If Valen was concerned by my new companion, he didn't show it — merely offering me a raised eyebrow and sideways glance. Thankfully, my nod of reply had been enough to convince him to lower his flail, no questions asked. I glanced at the other tiefling to see if he'd noticed the exchange, but his usually sharp eyes were closed. His head had been resting back against the wall as he caught his breath, a scattering of demon's bodies bleeding by his feet. He looked how I felt.

We needed him for the portal out… assuming he had even been telling the truth. And after that? Well, after that he was on his own.

I turned back to Valen, eyes hungry and imploring.

"How—?"

How are you here? I wanted to ask, but he stilled me with a small shake of his head. He was peering out the slightly ajar door, back pressed hard against the icy wall.

"Later," he insisted, teeth gritted hard.

He waved a hand for me to follow, and then — without any further warning — disappeared into the world outside. The other tiefling and I hurried to follow, weapons drawn and ready.

The only devils we saw outside of the palace's walls were busy fighting against the overwhelming number of demons, and — more commonly — littering the streets; eyes staring vacantly at the white sky.

We fought our way through the winding streets of the almost empty city — the fights infinitely quicker and easier with Valen taking lead. Hope blossomed in my chest, growing brighter and brighter the further we went.

The yellow-eyed tiefling had been content following Valen's lead, until — in the relative safety of an alley — I grabbed him roughly by the shoulder and forced him to face me. He grimaced in pain, yanking his shoulder out of my grip.

"So?" I hissed. "Where's this damn portal?"

He lifted his hands defensively, lips pulled back in a snarl. "If they're still alive, then not in Mephistar," he gritted out. "We need to get away from the city. Far enough that they can risk portalling us out."

I felt Enserric's cautious optimism. 'Well, I don't think he's lying,' he murmured to me. He definitely didn't sound sure.

I looked ahead to Valen, to relay the message, only to find him watching us. His eyes were narrowed as he considered the other tiefling. At my look, he offered me a curt nod to show he'd heard, before continuing ahead.

Valen lead us away from the city gates and the bulk of the fighting, towards a hole, blasted clear through some of the wall. Together we made quick work of the demons guarding the area, before scurried through on all fours. The yellow-eyed tiefling pushed his way through first, and Valen waited for me to go next. I crawled over scorch marks and splattered blood, the ice scratching at my exposed skin, before the howling winds of the Wastes greeted us on the other side.

Behind us, the city sat atop a jagged glacier; jutting out of the frozen river like a massive cut diamond. And, ahead, the icy plains continued as far as the eye could see. Taking in the landscape, I spared a meagre thought for the old peeling paint on my skin; my only protection against the elements, before pushing on.

It wasn't long until the sounds of shouting rang out behind us. Sentries; realising that we had slipped past their lines.

We pushed ourselves harder.

The slick ice made for a treacherous sprint, and my ankles roared with the effort of keeping me upright. To top it off, the flat landscape offered us absolutely no protection against projectiles…

An arrow thudded against the hard ground ahead of me.

I sucked in a cold lungful of air, skidding around the arrow's shaft. My arms pumped hard by my side as I darted ahead, attempting to keep pace with Valen. I did my best to ignore the distant twangs of bows from the city's rampants.

Another hiss of arrows pierced the air, and I risked a glance over my shoulder.

I counted the dots of movement in the white sky, noting their trajectory and veering away. Pushing ahead, I risked another glance back at the sound of the next volley.

…and my stomach dropped.

At the frozen river's edge — near the hole in the wall through which we'd escaped — stood a massive towering form. The balor demon smiled at the three of us, lifting a massive hand, wreathed in flames.

Flames, to melt the ice on which we stood.

Flesh met ice, and steam rippled. The surface went opaque, thawing in a line that shot straight for us—

"Run!" I shouted at the sight, pumping my arms harder.

"What do you think I've been doing?" The yellow-eyed tiefling huffed from up ahead.

"The ice," I warned Valen between desperate pants. "It's melting!"

Valen's face was set in a look of concentration, and he took a few laboured breaths before he replied. "Then they're cutting off their direct path to us," he said. It didn't make me feel any better.

Ahead, the ice stretched on forever.

"Faster," Valen ordered.

We weren't going to make it…

"Don't look," he barked, as I began turning my head to see the extent of the balor's damage.

Valen lashed out a hand to grip my elbow, steadying me before I could even register that I'd stumbled.

I cursed my stupidity.

I should be running laps around him. The yellow-eyed tiefling should have been, too. Instead, I could barely keep my footing. Could barely keep pace, despite his heavier weaponry and armour.

My lagging, stumbling steps were the after-effects of the softsugar tea; the false energy it had gifted us with was fading fast.

Soon, I wouldn't be able to run at all.

There was a flash of red from the sword at my belt, and I felt a rush of warmth and energy. It wasn't as powerful as before, but it was enough.

I sent a silent thanks to Enserric.

Suddenly, Valen shoved me aside and I staggered, arm wheeling to keep my balance.

An arrow ricocheted off the ice where I'd been.

"Focus," Valen growled. "The ice is thicker, further out."

Water splashed beneath my boots — the ice thawing.

I hurtled ahead, weaving in and out of Valen and the other tiefling's path as arrows continued landing all around us. Their numbers were thinning, the further we got from the walls — but none of that would matter, if the ice didn't hold.

And no matter how far we went, the ice beneath us melted, and melted…

I heard a groan beneath my feet. And then—

Crack!

I spun, seeing the tiefling's wide yellow eyes as he realised what was happening. His arms shot out as the ground gave way beneath him. He opened his mouth to shout, before the black water swallowed him whole.

I didn't think.

Ice sliced into my face, my hands. I dove towards him. My chest slammed against the cracking ice's edge as I stretched. I screamed as his claws found purchase in my arm, tugging and shredding.

Behind, steps thudded on the ice. I felt Valen's hand as it wrapped around my ankle. He started dragging me back, away from the claws that scraped rivets through my skin.

Valen tugged again, and I was torn from the sinking tiefling's failing grip. The reaching hands disappeared back below the water's roiling surface.

No!

I kicked back wildly at Valen, attempting to free my ankle. But he held strong.

"We need him!" I hissed.

Valen paused, but still his steady grip remained.

"I didn't come all this way only for you to drown!" he retorted gruffly.

His other hand circled hard around my ankle, tense and ready. Shimmying forward, I stretched again for the water. I reached for the darkest point, face pinched in pain—

The water exploded.

Yellow eyes wide in fear, the tiefling surfaced again with a heaving gasp.

All around us, more arrows fell. Some into the river's dark depths, and some so close I could feel the wind shift. But — somehow, thankfully — none found purchase.

Eyes wide and searching, the tiefling's head sunk back below the water. The surface roiled with his desperate flailing.

Valen's grip tightened.

Just one more sec...

I realised a breath of air as, precious seconds later, the tiefling surfaced again; more slowly than last time. His arms hit the ice, chipping more away, as he clawed at the empty air.

"Take my fricken hand," my fingers grazed his own.

I could just make out the balor's smiling face from amongst the flames, as they erupted brighter than ever. All around us the ice continued to crack.

My chest, my stomach; they were covered in water from the thawing river.

I felt Valen's hands tense around my ankle, ready to pull. "Jane," he growled in warning.

"Kinda busy, here," I gritted out.

The clawed fingers grabbed at me, and — this time — I was ready. My forearm screamed at the burn of his claws. But, despite the pain, I flung my other hand towards his elbow, grabbing hold and pulling.

The icy cold water felt as if it were burning, and I closed my eyes against the painful sting.

"Got him!"

Valen heaved me away from the waters edge with a grunt of effort.

I held his soaked arm tight and felt the suck of water as it released the gasping tiefling from its depths. Breathing hard, we scrambled from the edge.

"Fuck," I faintly heard him through the chattering of his teeth. "That was brisk."

Vallen pulled the other tiefling to his feet and immediately pushed him forward.

No time to assess injuries, we were running again. Sprinting across the ice, feet slapping against the water.

The floor grumbled and groaned all around us.

It's gonna break it's gonna break it's gonna break—

"Almost there," Valen urged me on.

I squinted against the glare, trying to see what he saw.

Almost where?!

But then I understood; he hadn't seen anything.

I suddenly realised that we hadn't needed to dodge a single arrow. Not since pulling the yellow-eyed tiefling from the water. And a couple of heart beats later, I began noticing other things. The groaning beneath our feet was gone, the sheets of ice no longer shifting.

And the water was getting shallower!

The balor's roar echoed towards us, as he too realised we were out of his reach.

Slowing, I risked a glance back—

But then Valen's hand was on my shoulder, urging me on.

I don't know how much longer we ran across the flat plains. One more step, just one more step, my mind kept urging me; growing more and more sluggish by the second.

I was close to giving up, when the yellow-eyed tiefling tripped, collapsing in a heap.

Slowing, I turned sluggishly to see what had happened.

He didn't get back up.

Valen slowed, before stopping, jogging to check on him.

"Still alive," he told me. He looked over his shoulder, before taking in the sight of me; hunched over and breathing hard. "Let's catch our breaths for a moment."

I used the rare reprieve to spit thick wads of saliva from my mouth, wiping my tacky lips against the back of my pale, marbling fingers. Looking down at them, I hissed out a curse as I realised that the water had washed the paint from my hands; exposing them to the unforgiving cold.

Around us, the outline of the city's walls were still visible past the collapsed tiefling's body, and the flat expanse of Cania stretched ever-on, everywhere I looked.

We needed to find that portal, fast.

Noting my injured arm, pulled tight against my chest, Valen frowned down at his bag, rifling through it. As he searched, I watched him.

The harsh white light made the blues of his eyes impossible bright, bright and soft with worry.

"Valen…"

At the sound of his name, he looked up. When our gazes met, he paused. He must have seen the look on my face, as he eventually reached out. I let him pull me to him, too exhausted to do anything but gasp out a sob. Pulling me against his chest, he breathed me in, burying his face in my matted hair. I curled my arms around his chest, squeezing hard, not wanting to let go.

But it was over all too soon.

He pulled away, and I immediately missed his warmth, as he went back to sorting through his meagre belongings.

My knees wobbled, and I let my legs give way, collapsing onto the hard ground. My muscles cried out, and my eyes felt impossibly heavy. It felt as if the pain and fear of the last few months hit me all at once.

Valen, having found what he was looking for, knelt before me, pushing something into my stiff grasp. I looked down to find gloves — my gloves! — and managed a weak smile. His knees nudged my own as he edged closer with a nod.

As I attempted to pull my gloves on, I didn't miss the way his eyes hardened as they roamed across every inch of me; taking in my injuries and the evidence of my time without food. I pointedly tried to avoid his gaze. At my fumbling, he stopped me; wrapping fingers around my frozen wrist and frowning down at the shredded skin with a grimace. Careful of my injuries, he helped me pull the gloves onto each of my fingers before silently passing me a healing potion. Again, he watched me, that concern shining through, and I did my best not to shrink under his scrutiny. But I knew how much weight I'd lost, how ragged I looked.

I gulped the potion down gratefully — the liquid sloshing around my too-empty stomach — even knowing that it would do nothing for the exhaustion taking root.

I eyed the fallen tiefling with guilt, when he didn't receive the same careful treatment. I could see the little puffs of vapour as they escaped his parted lips, and he'd curled his knees up against his chest.

"Jane…"

My eyes darted back to Valen's own.

In that one word I heard so much more than just my name.

I heard all of the sleepless nights he would have spent pacing, thinking I'd left without saying anything. I heard how hard the last few weeks had been for him.

And I heard his frustration.

"You're mad," I whispered.

Smiling my favourite smile — small and rueful — Valen placed a hand on my shoulder. He slid his fingers up my neck, until my cheek came to rest hard against his palm. I leant into him, craving his warmth.

"Maybe I am," he said softly. I bit my lip as his eyes shuttered, the soft warmth hardening into something more fitting for our current predicament. "Come. Now is not the time."

His hand fell away, and I immediately missed his touch.

No. Now was the time.

Look where putting things off had gotten us.

And I'd feel a lot better about freezing to death if I knew he wasn't mad at me.

"How did you find me?"

I saw his eyes pinch at my stubborn insistence. But, eventually, he shook his head. He didn't get up, his bent knees knocking against my own.

"Your god; Shaundakul," he explained. "He told me where you were."

My eyes widened, heart beating faster in panic. "Shaundakul? That was—"

"Asmodeus," Valen finished for me, nodding. "At least, it was for you, based on what he told me. Turns out the devil's involvement annoyed the real Shaundakul. He said you asked for help?" He raised an eyebrow.

…My prayers had been answered?

I blinked at him in surprise.

Valen shrugged. "He got involved, anyway. Told me where you had ended up and summoned me a portal to Sigil."

I sucked in a breath. More god's getting involved? I shook my head in disbelief. It seemed even they didn't want me ruling Cania.

I looked back up at him. "And you found a portal to Cania?" I asked in disbelief.

He huffed. "If only it had been that simple. No; I found one to the Abyss. From there it was easy enough to jump to Cania."

Easy enough as part of a mindless army in the Blood Wars…

Valen made to stand, and this time I reached out to him, fingers wrapping around his arm. He froze.

I swallowed. "I didn't leave."

He paused, eyes finding my own and waiting. His features were too carefully schooled; I couldn't tell what he was thinking.

"The portal opened, but I wasn't going to go through it," I told him, managing a choked laugh. "I was at the market, buying us same damned peaches, of all things. And then it just…" I shrugged. "It sucked me through."

What had seemed so logical and romantic at the time, now seemed absolutely ridiculous.

I stared straight into his eyes, willing him to see the truth of it. "I wanted to stay."

Nearby, the bundle of tiefling hissed, shivering as a gust of wind tore through us.

I saw Valen turning the words over, and squeezed his arm once before letting go.

Before I could say anything more, he was pushing himself to his feet. He reached out a hand to help me up, and I took it gratefully. I squeezed his hand gently, meeting his eyes. He let go first.

With a grunt of effort, Valen collected the smaller tiefling in his arms.

Despite my exhaustion, I didn't argue when he pushed us to continue, setting a brisk walking pace that my shaking legs could barely match. I focused on each step, each breath; my shredded arm tucked hard against my chest, numb from the cold. But, eventually, I managed to get my breathing under control, and it no longer felt like my lungs were about to explode.

The city disappeared behind us, until I feared that we would begin walking in circles with no reference point. But that didn't slow Valen, intent as he was on putting as much distance between us and my prison as possible.

After a while, the tiefling in Valen's arms became completely still. And he would have looked dead, but for the occasional flutter of his dark eyelashes. His lids darted around rapidly, trapped in some nightmare.

As the sky darkened, and still nothing around us changed, I began to watch Valen. I traced the line of his jaw, the profile of his nose; comparing it to the image I'd held in my heart, thinking I'd never see him again.

I blinked through my exhaustion blearily, willing him to look back at me.

All I wanted to do was throw my arms around him again, to hold him tight. But still he pushed on, eyes only on the distant horizon.

My throat tightened to the point of pain with everything I wanted to say. More than once I opened my lips to speak, but each time the words left me, exhaustion causing my tongue to feel thick in my mouh.

And not once did Valen look back.

Eventually, I found the words. They just weren't anything that I actually wanted to say. And definitely not what Valen wanted to hear.

"We need to stop," I said.

At first my words didn't seem to register. Valen's steps faltered and his head swivelled around to consider me, bright blue eyes blinking in confusion.

A beat, and then he was walking again. "We cannot stop here," he insisted.

I followed, shivering against the chill. I didn't say anything more. I didn't have the energy.

The distance between us was widening more and more by the minute, but still he pushed on.

The light was just dipping below the horizon, staining the usually white plain a bruised blue, when he spoke again.

"We can melt some of the packed ice enough to soften it — maybe build a shelter," he murmured thoughtfully.

"Do you think that's possible?" I asked his back between gulping breaths of frigid air.

He didn't seem to hear me, shaking his head and pushing us on. I knew without his confirmation that it wasn't a good plan. We couldn't melt the ice deep enough to hide from the wind — not without risking another swim.

All around us, it was flat. Stretching on and on and on…

But then —

"There," Valen said.

He motioned ahead with his chin, to a spot where the land began to slope away from us. Exhausted relief shone through in his tone.

It wasn't long before the flat, glassy ice began to crunch beneath our feet. And, as we eventually made our way up the slope, the densely packed snow began softening with each of our heavy steps.

I collapsed onto the fresh snow, the ground soft and welcoming. I sighed, as the cool snow made my pain wracked body numb.

Distantly, I heard Valen say something; the low timber of his voice concerned. When I didn't reply, he said something, louder again. At the sound of his voice, I smiled faintly. It was a sound I'd resigned myself to never hear again.

I ignored the twinge at the back of my head that was Enserric, ignored the frantic edge to his thoughts.

It's okay, I tried to tell him. But my mouth wouldn't work for some reason.

I closed my eyes, and slept; knowing I was safe now that Valen was here with me.