. Even if they meant to betray me in the end.
The monster picked me up by my waist, digging its long nails into my back. I screamed as I arched my back, trying to move farther away from the pointed tips. It pulled me toward it and sniffed me from my chest to the tip of my head. I tried not to move. Not that I would have been able to if I’d wanted. My whole body had shut down with fear.
“Hey!” a familiar voice shouted. “You want a fight? I’m over here.”
The monsters turned, the big one still holding me tight. Remmie and Roland stood tall. Remmie with a mace in each hand and Roland with his sword braced between his white-knuckled fists. The fire blazed in the center of the room between us and seemed to dance in Roland’s and Remmie’s eyes. Nole jerked as he hung upside down, trying desperately to free himself.
The monster’s glare met my gaze and I bit my lip, fearful of its next move. It sneered at me and screamed, its wide mouth like a bottomless abyss I was destined to be thrown headfirst into. I kicked and flailed as it moved its face closer to mine. Behind us, the men fought, their weapons clanking against the monsters’ rock-hard claws. I bent over and bit down hard on the monster’s hand. It released me, dropping me to the ground with a thud. It screamed again, spit spraying me in the face. Its breath reeked of rotting flesh and bile traveled up my throat. I scampered backward to hide behind a rock. The monster swatted it away like a sack of feathers. I snatched rocks and threw them at it. I wouldn’t go down without a fight.
With a loud shout, Remmie wrapped his massive arms and legs around the monster, yanking it down to the ground. Cracks traveled along the floor and ice chips collapsed through, revealing darkness beneath us. If the men hit the floor hard enough we would all fall through the ice floor and into the cavern.
