37.

I was lost.

The trail had been familiar at first – as familiar as a snow-covered trail could be, anyway.

Then I must have climbed over a ledge I mistook for a part of the path, or taken a wrong turn, or something, because between one moment and the next I began to feel a nagging sense of wrongness.

I didn't recognize where I was. Also, I could swear that the snow was growing deeper. Now it was up to my knees. What the hell kind of deranged place was this, where you found this kind of snow at the end of summer? I wish I knew. Maybe, if I knew where I was, I could figure out how to get out.

I tromped on through the snow for a while. I mean, logically, if I just kept going down, I'd get to the base of the mountain, and from there I'd hopefully be able to set a straight course for…somewhere. I didn't know where, but anywhere had to be better than this.

Then, frustrated, I stopped and looked out over the mountain slopes.

There was no river below me. Just a whole lot of trees. And more mountains. Lots more mountains.

I sat down heavily. "Great," I said. "Just peachy. Now what?"

My head hurt. My throat was tight. My breath hitched. Not that crying ever did anything useful, but I couldn't help it. I was lost and alone and still nothing worked out right. I wondered why I even bothered to keep going.

All I wanted to do was to find some quiet bar somewhere and drink until I couldn't even remember my own name. Maybe I'd find a nice man like that half-elven ranger, Auren, and take him to bed, ask him to make me forget everything.

But I couldn't even do that much. Why? Because I was in the middle of the fucking wilderness, that was why.

I sat there with my head in my hands, listening to the thud of my heartbeat.

After a while, the thud got louder.

I heard the slither of falling snow. It pattered down around me, shaken loose from the ledge ahead. Some of it landed on my hair.

The earth shook under my feet.

I frowned. Those thuds were getting louder and louder all of the time. Maybe they weren't coming from me, after all.

I looked up, shaking the snow out of my hair. My eyes scanned the rocks and trees for any signs of life.

In retrospect, I should probably have just taken to my feet and found somewhere to hide.

I didn't. I sat on my rock, confused, and I just listened to the thuds get closer.

You know, it's funny, I thought to myself. Those almost sound like footsteps.

Then the ground shook again, this time with a bellow so loud that it knocked me from my seat.

"WHY YOU HERE ON MONGO'S LAND, LITTLE HOOMAN?" a deep voice boomed like an airhorn. There was a whoosh of air and a crack of breaking wood. The ground shuddered again. "YOU NOT WELCOME! YOU WANT MONGO EAT YOU?"

I was sprawled in a snowdrift. I looked up. My jaw dropped. My insides shriveled in fear.

There was a…a thing towering above me. I couldn't call it a person, even though it looked vaguely human, because it was slumped and potbellied and hairy and had a forehead like a set of balconies – and, most importantly, it was taller than most trees. It was carrying a tree as a club, for god's sake.

I wasn't sure how tall it was. I wasn't in a state to make any calculations. However, I guessed that, standing, the top of my head would come up to its shins - which made it officially way too fucking big.

I scrambled backwards. My shoulder blades bumped against a boulder. "I…I…I…"

The monstrosity swung its tree-club at the mountain's rocky face. More snow fell. The trees groaned. "WHY YOU NOT ANSWER?" it roared. "YOU MAKE MONGO ANGRY!"

"I…what? W-wait!" My voice came out shrill with hysteria. "I'll go! I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-"

"NO!" The thing took a thunderous step forward. "IT TOO LATE, HOOMAN! NOW MONGO SMASH!"

"No!" I yelped. I scrambled to my feet and backed away blindly. I clutched Silent Partner so hard that my knuckles turned white. My heart was pounding so hard that I thought it might leap out of my chest. "No smash! Bad Mongo! Wait! Don't-"

The monster swung its weapon against the wall once more. The whole mountain seemed to groan and quake with the impact. "HOLD STILL, LITTLE HOOMAN!" it shouted.

Then I saw its head start to turn, and I heard the groaning grow louder.

More snow pattered down at my feet.

A series of cracks tore through the air like gunshots.

I looked up.

"OH, NO," said Mongo. "MONGO NOT LIKE THIS."

Then the side of the mountain began to move, and the snow came pouring down like water.

I raised my hands to cover my head. I might as well not even have bothered.

The impact slammed the breath out of me, and suddenly I was sliding, rolling, speeding down on a flood of white snow and sharp stone.

Somehow, I held on to Silent Partner. I don't know how. I just wrapped my arms around it and hugged it to me like a security blanket as the flood carried me away.

And then, with one last, jarring lurch, it stopped.

Distantly, I heard a hiss and a series of patters.

And then it all went quiet.

Snow filled my mouth and nostrils. Dazed and battered, I tried instinctively to move.

Then I found that I couldn't.

And then I realized that all I could see was white.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

To be continued...