Beyond the Border | ✔

38 | rule 119

"As I said, Vanessa must be putting some sort of block up," Theo remarked, picking up his pace. "We'll have to rely on our human abilities for the time being."

"What a nightmare," Heath complained, leaning his head back. "No offense to you, Sage. It's nothing personal."

I managed a frail smile, even though I knew Heath could not see it. I understood where he was coming from, but even with their weakened state, I knew they were still leaps and bounds stronger than me. They all had muscle packed onto their arms and thighs that would take months to form. They were used to running long distances and navigating rough terrain. All while I got all huffy and puffy walking to and from the market back in the Borderlands.

The day began to wear on, and the temperature in the air dropped to a bone-chilling frost. Heath complained about not being able to shift into his fur coat, regretting wearing shorts instead of pants. The sun was beginning to set, reducing visibility. Once the sun was replaced with a shining sliver of a moon, Theo declared that we should camp out for the night, wanting to preserve some energy for the snow-covered path ahead.

To find a place suitable for shelter, we had to veer off the path – only slightly. Mina spotted a shallow cave, and we all made our way over to it without complaint. Heath quickly gave himself the assignment of finding any stray branches to start a warm fire.

Snow started to barely coat the trail, and I knew the worst of it would be ahead of us. While we waited for Heath, Theo handed me a granola bar. Hastily, I finished it in a couple bites, my stomach still rumbling afterward. We would need to preserve the rest of our food for later, uncertain of how treacherous the path would get, uncertain of how long we'd be on this mountain.

Once Heath came back, he piled up all the wood he found and pulled out a lighter from his bag. It did not take long for the fire to illuminate the cave, and, for the first time since we had been on the path, I was no longer cold. Before long, I passed out like a light only to be woken up the next morning by a low rustling noise.

Turning over in my sleep, I assumed the noise had just been Hearth causing some sort of low commotion, but when Mina shrieked, my body shot out of its slumber.

"What is that... thing?" Mina cowered away from a small figure that was hunched over, its long, slender fingers rummaging through a backpack.

"Give that back," Heath growled, lunging for the unknown figure, but it just snickered at him, clutching the backpack and running away with it. Both Theo and Heath went to track down the creature, but, without their heightened senses, they came back empty-handed, leaving us with one-third of our supplies.

"Well, we're fucked," Heath kicked the side of the cave, wincing at the impact. He hobbled over to the ashes of the fire that once had roared last night. "At least, we're all fucked together."

"Heath is the first one we sacrifice if it comes down to it," Mina gave Heath the side-eye.

"Agreed," Theo commented as he slung his backpack over his shoulder.

Heath was all up in arms about the unknown creature that paid us a visit. In the dull visibility of the cave, I was not able to see what the creature was, but Heath swore it was a mutant rat with a human head attached. Somehow, I did not take his word for it.

With low morale, we all headed back to the path, our footsteps from last night still prominent in the snow, unlike the creatures. The creature's footsteps were non-existent. I tried not to question it, but I could not shake the feeling of wanting to be at the top of the mountain already.

As we resumed our spots on the path, the snow started to get thicker and thicker. Soon, my feet were completely drenched from the snow seeping through my shoes and socks. Half of my jeans were wet as well, and it took great effort to raise each foot out of the snow that now came up to my waist.