Naeva-To Fight a Monster

Chapter 14

Naeva never thought she'd be thankful to grow up the way she did.

The bitter cold of the Gefroren mountains stung her skin even through the coat, but thanks to her experience with winters back in Finster, she instinctively knew when she was too cold and needed to pick up her pace, or if she was in a warm enough spot to rest a bit.

Finster was so humid that the notion of starting fires had never occurred to Naeva, though, and that was a skill she greatly wished she had now. There were plenty of trees in the Gefroren mountains, but Naeva had no idea how to start a fire. Not that she'd get that far in that task anyway. Somehow, her staff didn't seem like the most effective tool at cutting down trees.

At least Orlando had allowed her to purchase this coat. It was scratchy around her relatively exposed middle, but it kept her skin out of the freezing air. It also had pockets, lined with griffin feathers, so her hands weren't in too much danger of frostbite.

Now that she'd finally located a pass that pointed her west, Naeva found her journey far easier. For the last twenty-four hours now, she'd only left the path to hunt for berries or small creatures. Going at her current pace, she guessed she'd be back in Tierisch in one more day.

Now that she was on smoother terrain, Naeva figured it was safe to try something she'd wanted to do for most of this trek. She pulled her arms into her sleeves and held them close to her within the coat. She could feel her digits warming up almost immediately, the heavenly sense of touch spreading down her arms and into her fingertips.

Her hand brushed something on the inside of the coat. Further prodding revealed a pocket in the lining. Curiosity driving the motion, she reached inside it, fully expecting it to be empty.

It wasn't.

Naeva blinked in surprise as her fingers brushed something familiar. Extracting her arm through the coat sleeve revealed a cell phone in her hand. No, not just that. Opening it and checking the background screen revealed it to be her cell phone.

A million thoughts vied for her attention at once, most of which revolved around Orlando. Why was her phone in his spare coat? If he was trying to keep her near, as she suspected, then why had he let her take said coat, especially if he had hidden the phone...

Well, that wasn't a problem now. Naeva had her phone back, so maybe she could figure out how to call someone from Lowly Champion and speed this journey along. She...

She stopped. While she'd been fiddling with the buttons, she'd found a recorded call from her first night at Orlando's place. Ignoring the chill, which was far milder at this lower elevation, she played the call.

Radley's voice, sounding excited and worried all at once, began the moment the button was pressed. "Naeva! Are you okay? Where—?"

Orlando interrupted him. "You must be a member of that order Naeva mentioned. Nice to meet you, is what I would say... but I won't lie to you, Tierisch order scum."

Naeva' breath caught in her throat. She'd heard voices like that from bandits back in Finster. They pretended to care until they didn't feel like pretending any longer. Then you heard their true voice: a voice devoid of all emotion except for a singular desire, often to kill.

Radley took a deep breath, then calmly asked, "Who are you? Where's Naeva?"

Orlando scoffed. "I needn't concern you. She's safe, at least for now. I had to move quickly to keep this machine from waking her. Don't call again or I'll slit her throat before she stirs."

The recording ended, and Naeva mentally cursed herself for allowing herself to believe him so easily. So what if Orlando looked like a lonely old man? That didn't change what people were capable of.