AN - For all those who celebrate I hope you have a good Easter, and here is a little gift just before the day ends! And it was not too long a wait for you! Az x
Chapter 39
Breathing was painful, harsh and freezing her insides with a burning agony. Heart thudding against her chest in aching beats, feeling that even with her disability, she could almost hear the roar of her blood being pumped around her body. Feet numb yet on fire at the same time as her feet were bare against the ice-covered ground and inches of snow.
Tears fell unbidden and unchecked down already carved tracks upon her frozen cheeks. How had it come to this? The night before had been one that she would never forget as long as she lived. Yet it had started so innocently, if chilling to the bone and with painful wracking shivers. At least she had managed to gain a little warmth, from the arms of Artair, with the combined concealment beneath both their cloaks. Even if both were soaked from the onslaught of the weather and there had been no hope of leaving it anytime soon.
But at least she could say that they had managed to survive so far reasonably well. Now however she could not say what was going to happen; or whether they would all be dead by the next nightfall. It was not a good feeling to behold, trapped in the wilderness with nothing upon her feet and nothing in her stomach. Artair having disappeared moments ago in the almost sheets of snow still falling from the angry clouds above. Her silent world made the terror within her build to unfathomable levels. Unable to tell whether or not danger approached from behind or around from another direction.
Tears dripping from her chin as she used the back of her hand to wipe at her nose. She was cocooned in a silent living hell, unknowing of which way to face or which way to go. Not knowing what had come of Alfred or the others who had traversed this harsh landscape with them. Artair having left her behind, which she could not blame him for, as she was slowing him down terribly. Yet, she had hoped of seeing this journey through to a hopeful conclusion, rather than dying in a frozen wasteland, at the hands of those that even now were tracking her like dogs did a rabbit. She was the prey they hunted, and if they caught her she was not sure she would survive to see if she could see a friendly face once more.
Unable to do anything other than choose a direction and hope she had God and fate on her side this day. She had seen death up close and would hope never to see such a sight again, the bright red spurting upon the pristine white to be visible even through the thick flakes floating about them. Her mind was a tumble and she could not quite grasp what had happened in the last hours, only flashes and certain parts remained vividly ingrained in her mind. Like the flash of warm red spurting against the white, while Artair had dragged her away, her gaze could not have left the seeping of life, leaving their adversary. That red had glazed her vision for many an hour since. Every step she took having her look in vain about her, without being able to see beyond the shape of Artair as he had dragged her forward once more.
Confusion shrouded her, unable to grasp exactly how it was she was here and exactly where she was going to go. The horses having run upon the attack making this all the more arduous for her. Her feet burning uncontrollably as she made her way further and further through the snow and ice, her tears and breathes coming quicker and quicker. Vision blurring as the water stung her eyes, unable to see anything as the world closed in around her.
Falling to her knees, the snow a soft cushion beneath her, the cold and pain slowly edging to the back of her mind. It was all in vain then, the emptiness and aloneness took over her. There was no more she could do, the snow a blanket that looked so inviting, for she could go no further. Utterly and completely alone, in a silent and cruel world, she felt no cold anymore, no pain, no feeling at all. In fact she could not even summon the ability to care for her predicament at all in that very moment. Surely a little nap was all she needed to find the strength which had slowly seeped out of her without her notice.
Her eyelids growing heavier and heavier, whilst the rest of her body seemed to float, above all recognition of her surroundings was non-existent. As all thought left there was no feeling there for her to use. Only a blackness to frame the silent world she had lived in for so long now. Nothing was left…nothing.
Artair felt the panic flood through his system, pushing back the discomfort of his frozen limbs and the pain which racked him. His heart stuttered in his chest as the terror tried to take a hold of him. Rohesia was not where he had left her. She was gone, no matter which direction he whipped his head in, the snow was just too thick for him to see through. He had only left her to dispatch the enemy whom had been on their trail. After the way she had reacted to the first he had made bleed, Artair had not wanted her to see it once more. Holding his hand out in a way that he was sure would make her stay, to know that he would return.
Had he remembered correctly? Had he in fact left her standing alone in her place, but he was the one leaving her alone at this moment. Spinning in a circle, whilst of no value at all, made him feel a little better, as if he was doing something. Yet conversely, at the same time, he also felt all the more vulnerable and at loss in the situation because of it. None more so than Rohesia was in that very moment, alone, in the wilderness. He had sworn to protect her, had promised he would take care of her and see her safe. Yet here he was, with the blood of his enemy still clinging to him and Rohesia nowhere to be seen.
“Rohesia!” he knew calling was useless. That she would not be able to hear him. But all logical thought seemed to have left him, as reason warred with fear to make him act in such an irresponsible manner.
“Artair!” The roar had him running towards the bellow. The male’s voice echoing around, but it was close enough for him to have gathered a certain direction. “Artair!” Had they found Rohesia? Or had they been captured and forced to lure him in? Shaking his head as he tried to run as quickly as possible in the thick carpet of snow. It was only after the fourth time his name was called that he finally recognised the speaker. “Alfred?”
“Aye, before you.” Squinting into the blustering snow, the wind whipping it around him. As he moved forward he managed to spot a growing dark shape within the swirling white and blackness beyond. “Alfred?” A movement ahead, what seemed to be a hand and arm lifting as it waved back and forth. Spurring himself further onwards, trying to put on a spurt of speed, he tried to make sure that nothing before him could make him trip or fall. For he needed to see the reason that Alfred was stooped as he was. A great mound, as if a boulder marring the white landscape.
Almost tripping over the man, as he was closer than he had calculated, he stepped to the side, only for Alfred to grab a hold of him and toss him the other way. Landing face first in a snow drift, he came up fighting, only to drop the blade he held as a lifeline. Seeing what he had almost stepped upon his heart gave another painful stutter within his chest. The whisper torn from his throat was raw. “Rohesia?”
Scrambling forward, snow flying around him, he did not feel the cold. Ripping the slender shoulders from the grip they were already in, he pulled the lifeless body of Rohesia forward. In the low light that seemed to come from the snow itself, he clasped her too him and cupped her face against his shoulder and his palm. Looking upon her, lips blue and eyes closed. His throat convulsed, nausea clawing at his stomach. “No, don’t you dare, you hear me. I almost lost you, it will not happen now.” Pulling her head into the crook of his neck, he almost collapsed in relief at the feel of her breath whispering against the exposed skin there.
“We need to move her now.” Looking up to Alfred he saw no objection on the others males face. “From what I can tell we are not far from where Kendrick has directed us. Though I may be a little off in this weather.” Standing was a great effort, but sheer strength of will had him doing so, with Alfred rising at his side. “You cannot afford to be wrong Artair, if Rohesia does not get warmth soon, and I mean us standing here is wasting precious time, Rohesia will die.”
Setting off forward, he threw over his shoulder, “Do you not think I know that? Now get a move on.” Shuffling forward in as big a steps as they could manage, he took a secure hold of the precious cargo he carried and knew that if they did not make it, her death would be on his conscience. Artair had no idea over what he would do if that was the case.