In the distance he could hear the cry of children.
Still a tower of ice, Luminesa raced toward them, and slipped over the cliff’s edge.
Alador came to a screeching halt, digging in his hooves to stop his own fall off the ledge. Looking over the edge he prayed to the gods that she’d not fallen to her death a mile below.
Instead he was met by the sight of the children huddled together with Luminesa back in human form hugging them tight to her. They were several hundred feet below him.
“Alador,” she cried out to him.
Heart trapped in his throat, he nodded. “I see you.”
The winds here were driving and brutal, so cold that just the kiss of it against his flesh felt like a scalding burn. In minutes he’d not be able to feel his fingers.
Luminesa’s eyes were huge as she cried up to him, “you’ll need rope to heft them out.”
Cupping his hands around his mouth so that the wind could not snatch his words away he yelled, “I’ll have to return to the castle. Are you safe?”
The ledge they stood on was only big enough to comfortably fit two, not three. And there was no protection from the driving storm headed their way. The whistling and howling winds picked up in intensity, making it hard for him to hear her words back.
She was yelling at him, saying something, but he couldn’t hear her.
Shaking his head, he pointed to his ear, letting her know he couldn’t hear her, then proceeded to pantomime that he’d go back to the castle and be back as soon as he could.
Waving her hands at him in a gesture of “please hurry”, he nodded, twirled on his hooves and raced for the castle.
Chapter 10
Luminesa
It’d been at least an hour since she’d seen Alador last. The gorge was several miles back from where they’d taken their excursion.
The children were shivering, clutching tight to each other’s backs with fingers that’d now turned blue.
Luminesa wanted to cry, furious that all she could create was cold. While she felt none of the chill of the day, she saw the force of the storm leeching through the children’s energy reserves.
Neither of them had spoken a word since she’d found them. But every so often she’d catch Gerda wincing. The girl’s forehead was covered in frozen drops of sweat.
Whatever had happened to her, she was in pain.
“Gerda, please, girl, I wish you’d tell me what’s the matter?” she murmured again.
But the child buried her head in Kai’s shoulder and refused to speak.
Luminesa was in a desperate position. If she clutched them tight to her she doubted she’d be able to impart much warmth, but at the same time, if she didn’t cling to them they’d surely freeze to death if they were forced to stand out here much longer.
The Goblin had struck again. And she’d been a fool for not bringing at least one of the Yeti’s out with them. She hadn’t thought. Of course not, because she’d been too distracted by the thought of some fun with her centaur.
If she’d stayed more focused instead of imagining that they might actually have one day of rest to themselves, she’d have been prepared and the children wouldn’t have suffered for it.
That cloud of silver had done this and there was no one to blame for this but herself, herself and her maddening obsession with Alador. Luminesa was heartily ashamed.
“I’m sorry, children, I’m so sorry,” she murmured, voice cracking with pain, wishing she could take this away from them.
Kai swayed by her feet.
“Child,” she whispered urgently, pressing him tight to her side, wishing she’d worn a gown made of warm furs and not this one built of crystal.
His teeth chattered violently. “Sorry. So...rry,” he murmured over and over again.
Gerda groaned, swaying also.
Luminesa had just enough time to latch onto the girl’s collar before she fell.
“Oh gods,” she whispered as her shoulders tightened and her breath burst in and out of her lungs, they didn’t have much time left to them and as much as she wished it were otherwise, Luminesa could not lift them from the gorge.
“Please hurry, horse, please,” she whispered the ardent prayer to the breeze, imbuing them with a bit of magic in the hopes that they’d reach his ears.
She knew in her heart that he was doing all he could. That he’d have returned by now if he could have.
But her brain filled with horrible images of the Under Goblin mounting an attack against the castle. That somehow he’d captured her male, that he was torturing him, jeering and taunting Alador with whispered promises of vengeance against them all.
That even now the loathsome creature watched with delight as the children slowly froze to death as she stood by helpless to stop it.
She tried to command the storm to move away, but if anything it only seemed to rage harder.
Suddenly Baatha’s cry pierced the air. She glanced up and almost sobbed with joy to see Aldaor’s precious face looking down on them.
He wore a look of utter concentration as he dropped a looped cord of rope down to her.
“Children, you’re saved,” she cried with relief.
Her words caused them to finally glance up, their movements far more sluggish than she would have liked.
Once the looped end finally reached them, Alador gave it a little joggle, silently urging her to hurry.
Knowing he meant to power the children up using nothing but arm strength she decided to go with Kai first since he was lightest.
“Kai, come here, child. Raise your arms.”
The little boy didn’t struggle, just moaned a little as he lifted his arms so that Luminesa could loop it safely around him. Tightening it into several more loops so that it created a type of harness. There was nothing to clip the loops in place, so she pulsed a jet of ice upon it, sealing the loops tight.
“Alador, take him,” she cried, tugging on the rope to let her centaur know it was time to lift.
Kai cried a little, burying his face against the rope as he was raised into the sky. The winds beat at him from every direction and Luminesa prayed to the gods that Alador had the strength to hang on.
His jaw was set, but his movements were precise and smooth and in moments the boy was up and scampering across the ledge to safety.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Luminesa hugged Gerda tighter to her side and the child screamed.
Shocked, she jerked the girl away, staring her in the face. “What’s the matter, Gerda?”
But Gerda couldn’t hardly speak around the tears. The rope was descending once more.
“My arm,” she sobbed hysterically.
Luminesa peeked, but the girl was covered in a thick layer of skins and whatever damage there was she was unable to make it out.
The looped rope was in her hand just a second later.
“Gerda, whatever the problem is, we’ll have to address it once we get you out of here. Do you understand, child? You must be brave.”
Stuttering, Gerda rubbed her eyes with the knuckles of her left hand. “O...kay.”
Devastated that the child was injured and Luminesa hadn’t realized it, she tried to be as gentle as possible as she looped the rope around the girl same as she had with Kai, but anytime she brushed up against her right arm Gerda would scream, clench up tight, and then sway as though ready to faint from the pain.
Pushing aside the agony of hurting the child, Luminesa did what she had to do, but by the time she’d finished she was trembling and not from exhaustion.
“Okay, child. Hang tight, I’m going to get Alador to lift you out now.”
Gerda’s eyes were closed and her already pale skin had gone a shade similar to Luminesa’s own.
Knowing the child needed medical help immediately, she tugged on the cord giving Alador the signal to raise her. But the first upward tug had the girl screaming and then her body went immediately limp.
Even over the din of the wind Luminesa heard Alador
’s cry as he stumbled forward from Gerda’s now dead weight.
Thinking fast, desperate Alador not be hurt in the process too, she did the only thing she could do.
Luminesa froze the child. Encasing her completely in ice and maneuvering her body so that she was in a more upright position.
It caused her to weigh twice as much as normal. And when she looked up at Alador she saw him clamping down on his bottom lip wearing a look of dogged determination as he slowly and oh so painstakingly lifted the girl.
Luminesa could only recall one other time in her life when she’d felt such an overwhelming horror of mind-numbing terror. Transforming to a pillar of ice, she tried as best she could to bear some of Gerda’s weight on herself so that Alador wouldn’t be forced to carry all of it.
Gerda was taken up three times as slowly as Kai, due not only to the fact that she was incredibly heavy, but also the storm had now come in full force and was blasting the rope from side to side.
By the time they finally scaled the side of the gorge, even Luminesa was panting, and she’d not borne half the burden he had.
Alador was coated in a thick sheen of sweat.
Luminesa knew that sweat and cold of this magnitude could be a death warrant for him.
Desperate to get them back to the castle, she unthawed Gerda the moment she could.
The child had gone completely blue, almost gray, and wasn’t moving.
Kai was already situated on Alador’s back.
“What’s happened to Gerda?” he cried, reaching out his hand to his sister.
Luminesa had no breath left to answer, nor did Alador. All she could do was grab the girl beneath her arms and help her male lift the child onto his back.
But though Gerda was no longer encased in ice, her form had frozen completely and anytime he moved she’d almost fall to the ground.
There was a thick lather of sweat built up on Alador’s hindquarters.
Luminesa was terrified not only for the children, but him as well.
“Horse,” she whispered urgently after the third time of trying to secure Gerda to his back, “I’ll take her. You get back to the castle with Kai, do you hear me?”
The whites of his eyes had grown wide, he shook his head. “You can’t, you’ll tire, the trek is long, Luminesa and—”
Hugging the girl tight to her side, she shook her head. “I’ll hear no arguments from you. You’re beyond exhausted. All three of you must get back to the castle immediately, this is the only way to make sure you’ll each survive the journey.”
He glanced down at the still unmoving child in her arms. “What are you going to do? You can’t carry her that way.”
He was right of course. “I won’t. I’ll turn her into ice with me.”
Her heart thundered at the words. What she was going to do was dangerous and Luminesa knew it. In fact, it could actually kill the child. But staying out in this cold any longer would surely do it too. The only way to ensure Gerda stood half a chance of survival was to get her back to the castle as soon as could be.
Alador had obviously come to the same conclusion. Gripping her shoulder, he leaned forward and planted a violent kiss against her lips. Both a promise and a question to her.
“I’ll be safe, I vow it. Now go.”
Kai had begun trembling violently again.
“He needs to be warmed more,” Luminesa said, knowing that what she asked would be difficult for Alador, but without the added burden of Gerda on his back, he’d be free to clutch the boy tight to his chest.
Understanding why she’d said so immediately, he grunted, switching the boy from his back to his front. Little Kai huddled into her centaur’s chest, and Alador gripped him tight. She’d never felt anything as warm as her centaur’s arms, the boy would be in good hands.
Alador nodded once at her, grunted loudly, and then twirling on his hooves, ran for the castle. Becoming little more than a dark blur streaking through the white out conditions of a raging blizzard.
Looking down at the girl’s face, Luminesa forget her antipathy toward humans, because it no longer mattered. This was a little child in desperate need of care. A child she’d come to love as if she were her very own.
“Survive this, Gerda, or I shall never forgive myself.”
Then blowing a kiss at the girl’s face she watched as Gerda’s form transformed from flesh to swirls of ice. In seconds she too transformed, becoming a tower of raging snow. Gripping tight to the girl, she raced for home, saying a prayer to the gods that for once they’d show Luminesa mercy and spare the girl.
~*~
Luminesa and Alador had spent the next several hours warming Gerda up. When they’d arrived back at the castle she’d been immobile and so cold Luminesa had feared the poor child would never recover.
Alador had suggested a centaur method of reintroducing Gerda to warmth gradually so as not to send her body in shock.
First they’d focused on warming the girl’s feet, then her legs, her arms, and once those had flooded once more with the healthy stain of pink, they’d centered their efforts on her chest.
Piling heaps of blankets and hot stones over her. Kai had even crawled under the furs with her, hugging his arms tight to her body and hanging on through the worst of the girl’s trembles.
Her teeth had chattered and clacked for hours, but around the time the sun had begun setting the worst of Gerda’s chills had passed. The two of them slept peacefully now.
Luminesa had set ice guardians both inside and outside of their shared room for the night, not wishing to take any chances. She and Alador sat now in her study, watching the wall of ice she’d transformed into a two-way mirror of sorts that helped them to keep a constant and vigilant eye on the children and also the nighttime sky.
The ice demons came pretty much at the same time every night. Around three or four in the morning.
After this long, Luminesa had begun to understand that the Goblin wasn’t truly trying to kill them, he was merely ensuring they hardly knew any rest. That there’d be very little down time for them to relax or breathe easy.
This had become their new norm now.
Baatha, who normally flew to roost in the forest during the night, had also joined them in the study. He was still weak and not fully recovered from the blood loss.
Only because he was such a strong and powerful familiar had he survived the attack on him.
Cradled in the strong arms of her male, Luminesa tried to relax as she watched the crackling snap and burn of white flame dance inside the hearth before them.
But her thoughts were jagged and sharp.
“Relax, female,” Alador’s heated whisper shivered across the nape of her neck as he dropped a gentle kiss behind her ear.
Her body trembled from want of him.
Shoulders stiff, she shook her head. “I’m trying, horse.”
“But you’re upset. About what happened today.”
It wasn’t hard to come to that conclusion, it was all either of them thought about it. They’d worked for hours tending to Gerda, so long they’d all forgotten to eat. Luminesa was exhausted and weary from the stress of trying to understand why the Under Goblin had done this to them.
“Of course I am.” She turned in his arms.
Her male was so warm. His flesh so hot to the touch that there were times she felt she’d be consumed by it, but it was odd, the feeling of burning up even while desperate for more of his heated touch.
Deep green eyes gazed down on her, their depths fathomless and full of mystery.
When this was over, whether she succeeded in thwarting the Under Goblin’s game or not, he’d return to his herd, his peoples...he’d forget about her.
Because his kind and hers, they didn’t mingle. And those who did were excommunicated. Cast out. How could she ever want that for him?
It felt as though her soul had just fractured into a million tiny pieces. Cringing, she shook her head. Desperate to think of something else.
Anything else.
“Gerda was so wounded, her arm broken in three places. How that poor girl managed to remain conscious is a miracle,” she whispered. Luminesa had used what little healing magic she had to her in this place, knitting the bones together with ice splints. The wound would ache, but at least it would heal properly. By tomorrow she should feel much stronger.
It wasn’t much comfort, but it could have been so much worse.
Sadness tightened the corners of his eyes. “She is strong. And so is Kai. I just wish that if the Goblin were going to force this hell upon us, he’d not dragged the children into it. None of us deserved this, but especially not them. Now more than ever we have to focus our efforts on finding the key that releases us from this purgatory.”
He called it purgatory.
And maybe he was right.
To relive practically the same day over and over. To never be able to move beyond the borders of this tightly controlled environment, to see the same things day in and day out...it must be miserable for them.
But for Luminesa this place had begun to become a safe haven for her. Though she hated the demons that terrorized them each night, and the fear of silver that would make itself manifest at the strangest times...there was also something oddly wonderful about this place for her too.
Waking up in the morning and knowing that the first face she’d see would be his. That her nights would be spent in his arms, that every so often throughout the day they’d share a stolen glance or two...
Yes, her life was in just as much danger as theirs, and yet...and yet, a part of her never wanted to leave here.
“After we get a little sleep, whatever we can, and if the children are amenable to it we’ll search for the key. Turn it into a sort of game for them. Find and seek.”
“My wise, female,” he murmured, sounding exhausted and leeched of his reserves.
She was too.
Worrisome because they only had a few hours left before the ice demons came clawing at the castle doors.
Leaning forward, Alador dropped a kiss to her forehead. A chaste peck of lips, nothing sensual or improper about it. In fact, he could have shared such a kiss with his sister, that’s how impersonal it had been.