“Let’s stop and fortify ourselves,” Hyden suggested.
Talon had located Loudin’s valley for them and was off searching for Borg. Hyden knew that if they ate heartily now, they could reach the cavern he was leading them to before sunset. Loudin’s valley was just beyond there. The cavern would provide them good shelter from the weather. Its stony walls would hold actual warmth. The tents they had been sleeping in, even bundled in blankets, were cold and far from comfortable.
“It tt- ttts f- fargin c- c- c- cold,” Oarly chattered for what was probably the two-hundredth time.
“Shut up, Oarly,” a chorus of voices returned.
“It’s so cold that I keep forgetting how cold I am,” Telgra snapped at the dwarf. “Why do you have to keep reminding me?”
“You sound like a little girl, Master Dwarf,” Lieutenant Welch said. “You’re not even tall enough to feel the wind. The horse you’re leading blocks it all from you.”
They found a break in the trees that sheltered them from the slighter breeze in the valley. Jicks and the archers went to gather deadfall while Phen piled up kindling and, with a flaming finger, set it to blaze.
Krey, one of the archers, and Hyden had killed a tuskaboar after they ran out of shagmar meat. Hyden was finding that feeding seven mouths on this trek might prove to be challenging in the higher altitudes. The cold caused appetites to be fierce. Luckily, Phen couldn’t eat because Oarly, besides whining constantly about the weather, ate like a pack of starving dogs.
Lieutenant Welch and Telgra tended to the horses while Hyden spitted a haunch of the wild hog on the fire. The elven girl had proven crucial while traversing a narrow rock ledge in a whiteout. Only she and Hyden had been able to see where they were going. By roping the group together in a line and moving the horses one at a time across the narrow path, they had accomplished it. At one point Oarly had begun complaining and for a long, tense moment Hyden thought Telgra would throw him from the ledge, but she restrained herself somehow. Every day they traveled together, Hyden’s respect for her grew. They let the horses rest and fed them oats from a sack, but there were burlberry bushes that thrived around the tree trunks and the horses were soon nibbling the leaves from them.
The roasted wild pig went well with the last of the hard bread Hyden’s clansfolk had sent with them. Hyden was glad they were close to the cave. Hopefully Borg would come along soon. Until he did, they would have to hunt for food and handpick greenery for the horses. He dared not lead them farther than the cavern without the Southern Guardian. After a short rest, he decided that it wouldn’t matter, not if they didn’t get to the cavern. Soon the procession was back on its way.
Only Lieutenant Welch and the two archers rode their horses. This was for defensive reasons, not for comfort. The elevated position allowed them a better shot at anything that might approach. When the mountainous terrain wouldn’t allow for riding, the others had to lead their mounts so that their hands were free.
Every now and then Oarly would ride for a short time, just to rest his legs. He didn’t like being out from behind his living wind-block, though, so he never rode long.
They crossed another ridge and, instead of cutting down and up through the valley it sided, they skirted around it. The next valley was deep and, even though the temperature seemed well below freezing, the stream that ran through it flowed with an audible gurgling force. The top of the ridge opposite the valley from them sported the cave where Hyden, Vaegon, and Loudin had once waited for Borg to find them.
As Hyden led the group down from the heights through the knee-deep snow he saw something that didn’t alarm him as much as it discouraged him. Animal tracks, big ones, left by a four-legged creature, most likely a bear. Using his keen vision, Hyden saw that they led from the cavern mouth down the rock-strewn slope into the thickly forested streambed and back up again. Apparently the cavern wasn’t empty anymore. If they had to, he decided, they could easily kill the bear and use its meat to sustain themselves. Its pelt would make an excellent cover for the cavern mouth.
The problem was, it might be a female readying for hibernation, with cubs growing inside her. If it was, Hyden couldn’t even run it out of the cavern. He would have to find out before they proceeded. Normally, he would just send Talon across the valley to take a peek, but the hawkling was off searching for Borg. If the bear was cubbing, they didn’t dare camp in this valley. What was worse, Loudin’s valley was just beyond the cavern. To get there, they either had to cross over the ridge right by the cavern mouth, or skirt around the treacherous granite cliffs that formed the knife-like ridge before them. It could take days for them to get around, and for the first time Hyden’s confidence in his plan to leave the village early was faltering.
“Lieutenant,” he called out. “Ease the group down by the tree line and be ready for anything. I will be back shortly.”
“What is it, Hyden?” Phen asked. His curiosity was piqued by the sudden command.
“There is a big bear living in our shelter cave. If it’s a male, we’ll kill it and let its death give us life. If it is a female, then we will be forced to not only find new accommodation, but also a different route.”
“Wh- wh- why d- do we n- need to be ready?” Oarly asked, his chattering voice full of alarm.
“The bear might not be in its cave,” Hyden said simply. “It could be fattening itself up on fish or deer down there.” He laughed at the dwarf. “It’s just a bear, Oarly.”
“Bah!” Oarly waved him off with a grumble. “J- just uh fa- fa- fargin ba- bear-”
“Come on, dwarf,” Lieutenant Welch said as politely as he could manage. “We’ll keep you safe. Let’s get down there by the trees and out of the wind.”
Phen looked at Hyden longingly. He wanted to go with him to explore the cavern. Hyden saw it in the marble-colored boy’s expression. No doubt even a giant ice bear would have trouble sinking tooth or claw into Phen’s skin. Hyden laughed.
“I’m not going to walk over there, Phen, or I’d let you come along.”
“Aye,” Phen said a little dejectedly. “I can’t wait until we get somewhere. I want you to teach me some of your new spells.”
“Soon,” Hyden promised. Then, with the wave of his hand and a smoking, crackling, pop, he vanished.
Hyden appeared a few feet back from the mouth of the cavern. As luck would have it, a huge pregnant female bear was just emerging. Hyden barely had time to blink the smoke from his eyes and take in his surroundings when the protective mother roared out in protest. Hyden, not so used to his newfound magical abilities that he instinctively went to them for defense, did what came naturally to him. He turned and ran.
His first few steps found purchase in the icy rock, but a steep, snow-drifted embankment swallowed him up as he fell into it. A moment later, with the bear lunging through the deep drift as if it weren’t even there, Hyden burst out of its base. Like a tumbling stone, he flipped end over end down to the tree line opposite the quest party. Far too closely behind him, the enraged mother bear charged down the hill like a cat chasing a ball of yarn.
“B- by D- Doon,” Oarly said loudly as he scrambled up onto a boulder to get a better look.
“Oh my,” Telgra gasped, her sharp eyes able to see more vividly what the others were looking at.
“Krey, Mort, ready your bows, and get on your horses.” Lieutenant Welch scrambled to his own animal. “We have to stop that bear before it gets him.”
“No!” Telgra yelled. “Do not harm the bear.”
The Lieutenant looked at her as if she were daft.