24

The rest of the day was lost in a haze of pain and fatigue and agonizing weakness, and I lost all track of time. My muscles burned with exertion, and the only thing that kept me moving was crippling fear and my own all-consuming stubbornness. One step at a time, forcing my exhausted legs to keep moving, my wounded arm throbbing in pain every step of the way, my head pounding and my back screaming in protest.

I managed to cut strips from the dead rieklings' fur clothing, and wrapped some tightly around my forearm to stop the bleeding at least. Mirisa's wound was another matter. I cut some cloth from her own robe and packed it down over the stab wound, and then tied more strips of cloth around it to hold it in place. At some point, Mirisa stopped crying enough to help.

Neither of us had slept much the night before, and that, combined with being so hungry as well as losing a lot of blood, made both of us weak and tired. Mirisa could barely stand at first, her legs trembling. She had to lean on me as we made our way south, taking it one slow step at a time.

We were too tired to talk, too tired to do anything, but we could not stop moving. We didn't have time to rest. Both of us realized that we were in no condition to camp for the night again, so that meant we absolutely had to make it back to Fort Frostmoth by night fall. We were too exhausted to try to gather firewood, and another day without food or medical attention might very well make it impossible to go on. The cold alone would probably kill us.

So me marched through the snow, forcing our way onward. Mirisa could not go by herself, so she leaned against me, and I had to half-carry her as her strength waned and she could no longer walk on her own at all. Her skin was pale and her breath was shallow, but somehow she kept going.

"We're almost there," I would whisper once and awhile, knowing it was a lie.

One foot after the other, one step at a time. Just keep moving, don't stop for anything. If we stopped to rest, we would never be able to get back up again.

My legs felt like dead weights, chained with manacles and dragging boulders behind them. My back burned with the pain of supporting Mirisa for so long, and my lungs felt dry and raw from breathing the cold, dry air. And my arm, once blissfully numb, regained its feeling only to throb in agonizing pain all day long.

Night began to fall, almost without me realizing it. One moment, it was still bright outside, and the next, I could barely see where we were going because it was so dark. I began to panic, and wanted to move faster, but my body would not cooperate. Mirisa was slumped over me like a sack of grain, her legs wobbling forward, barely even holding up her own weight. But she was alive, I could hear her gasps for breath, and it urged me on.

"Fight the cold, fight the pain." That was something my father had told me an eternity ago. Fight the cold, fight the pain. I marched on into the darkening forest, the intense cold nipping at my face, stinging my eyes. We shuffled onward, overcome by pain and almost blind in the dark.

Finally, I lost my footing, and fell to one knee, crying out in surprise and pain. Mirisa sagged off me, even as I tried in vain to lift her up again. She slumped against the base of a tree and her head rolled back, blinking at me slowly. She couldn't even move anymore, and neither could I. I fell to my side and lay in the snow, panting for breath, forcing my eyes open and fighting the desire to simply close them and drift off to gentle slumber.

"If we fall asleep … we're dead," I whispered.

Mirisa swallowed weakly and said nothing. Even in the darkness, I could see how pale her face was, how hollow her eyes appeared. The wind picked up, making it even colder, and the tree branches above us rustled, knocking some snow loose. A few stray flakes of snow drifted down over Mirisa's face, and she was too tired to even wipe them off.

"You … tried," she whispered. "I'm so … sorry."

I gritted my teeth and forced myself to roll over onto my hands and knees, my face pressed into the snow. The coldness forced me to push upward, my arms quivering, and I somehow found myself sitting upright. Fight the cold, fight the pain. I kept thinking it over and over, until I was able to climb to my feet.

Through the blur of darkness, I could make out dim lights in the distance. At first I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me, or it was just the reflection of moonlight on drifts of snow. But as I stared, I was certain that they were lights, although I could not tell how far away they were.

And lights could only mean one thing. It was the fort, it had to be. By some miracle, we had almost reached our destination.

I could barely stand, but I took another step forward. I reached down and gripped Mirisa's parka in one frozen hand.

"Come on," I said through clenched teeth. "Just a little farther, I promise."

"I can't," she whispered softly, looking up at me with large, sad eyes. "I can't move anymore. I can't."

"We're almost there, I can see the fort."

"Sasha … it's over. I can't … go on any farther."

With my other hand, I steadied myself against the tree. I could not stand for long. If I did not start moving soon, I was going to lose the tiny reserve of strength I had found. But I knew that if I left her here to go get help, she would be dead before we got back. It was now or never.

I took a few slow, deep breaths, trying to build up just a little bit of energy. Mirisa looked up at me wonderingly, her shallow breaths the only sign of life.

I leaned my head back and screamed as loud as I could.

"Help us! Please!" I screamed. "It's Sasha and Mirisa! Please help us!"

The expenditure of energy sapped the life out of me, and I fell forward onto my knees, leaning over Mirisa. Her body felt cold against mine, but her eyes searched up and found mine, and we just sat there for a moment, looking at each other.

I heard a faint voice, then another, in the distance. Then the sight of torches, far away but coming closer.

"Are they … coming?" Mirisa whispered.

"Yes," I gasped. "They heard me."

"You … saved me … again," she said, giving me a weak smile.

I turned my head and saw three figures stomping through the woods, waving torches. "Sasha!" one of the cried. "Sasha! Where are you?"

"Over here," I croaked, barely able to raise my voice. They turned and ran in our direction, the light of their torches shining on us like the light of redemption.

"Oh my God! Davus, go get more men!"

Out of the darkness came my savior. Gaea Artoria emerged from the shadows, a torch in her hand, and she grabbed me and pulled me to my feet somehow. The other two guards checked on Mirisa and tried to keep her awake and comfortable while another one ran off for more help.

"You're hurt," Gaea said in a panic. "By the Gods, what happened to you? Sasha?"

I smiled weakly and then I finally succumbed to unconsciousness. I fell into her arms and passed out.