Rune Wielders

Chapter Forty Six

Colbie felt like she was blind. She was pretty sure, actually, that she was. The only thing that kept her from panicking was the tight hold Ruby had on her elbow. "Ruby?"

The earpiece in her ear crackled to life. "Colbie? Can you hear me?"

"Ruby!" Colbie gasped out, seeing the faint outline of Ruby. It was there, barely, but she could see her. They had stumbled right into a blizzard with no way to see each other--or even their feet.

Colbie's earpiece crackled again, her head swimming with the voices of Alden and Reed, along with Reed. "Where do we go? I can't even hear anything past this wind!" she shouted, watching the faint outline of Ruby nod along with what she had said.

"Rune Wielders! This way! Hurry!" A voice broke through the wind, directing their attention toward a cave.

The four turned their heads and without thinking, trudged after the voice. They didn't care where it was coming from. The only thing on their mind was getting out of the cold. Luckily, through the blazing, icy wind they could see the puff of a crimson tail and identify that it was one of the Snow Vixens, despite them being hurt.

They all slid into the cave after a long trek, Colbie grabbing Ruby at the last moment. It wasn't any warmer. The chill was freezing them to the bone. It wasn't just the chill from the wind that made them freeze, however.

It was the blood turned to ice. It was the smell of hurt and death in the air. It was the moans of pain coming from the usual pristine furred foxes turned crimson and weak. It was the atmosphere of the cave.

"Bara?" Alden shouted, making the other foxes flinch at the loud voice. "Dorota? Iveta? Anyone?" he said, glancing at the unfamiliar faces of the vixens.

"Rune Wielders? Is that you?" Bara croaked out, lifting her head to see the four of them run their way over to her. She held up a paw and flattened back her torn ears. "Stay back. Please. I need space. Many of us are hurt."

"Do you need help? What can we do to help?" Ruby asked, glancing over to Reed.

Reed looked pained at the stench of blood and gore. "Please. Let me help you. Or at least some of them. The small ones, even," he said, glancing over at the smaller fox wailing as she held her arm.

Bara glanced up at Reed, untrust in her eyes for a second at his glowing hand. "Very well. Iveta, please, take him to the children and then to the injured ones. He is trustworthy." She watched with caution as Iveta took him away from the group, leading him over to the crying foxes.

"What happened? Why is the air so frozen? Why is the weather being like this?" Alden asked, sitting next to Bara despite the crimson mess on the floor.

"We think it's the artifact. Since it's been stolen, the weather had gone wild. We haven't been able to find Kale or anyone else since it was stolen." Bara sighed, running a paw over her snout. Blood smeared over the already frozen blood on her muzzle. "It's pathetic. We've lost the one thing we've protected for years."

Colbie hid her right arm behind her back, nodding along to Bara. "Are we here to find it?"

"Where's your arm, Colbie?" she asked, ignoring her question. She motioned for Colbie to show her, blood across her snowy paws. "Oh, kajut," she murmured. "Your arm..."

Colbie dropped her shoulders at the pitied stare Bara gave her. "It's okay."

"Kale did this to you, didn't he?" Bara asked, her tail fluffed up. Her lip twitched with anger. "He's lucky I don't see him myself or me and him are going to have a lot to talk about."

Colbie forced a smile to Bara. "It's okay, really," she said, holding out both of her hands. "It's barely noticeable anymore," she lied.

Of course, it was noticeable. It wasn't even made of skin. She'd just have to get used to it, no matter how much grief she gave herself. It was up to her to accept it. Slowly.