Chapter 21 - The Trisagonal
Hal had wintered out in the wilderness a few times in his youth. He had even spent an entire winter inside a cave, using scraps of wood for a meager fire every night and scrounging about for winter stores of nuts and roots for food.
However, that was in no way as bad as a winter on the prairies.
I'd give my right arm for that icy cave about now. Then realizing that his right arm was going numb he began to rub at it furiously to get the blood flowing while chanting softly, "I didn't mean it. I didn't mean it. I didn't mean it."
In the two weeks they had been out on the road, twice they had been forced to stop and dig their way through huge drifts of snow covering their path. One night the temperature dropped so much they had to build a fire inside their tent while cramming every living being inside it, horses and all.
And now, just half a day from the fabled Trisagonal, they could no longer afford to stop.
Garn for one, was nearly unable to take the cold any longer. What had started as a minor chest cold had worsened to disproportionate levels. Skarlett Black did all for him that he could, but he said that there was little for him to do besides pray. That and speed their pace to the Trisagonal, for what the mage really needed was a chance to warm up and relax.
We all could use that, Hal thought wryly. He was huddled together, tightly wrapped up in a huge woolen blanket and leading the cart's horses. Tasha remained on the cart's driver's bench with Garn tucked under a makeshift lean-to. They tried to keep a small fire going in in a brass brazier to keep the mage from freezing. Garn hadn't done much else but sleep for the past few days. Sometimes the only way to know that he was still alive was to have the cleric actually come back and check him out.
Ambori and Ceorn led the way as best they could, blazing a trail through the drifts. It wasn't actually snowing at the moment but there was a strong wind and just enough soft snow to blow across their way and clog the road and wreak havoc with visibility. Hal marveled at the kelt's stamina, not to mention his stubbornness. Even in this veritable wasteland of snow, Ceorn refused to wear anything on his legs but his kilt and his boots. His upper body was completely wrapped in blankets, as was Ambori from head to toe. But he refused when the subject of his legs came up. He kept saying that he was honor-bound not to.
Hal just thought he was being silly.
Ambori on the other hand was remarkably passive. The only side effect of the cold being that he didn't have the energy to talk.
Small blessing that, Hal thought with a slight smile.
"Something funny?" Skarlett asked in his gravely voice. He was still only dressed in his plain clerics robes and was showing no visible signs of strain from the cold. Not terribly surprising seeing as how he was born and bred to live in this sort of a climate.
Hal shook his head. "Not really." He peered off into the blowing snow and squinted, trying to see anything. Vaguely, he seemed to be able to make out the shapes of, what he fervently hoped, were buildings. He achingly pointed with one frost bitten hand. "Is that it?"
Skarlett squinted briefly and nodded. "Yes. The Trisagonal is not much further. It will not be long before you and your friends will be taken care of."
"I was afraid t'ask before," Hal began tentatively, this was something he'd given a lot of particular thought to and he wanted to make sure that it didn't sound too stupid. "But, I was wondering if we'll have any problem when we reach the Trisa... this place?"
"Problem?"
A freezing gust of wind tossed ice and snow down Hal's back under the hood. He shivered, feeling the wobbliness in his knees as he responded. "I mean... Will they treat us with the kind of... fear and disgust that too many humans do to your kind?"
The wemic chuckled. "Not likely," he said. "There may be a few such bigots , but they will have no say on whether you stay or leave."
" 'Not likely', huh?"
Skarlett shrugged. "Well, I have been wrong before."
Hal sighed ruefully. "I know the feeling."
It's the openness, Hal decided as he weakly shook out his frozen digits. With nothing even resembling a tree or a hill out in the prairies, there's nothing to even slow the wind down. No wonder it's so damn cold!
At that point a figure began lumbering towards the cart with his cloak flapping behind him. "Help!," he cried out with desperation in his voice. "Hal! Skarlett! Help me!"
Skarlett leapt forward and was at Ambori's side in one bound. He reached out and slowed the bard to a stop, trying to calm him down. "Easy there," he soothed. "What's happened?"
"Ceorn!" Ambori panted in a steaming cloud of warm breath. "He's collapsed... and I... I didn't have the strength to carry him!"
"Ambori, lead Skarlett back to Ceorn. We'll follow with the cart as fast as we can."
"Climb aboard, Ambori." Skarlett said. Without waiting for a response, the cleric scooped the colorfully dressed man onto his back and took off down the path.
As much as he hated to do it, Hal flipped the horse's reins and urged them to a greater speed. They were extremely reluctant at first. But with Hal's wheedling, he was finally able to coax them into a slight trot. Hal jogged along with them, glad for the chance to get the blood flowing and to regain some feeling in his lower extremities.
"Hal!" Tasha called out from behind him. "What in the hell are you doing?" She had stuck her head out from the lean-to and was glaring at him angrily.
"Sorry, milady," Hal wheezed. "Ceorn's down, we've got to get to him... as fast as we can."
Her expression softened a bit. "Fine. Just warn me next time!"
"I'll engrave the invitation myself, milady." Tasha rolled her eyes and went back to Garn.
Ahead of him there seemed to be a small clearing in the snow. As Hal and the cart neared , the clearing was anything but small. Except for the most recent of the blown snow, the road had been meticulously cleaned off. Skarlett Black alone stood at the edge, he waved energetically and urged them on. As they reached the end of the deep snow, Hal sank to his knees and took the brief opportunity to rest. That short jaunt had exhausted him more than he would have thought possible.
Alarmed, Skarlett padded next to him and sank to his haunches. "Are you all right, Hal?" he asked anxiously, placing his hands beneath the big man's arms and propping him up on his feet.
Hal nodded his head wearily. "Yeah," he panted. "I'll live.”
Tasha dropped out of the cart, taking in the cleared road with an expression of relief. Then seeing Hal hunched over she rushed over to the cleric. "What happened?" she asked.
Skarlett smiled. "Nothing, he's just catching his breath."
"Where're the others?"
"There were two of my kind busy clearing the road when I got here," the wemic explained with a vaguely proud look on his face. "Upon seeing the situation, they offered to take both Ceorn and Ambori ahead to the Trisagonal and send back help for the rest of us."
Tasha smiled with relief and very nearly began to cry. "Thank the Gods! This has been hell!"
"I don't think... Hell would be... this cold," Hal wheezed.
She gripped his shoulder in support and smiled grimly. "We're not done yet, Hal. We've still got to get the Book."
"Don't... remind me."
Within minutes a whole troop of wemics came padding out of the blowing snow and assisted the remainder of the party. Four of them relieved the horses of the cart's burden while a fifth led their steeds away. Tasha cautioned their new drivers of Garthalisbain's condition and informed them that they could not travel too quickly. They assured her that they would be cautious. Surprised by his sudden lack of strength, Hal accepted the assistance of two more wemics as they boosted him up into the cart. Within moments the cart was in motion and Hal was fighting the urge to completely collapse.
"So sleepy," he muttered. "Just a quick nap."
Upon hearing this, Skarlett called to Tasha and had a quick conversation that Hal couldn't make out. Tasha and Skarlett worked together and
managed to drag his large frame into the makeshift lean-to. Through his bleary eyes, Hal saw the prone form of Garnthalisbain. His face was waxy in appearance and his breathing was so shallow it was almost imperceptible. Feeling a sudden, almost painful warmth surround him, Hal noted dimly that Tasha had wrapped one of the precious few extra blankets about him.
She must have been warming it by the fire, he assumed.
Dimly he realized that Tasha had been calling out his name. He tried to answer but it only came out as a weak grunt. Something struck him across the face, he could tell because he was suddenly seeing the tent from a different angle. His flesh was too numb to feel the sting of pain. The scenery changed some more and quite rapidly too, bouncing up and down. Through the warmth of the blanket he could feel the pressure against his shoulders. Suddenly he recognized the dark blur in front of him as Tasha.
Everything … so fuzzy.
Some time passed. Several pairs of hands pulled him out of the tent and away from the first true warmth he'd felt in days. Someone kept slapping at him though. That and shouting in his ear. He kept trying to tell them that he just wanted to sleep but they ignored him.
Typical.
He was placed down and the hands went away. It was a lot brighter all of a sudden. And there was something else, a tingling sensation down... somewhere. Hey, my feet! Hal hadn't felt much from his feet for the last several days, it was like finding them again for the first time.
More hands, poking and prodding at him. Pulling here, pushing there. He weakly tried to roll away, waving his arms minimally and muttering curse words. I want to sleep! he tried to shout, but he couldn't. He shut his eyes only to have them opened forcibly while some bizarre freak of nature peered down into them.
At long last, all the hands went away except for one. It passed across his face gently and ruffled through the two weeks growth of facial hair. Curious, Hal pried open his eyes and blearily saw Tasha looking down at him. He tried to say something but she placed a finger over his lips.
She stayed like that for a little while longer then touched his cheek very softly and leaned down to kiss him on the forehead. "It's all right, Hal. You can sleep now" she whispered.
Hal sighed blissfully and closed his eyes.