Like the dyheli, Steelmind labored every bit of the way, but did make landfall at the proper place. Without a pause, once he waved from the bank, Wintersky followed him from the same point that he had used. Meanwhile Steelmind gathered tinder, partly for a quick warming-fire on the other side, and partly so the activity would generate more body heat.
The two girls went next, one at a time; Keisha, who had been swimming every day in the Vale lake, just barely made the landing spot. Shandi overshot and had to catch herself on the rope lest she go farther downstream. Steelmind and Karles both waded in to help her over the last bit.
Hywel and Darian went in together; Hywel was not the swimmer that Darian was, and Darian wanted to pace him, just in case. Due to the life-debt, or perhaps friendship alone, Hywel did not want to be away from Darian.
The river was unbelievably cold.
Darian gasped as he hit the water, shocked by the temperature. He rose spluttering to the surface, and struck out for the shore, but the shock had driven most of the air from his lungs, and he had to fight to get another full breath. Darian realized that it was the life-sapping cold that they had not figured into their calculations. In no time he was numb and shivering uncontrollably; it was hard to get air as the muscles of his chest clenched from the cold.
He was too busy watching out for Hywel, swimming and fighting for air to think; the swim was a nightmarish experience that required every fragment of his attention. His focus was split between Hywel thrashing along beside him and his own next breath, the next stroke of his arms, and kick of his legs.
Then he was on the other side; Steelmind and Keisha hauled him out onto the sloping shelf of stone. Beside him, Shandi and Wintersky pulled out Hywel. They both staggered to the land, and dropped to the ground, shivering and coughing.
But as soon as Darian could manage to think, despite gasping like a stunned fish, he seized the nearest ley-line and used the magic - unshielded - to create heat. Without the shielding, the spell created more heat. The dyheli crowded close, steam rising from their coats, and the humans relaxed and stopped shivering. Hashi moved out of the way and shook himself vigorously, then trotted back into the zone of warmth. The heat made an enormous difference; as it soaked into them, and they stopped shivering, it was easier to catch their breaths, easier to regain lost strength. Steelmind returned with an armful of driftwood and twigs, quirked a smile as he realized what they were doing, then dropped the bundle in place to join the group.
It was while they were still drying off that Kuari hooted a warning from somewhere out of sight. Darian’s head snapped up, and the dyheli snorted in alarm.
:Men coming!: he told Darian. :With bows!:
They all scrambled to their feet; Darian dismissed the spell and readied a trip-up, a variation on the first bit of magic he’d ever used in combat, to make people’s feet stick to the ground just long enough to trip them. With their backs to the river, they waited for the strangers to approach - weapons to hand, but not at the ready. Would they approach, or would they slip up to the newcomers to their land? And if they did, would it be with intent to examine, or to ambush?
The warriors must have realized immediately that the strangers had been alerted to their presence, for they did not even try to approach unnoticed. They came openly, but very, very silently - by Northern standards.
Not by Tayledras standards. Darian, Steelmind, and Wintersky heard them long before they appeared among the trees; the crinkle of dead leaves, and the sharp snap of a twig betrayed them. The dyheli snapped their ears forward at each sound until the Northerners emerged from the forest, then they parted to show Kelvren lying at his ease in their midst.
The Northerners froze in mid-step, one by one, as soon as they saw the gryphon. They were clearly taken aback to see what to them must seem a monster lying like a pet dog beside the strangers.
Before anyone could move or speak, Hywel suddenly brightened and stepped forward. “Hiyo! Warriors of Gray Wolf, I greet you!” he said cheerfully. “I am Hywel, a warrior of Ghost Cat, and these are my friends, come to trade!”
That made all the difference. Some of the tension ebbed out of the group, and one of the warriors stepped forward.
“What, then, is - that?” asked the warrior, who boasted a headpiece made of a wolf’s mask, with the rest of the fur serving as a cloak. He pointed to Kel, who stood up - slowly.
“I am Kelvrrren, a warrriorrr of the tribe of Sssil-verrr Grrryphon; we arrre allied with Ghost Cat,” Kel said genially, and cupped his wings. The warrior of Gray Wolf looked dubious, but wasn’t inclined to dispute the word of anything as large and dangerous-looking as the gryphon.
Finally, though, the Gray Wolf fighters came forward. Although the Gray Wolf tribesmen still walked carefully around Kel, giving him wary glances, it appeared that they were ready to give conditional welcome to everyone.
“What have you to trade?” asked one, looking at their saddlebags curiously.
“Dye,” said Hywel, and grinned. “Your women will bedeck you in colors of scarlet and blue, if you have amber or gold to trade for it.”
That got their interest; Northern men were even more color-mad than the women, if that was possible. Hywel extracted samples of thread dyed with Keisha’s colors and passed them around, causing the stalwart warriors to croon like happy girls over the brilliant shades. That loosened the mood considerably, and when Hywel remarked casually that they were trying to find the Great Pass to get to the north and Raven tribe, one of them commented that it would be no great matter to show them the way. In fact, once roughly a candlemark had passed, they were ready to do what no other tribe thus far had been willing to do - they offered to guide the group to their own encampment.
“From thence, we will take you through the mountains to the Great Pass,” one of them said to Hywel. “If that will serve.”
“Good; Snow Fox told us that the Great Pass will lead us to Raven,” Hywel replied, as the others gathered up their baggage and the saddles that had been removed for drying and began tacking up the dyheli and Karles. Darian was very pleased with the way that Hywel was handling the contact, and had decided to leave him nominally “in charge” at least for now.
If Hywel hadn’t been there, he might have hesitated in accepting the offer of Gray Wolf hospitality, but Hywel was perfectly confident with these folk. He even asked about specific individuals, and got answers - something that increased Darian’s comfort level.
“And Shaman Rogare? Wisewoman Awhani?” Hywel continued with his interrogation as they took to their saddles and the whole cavalcade started out. “Have you had more trouble with the Summer Fever and Wasting Sickness, and have they learned of a cure?”
That certainly captured the Gray Wolf folks’ attention; the fellow who appeared to be the leader (with a headdress made of an entire wolf-head, skull and all, and a cloak of several wolf-skins), and who hitherto had held himself somewhat aloof, suddenly addressed Hywel directly.