Every muscle in Dustin's body seized up when he plunged into the frigid lake. For a long while, all he could do was sink, unable to move one bit. Not one of his thoughts managed to translate into action. He despaired of ever escaping his frozen prison, and though a myriad of memories flashed through his mind, only one regret remained coherent for more than a second.
Poor Serena will be utterly crushed when this news reaches her, he thought, and if he weren't submerged, the thought would have caused him to shed a tear.
Instead, he found an ounce of motivation that he used to shoot an arm upward. By some miracle, he hadn't sunk as far as he'd imagined, and his fingers grasped the edge of the icy shelf he'd fallen through. That small victory gave him the strength to jut his other hand out of the water and pull his head up.
Dustin gasped for breath and beheld the world above water again. His muscles still spasmed from the shock, and the fact he already couldn't feel his feet at all was more than concerning. Frigid droplets ran down his face as he filled his lungs. He had no energy to pull himself fully to the surface, but at least for now, he wouldn't drown.
Then he glanced over at Paulo, and a wide grin spread across his face. Despite his own injury, Paulo scooted himself across the ice on his belly, clearly intent on lending a hand. Either that, or he wished to shove Dustin further into the frozen hell he'd almost escaped, but something about the glint in his eyes suggested a more favorable motive.
Paulo eventually crawled close enough, and with effort, he reached out his hand. The two exchanged a meaningful glance as Dustin grasped him by the wrist. Weak as they were individually, they combined their strengths and pulled toward solid ground. Slowly but steadily, Dustin's upper torso emerged from the water and came to rest on the ice shelf.
Then Paulo jolted. His grip loosened. Dustin began to slip, and he glanced up with desperate eyes. He gasped upon spotting the cause for the disruption. An arrow jutted out from his upper back, having come from the direction of the camp. Paulo gritted his teeth to hang on, but his anguish had apparently reached its limit.
"Don't shoot again!" Dustin cried out. "Come assist us instead!"
With a heave, Paulo yanked the rest of Dustin's body out of the water. Only his feet remained, which he removed on his own. Then Dustin helped drag them both off the frozen lake and onto more solid ground. After their great undertaking, the two simply sprawled out in the snow besides one another and waited for help to arrive.
****
Back at the camp, Dustin sat at the fire again, dressed in dry clothes and bundled in as many blankets as the troops could spare him. Strength and feeling gradually returned to his body as Jude fed him spoonfuls of warm broth.
Across from Dustin, Paulo hunched over shirtless, with his leather belt clenched between his teeth and a new wad of bandages on his thigh. He grunted as Cassie delicately cut away flesh in order to remove the arrow Jude had landed beside his shoulder blade. Kyle served as her assistant, constantly dabbing away blood so she could clearly assess the progress of her surgery. And more than once, he distracted her as well, inadvertently casting his shadow over the wound and preventing her from working.
"You're absolutely certain he's completely ceased being hostile?' Jude asked in a hushed tone while he nudged another bite of soup to Dustin's lips, "No chance he has some hidden agenda?"
Dustin swallowed. "If it were my death he sought, he could have seen to it far easier. He pulled me out of the lake after I wounded him. I need no assurance other than that."
"Call me a pessimist if you like, but nobody dedicates their life to the murder of one man and then gives it up just like that."
"We came to an understanding, Jude. An incomplete one, mind you, as I fell into the lake before we could conclude, but his antagonism was built in ignorance. Some of that ignorance has now been dispelled."
"If you have faith in him, I'll try to do the same."
Dustin reached out to pat Jude's shoulder. "Your many doubts keep me keen, and they force me to be honest. I won't tell you whether to put them aside or not."
Jude smirked. "Heaven knows if I didn't distrust things for you, you'd be in a lot more messes than you already have been."
"That is certainly a truth."
Dustin glanced up to see the final stages of Cassie's operation taking place. With a couple more tugs and some muffled grunts from Paulo, she jarred the arrow out of place, handing it off to Kyle once removed. Then she made haste to thread a needle through the frayed skin and flesh. Cassie's fingers moved deftly to stitch Paulo's wound back together until it had been pinched into one thin line.
"All done, Sir Feliz." Cassie said, perhaps too cheerfully for the circumstances, "In a week or two, you should be as good as new."
"Thanks." Paulo muttered after spitting the belt out.
While Paulo sat up fully to reclaim his shirt, Dustin eyed the long scar spanning from his chest to his ribs. A wound he himself had inflicted on Paulo years ago, impossible to miss with even the most cursory glance. In a sense, the scar served as a symbol of an old rivalry, and of a feud recently ended.
"So this is all Tanuk's fault." Paulo said, probing gaze darting over Dustin's features.
"It appears so. All your life, he told you lies, and no little ones at that. For what purpose?"
"I can't even guess."
"I wonder if your father told him in no uncertain terms that he wished for peace between our houses, but Tanuk desired otherwise. For his agenda, perhaps it was more advantageous to use you as a weapon against his foes, no matter the cost."
"That wretch!" Paulo blurted out, "He stole my mother from me all these years and lied to me just for that? After all my father did for him, that's unforgivable treachery."
"Agreed. It was his influence, I'm sure, that persuaded you to turn down every offer of peace I gave you with such vehemence. He gave you an ironclad assurance it was I and my house who lied and betrayed those who relied on them, when in truth, the guilt for those crimes laid on him."
"What a twisted man...to think I once thought of him almost as my father..."
"As I told you earlier, we have a common enemy." Dustin said, "Having been close to him, do you have any insight on his intentions in the capital at present?"
"He has an Alcontean artifact in his possession." Jude chimed in.
Paulo's brow furrowed. "Oh, he succeeded in that, did he? I was apart from Tanuk on separate business for a while before we both came to this area. Though from experience, I know what he does when he takes new relics into his possession."
"What's that?"
"In order to unlock their power, he searches out the scriptures of their respective gods. He agonizes day and night until he finds a way to speak with them. Once, he told me an Alcontean would convince them more readily, as the gods expect ill intent from an Innutukian, but I have my doubts."
Kyle chuckled. "To a god, I'd imagine one sacrifice is as good as another. Doubt they're connoisseurs of spiritual devotion."
"I wouldn't know. But tell me, is it the Trump of Ibis he's found?"
"Indeed." Dustin said, "How did you know?"
"He's been hunting that particular relic down for several months now. Morale's been low in the ranks, but Tanuk claimed the artifact could remedy that problem. Morale or not, Innutuk will have men to fight for her cause."
"Supposedly." Kyle remarked, "When it comes to these gods, I only believe what I've seen."
Jude shrugged. "We have seen evidence that much of the myth surrounding their power is indeed accurate."
Dustin abruptly rose to his feet. "In any case, it would be in our best interest to defeat Tanuk before he unlocks the power of the artifact."
"Agreed." Paulo said, "And strange as it feels to say this, I want to lend you what help I can to accomplish this. I want him dead more badly than any of you do."
"Understandably so. Should you wish to be the one to strike the killing blow, I will by no means stand in your way."
"Only then will my soul be able to rest peacefully. My father's honor will be restored."
Dustin stepped over and offered Paulo his hand. "Then together, we will destroy a man who has been the troubler both of Monterayne and the house of Feliz. Can I rely on you to assist me in this endeavor?"
Paulo clasped Dustin's hand and shook it with vigor. "Most certainly. The traitor will fall to his knees before us, and we'll cut him down."