With Mina hiding my true nature, the trio that Eberon had brought with him pulled supplies from their packs and made harnesses for the three of us. The cloth and strings were wrapped in a way that allowed one strong fae to carry an injured one.
Thain fought the harness, but Eberon was like a mother hen as he fussed over Thain until he agreed to the help. His harness had to be carried between two fae, Thain was so big.
Puko, on the other hand, was content to sit by my ear and tug at pieces of my hair like he would do when he wanted breakfast and I wanted to sleep.
"You dratted thing," I growled. "I'll feed you when I can."
Our injuries were tended to as well as they could be on a cave floor. My leg, which I'm told had been broken in two places, was set and tightly wrapped. I passed out the moment they pushed my bones together. A small blessing that I wasn't conscious for the remainder of my treatments, because I'm told there were a lot of them.
I finally came to when we were being situated in the harnesses. I glanced over at Schula, who's brow was slick with sweat and her face scrunched in discomfort, despite the fact that we had been given a thick sweet syrup to numb the pain.
Mina carried me, Eberon carried Thain, and another fae I hadn't interacted with yet carried Schula. We were taken from the caverns and moved south and east under Eberon's direction.
We quickly met up with another group of about ten more fae who Eberon had waiting in the woods away from Icehold. Our groups converged, and we progressed slowly on our way to the Autumn borders.
It was terrifying as we ran into the occasional flesh hound that needed to be dealt with. We ran into two within an hour of departing the cavern.
We also had to avoid detection of DuVarick's soldiers, and they had started to spread their search out past Icehold's reaches.
Over the next couple hours I fell in and out of sleep. The others probably did too, but I was dead tired after everything I had gone through the last couple weeks. Puko didn't leave my side.
When I was awake, I heard the whispers of Eberon and the fae he had brought with him. The plan seemed to be to take us back to Thanantholl and let the king make the decisions for our next move.
All well and fine, but I'm not going back to another king who helped exile the elves, I thought.
But I also heard the reports of the scouting fae, saying some of the Winter fae had picked up our trail. Most of the warriors bristled at this. Stood straighter, kept a sharper eye out.
I suppose that was bound to happen, the group was far too big to hide all of us.
"How do you want to proceed?" A lanky fae asked Eberon.
I may have been a bit delirious from everything, but a stray thought trailed into my mind.
"Are we passing by the crater?" I asked.
Eberon looked at me softly. "We'll be not too far from it, it's the straightest route."
"Keep the course straight," Thain suggested. "Send sets of three to weave footprints around, away, and through our path. It won't fool them, but it might slow them down."
Eberon gave a curt nod to the scouts who were listening. "Do it."
The fae sprang into action.
I, on the other hand, meditated.
I did what I could to bring myself to my safe place, to my little cabin.
I let myself idol there. Recover. Grow strong. If I was counting our distance correctly, I had only a few hours to build up strength for one last push of magic.
The journey was bumpy, and long, and tiring. I was vaguely aware of orders being given, unseelie creatures being fought around us, and the occasional quick stop to check our bandages.
I was pretty sure I even fell asleep a few times.
But my sleep and meditation was interrupted when an arrow whizzed by my ear.
Eberon let out a brazen string of curses that made me blush.
"Bring in the scouts leaving false trails," Thain said. "Now focus on movement. Switch out the ones carrying injured and get fresh legs to do the carrying. Make a straight line for the closest reach of the unclaimed Wyldes."
No one even looked to Eb, they all deferred to the most notable and senior warrior, Thain. We paused immediately and I was transferred to the back of an impish looking sprite with a little black beard and sly yellow eyes. But he was big, and strong, and carried me easily.
It was all done as quick as the fae could go, and as the scouts were being called back in there was an exchange of a few arrows, then we were off again.
The chase was rough, but I had other things to concentrate on. I dipped into what magic had come back to me. Not enough, not nearly enough to help. But maybe enough for one single thing.
I went into my mind and threw myself forward. Ahead of our group, ahead of the trees, and to an expanse of ice and emptiness. We were getting closer, but not quite close enough.
A scream behind us bounced off the trees as one of our fae were hit.
"I have her!" Eberon fell back a moment to grab the injured fae, and sped forward, catching back up with us slowly. Everyone was already going as fast as they could, and it surprised me at first that Eb was so fast, but I suppose he must be a remarkable fae to begin with if he was triquetram with Thain.
"At the tree break we straif south!" Eberon called.
"No!" I yelled. "Please, stay straight."
"We need to at least try to shake them," Eberon said, but drew closer to me with a frown, still carrying the injured fae on his shoulder.
"Please trust me," I looked at him, then at Thain, hoping the blue warrior would take my side. "Please. Just take us by the crater. If it doesn't work I'll shut up and we can go wherever you want. Please, Eberon."
It was Thain who spoke first though. "Go straight."
"Thain..." Eberon said.
"Straight," Thain grunted, and nothing more was said about it.
I sighed, revealed, then sank into my mind immediately to reach out again.
As soon as I reached a state of meditation, I threw myself forward, reaching for the crater. Reaching under it. Reaching...
An ancient presence sat under the thick ice, which had frozen some, but not fully back to how it had been before I melted most of it. It was old. It was furious. It was terrifying.
It was perfect.
It had chased me along the ice when I scrambled out of the crater before, I was afraid it would break the surface and devour me. Hells, it almost had. But I got away once, and chances are it was still hungry. I was counting on it.
My body jolted as the sprite carrying me leapt over a fallen tree. Puko puffed out his feathers and took to the skies ahead of us. I could tell the creature I had just found didn't agree with him. I blinked and saw another arrow fly dangerously close to one of the fae carrying Thain. Panic spiked my heart rate, I shook it off and dove back down, reaching for the thing in the ice.
I gritted my teeth and threw everything forward, determined to get the thing's attention.
I felt it stir, and my heart thundered in my rib cage. It turned its attention to me, and it roared, shaking the ice, shaking the ground, and throwing me back into my mind.
I slammed back into the real world around me, and looked around. Eyes were wide, looking around for an unknown assailant. It's presence was thick in the air. Old, cold, and angry.
Thain's eyes found mine, knowing immediately I had something to do with it. "What have you done?"
I opened my mouth to respond, but a loud snap covered up my words. It was ramming the ice, and some of it was breaking.
I looked forward, the crater was coming into view, we had to act now.
"Eberon, take us to the back side of the crater. Do not set foot on the ice in the crater, whatever you do."
"I hope you're right about this, little bird," Eberon sighed and gave the orders.
I dove back down into my mind.
The thing was close now. It was hungry, and it wanted my fire. Not just my fire, any fire. It was almost through the surface now. I couldn't gauge the size of it, or the shape, but it was massive.
Here, while we were on this side of the crater, I threw everything I had at it. The tiny reserve of magic I had built up, I threw at the thing. A meaningless flame, but enough to get it's attention.
It roared, furious and hungry. Perfect.
I made sure to use every drop I had. Every tiny ember I could muster.
Now I was well and truly spent, and the thing couldn't find me by my magic any longer.
I blinked my eyes, my real eyes, and looked around. We were rounding to the back side of the crater now, and the creature was slamming itself into the ice over it.
"Run!" I cried out, my throat dry. "Get out, it's almost here!"
Our group pressed on harder, clamoring for space between us and the crater.
Our pursuers were doing the same, or trying to, but they were much closer than we were, just at the front of the crater now.
I gasped, watching the huge group of Winter fae that had come after us. If they caught up, we would be vastly outnumbered. DuVarick must have sent all of his soldiers that had survived the collapse of the barracks on our trail.
There, in the front, was Asher. His injuries minimal enough that he would lead this charge. He looked like a rabid animal, crazed and deadly.
If he caught up to us now, I had no doubt my death would not be quick.
Crack.
Splash.
In one earth shattering moment, the surface broke, and all hells broke loose with it.
I sucked in a breath, craning my neck painfully and watching as a smooth, black head threw itself out of the water. It was serpent-like in shape, but with the slick wet body of an eel or a worm. It had no eyes, it didn't need them in the dark depths of the crater. What it did have, was a maw of teeth that could swallow an army whole. I couldn't look away.
It thrashed, shedding huge ice shards from the surface of the crater's underground lake flying through the air. Several landed just behind the fae bringing up our rear. Several more sliced into the Winter army behind us.
Asher roared as a shard of ice sliced into his leg, but he charged at the thing, blinded by rage and bloodlust.
My newly elven eyes were a curse as I watched the horror and dismemberment from the great serpent into the army. It flailed it's body, landing on several creatures and snapping it's huge jaw and rows of blade-like teeth into them.
Asher was nothing before it. Barely a morsel between its teeth as in one massive bit, Asher disappeared into the depths of the serpent. And he didn't come back out.
The serpent snapped it's jaw, and each time bursts of blood splattered around it in the white snow as it devoured more and more.
Some got away, but not many.
We continued our retreat across the Sangolin plains, but the screams of the Winter court followed us.
Long after they were heard in my ears, they rang in my memories.
Icehold's army was now in shambles.
Asher was no more.
If I was certain of nothing else after today, I was certain that DuVarick would hunt me down to the ends of the earth.
I didn't remember much of the rest of the journey after that. I was spent, and injured, and it wasn't long before blackness took over, and I passed out.