Garden of Embers: Beneath Devouring Eyes #2

Chapter 16, Part A

"None but the Eternal Radiance could have crafted the laurel, Child. Such perfect patterns and glorious colors do not arise by accident."

--from the Holy Ovidiana

*~*~*~*

"All right, Alumna," Valens said, pulling a white shoot from a jar, "this one's for you. Two hours, Aix says."

For once, Domi's aedificans did not need to shout over the wind, and the light breeze felt almost balmy compared to just an hour earlier.

Domi accepted the sprig with a frown. "Are you sure it's safe?" He nibbled the sweet stem, glancing around the snowy expanse as the warmth of his rekindling prometus began to creep through his bones. Pawprints, sled tracks, and snowshoe footsteps so enormous they could belong to a giant marred the snow around them. "We passed that family just a half hour ago."

All day, they had found themselves in good company as the huskies pulled them through the dark night-side wilds deeper into the Blightlands. Ancient paths over frozen lakes, around slick hills, and through snow fields bore the nomadic locals to and fro about their business, and Valens and Aix took Domi and Daedalus the same way. Wind turbines spiraled at regular lengths along the footworn paths, ensuring little rogue promenia tore up the trails, though the surrounding lands lay jagged and shattered.

They weren't the only travelers using sled-dog teams to navigate the frigid lands, and Domi had even seen an old woman cross an iced-over lake using long blades strapped to her boots, her flock of sheep following. At lunch, he and the others shared a campfire with a gregarious family, who blathered so much about their ice fishing exploits Domi didn't need to lie even once about his identity.

He hadn't been able to believe so many people lived on the night-side, let alone in the Blightlands. But Aix said these Pyrrhaei communities under the Luminis curia's rule had been here for generations.

"We'll be leaving these more populated parts soon," Valens said, nodding for Domi to climb back onto the sled after their short break. "And even if we weren't, Aix wants us to give our prometus a little time to recover before we re-suppress it. If we want to avoid being seen, this is the best time."

Domi hunkered down in their sled amid pans and gruel barrels, glowering sideways at his twin as Daedalus sat gingerly among the other sled's tent and blankets. Why did the dunce get to ride with all the soft  gear? He shoved a skillet handle away from his ribs, which had begun to throb with the echo of Daedalus's injuries. "But our laurels--"

"Just keep your collar up and your scarf on."

Domi sighed and nodded. He peeked at Daedalus again as Aix called out to the other dog team to depart. His brother didn't have a laurel to hide. Domi frowned, studying his twin's pale feminine face. He hoped Dae would get it back, even if the markings would make his brother harder to hide.

At least the resonance still worked. He rubbed his arm with a grimace. The swelling from Dae's injuries was annoying, but it also meant his brother's prometus, even unkindled, was hard at work, thank the Eternal Radiance.

He caught his twin's dark eyes watching him and offered a small smile, massaging his wrist one more time before releasing it. Dae's brows furrowed, and the illusory girl turned stiffly to face the snow, back ramrod straight. Domi rolled his eyes at the stuffy prig.

As his sled bounded over the gentle, snowy hills, Domi sighed, rubbing his sore ribs as they throbbed. Daedalus flicked him a frown from the other sled, and Domi glared sternly until his twin turned away again. "What?" he grumbled under his breath. "I don't have to like it, you dunce."