Page 39 of Winter's Echo
I kept my ears attuned to the sounds around us. Beyond us. No predators yet, and I needed that luck to hold.
“Can you hear us?” the soldier behind me asked.
“The whole forest can hear you,” I grumbled back.
“Do you want some of our food?”
I hesitated and then turned. The one nearest me had a strip of dried beef and held it out to me.
“You’d give me this?”
He nodded. “We have enough for now.”
It was thefor nowpart that I worried about. But it didn’t stop me from reaching out and taking the thin strip from him.
“Thanks.”
I resumed walking. The dried beef was tough and chewy. It kept me occupied as I followed the trail.
In the deepest part of the night, when the sky was at its darkest, I led the group out of the forest.
“You can catch your breath,” I said quietly. I walked back to the stretcher. “How is he?”
“Asleep,” Gralen told me. “Lucky bastard hasn’t woken.” He saw my look. “He’s still breathing.”
“They say sleep’s the best healer.” I moved to the horse, the one I liked the best. “As we get closer to Skallfen, one of you will be able to ride and keep him across the horse.”
“Nah.” Baxley walked forward. “We can tie the litter to the saddle,” he pointed at the straps. “Let the horse pull him.”
“If the horse spooks, it’ll trample him.” I looked between the litter and the horse.
“If the horse spooks when he’s draped over it like a kill, he’s off it and trampled anyway.”
That was a reasonable argument. “I have no experience with that,” I said, turning to the captain.
He gave a tired smile. “We do.” He pointed at the two men. “You know what to do.”
It seemed they all did, except me. While they fixed the litter as Baxley wanted, the others took the opportunity to eat some snow or some of their rations.
I kept my eye on the dark behind us.
“You don’t want to rest a moment?” Baxley asked, coming to stand beside me.
“No time,” I told him honestly. “We need to keep moving.”
“How long?” he said in that quiet way of his.
“We should reach Skallfen's gates by midmorning.” He didn’t reply, but I saw his head bob once.
We stood together, him watching the soldiers and me watching the land.
“Would he really have left him behind?” I asked quietly. It hadn't been able to shake it since Nicco said it, long before the fire burned low.
Baxley nodded. “Anything that slows us down is expendable.”
Well, that was sobering.
“What’s the rush?” I asked. “The land at the Frozen Mountains hasn’t moved since the gods froze it, so it isn’t going anywhere.”
