THE IMMORTAL: Dance with the Dragon

24: Thin Air

The next few days were exhausting. The temperatures had plummeted; the wind scratched at the parts of their faces that weren't covered; their cheeks were chapped; their eyes were dry. The snow had finally stopped, but it was up to their knees. Despite having two or three pairs of socks on their feet, their toes were numb. The cold seeped into their joints, making every step a challenge.

Samara and Leela were talking again. Neither of them brought up what Samara had said, they had just started talking as if everything was normal. That's how it always seemed to go with them, ever since they were kids. They would be angry for a while and then go on as if nothing had happened.

They trudged through the snow, their pant legs soaking wet from the knees down. Every breath of cold air stabbed at their throat.

"Would you just leave that thing? It's slowing you down." Leela complained about Rufus' guitar as he struggled to climb up a small shelf of the mountainside.

"Not a chance." Rufus grunted. Samara reached down, grabbing his wrist so he wouldn't fall. She helped him up without saying a word. She too wished he would leave the guitar behind but also understood why he didn't want to.

"Why are you even still here?" Leela asked. "I don't mean that in a rude way or anything," she added, "but if you don't want the reward anymore, why don't you go back to Port Thunder?"

During their night in the cave, Rufus had come to the realization he was in over his head. Danteous was no longer a reward he wanted to pursue. It was too dangerous. Rufus had never collected a reward that wasn't human and he wasn't about to start with the son of Cyril. Not only that, but he didn't want any conflicts with Samara or Leela.

"You obviously still carry a torch for him," he had said to Samara and before she could reply, he turned to Leela and said, "and he's your brother. The guilt would eat me up."

"Trust me, there are no feelings of affection, I don't give a shit if you kill him." Leela had refused to look either of them in the eye when she said that.

Rufus chuckled. "You're full of shit."

It had been a few days since their time in the cave. They hadn't brought up Danteous or the reward since then.

Leela made a good point now. Why had Rufus stuck around?

"What and let you three have all the fun?" Rufus grinned, slapping away some snow that had collected on his knees during the climb up. "No way. Besides, you're my friends now ... I can't turn my back on you guys."

Leela didn't seem to understand that. The only friend she had ever really had was Samara. She had built up a wall around herself and refused to let anyone else in, other than Kalahari (and Danteous before he left).

Leela frowned in response to Rufus, but didn't say anything else.

They trudged on, sluggish through the deep snow. If the terrain had been clear, they might have made it to the top and halfway down the other side of the mountain by now, Samara thought bitterly. Stupid snow, slowing us down. Snow in June. Ridiculous.

As if hearing her thoughts, the sun peeked through the clouds. The snow sparkled, the brilliant white blinding their eyes. They squinted against it.

Samara averted her gaze to the north where Bear Cliff towered over the other mountain tops. She knew Cyril's clan was somewhere in those peaks. Maybe even Cyril himself. She wondered if there were any scouts this far west. So far, they hadn't been attacked by anyone else. They had heard wolves in the distance and owls from the trees. But nothing else.

No sign of Danteous either, but she knew he was somewhere out there. Leela had mentioned several times that he was spying on them still and to keep the orb talk to a minimum.