Alone

Elayne's already winded. Alec's training just seems to get harder and harder. She hears the whizzing of an arrow, flipping her sword up to block it without even looking.

"Don't stop now! A demon soldier wouldn't have even broken a sweat!" Alec shouts, beckoning her forward with his blade.

Elayne flicks a glance at Anne, who’s stringing two arrows on her bow.

"Don't look at her. Look at me!" Alec charges her.

She blocks his overhead strike, then leaps back to dodge Anne’s arrows. But Alec closes the distance instantly. His sword arcs toward her torso. She raises her guard. As she does, a blunt arrow slams into her thigh. With a grunt, she drops to her knees.

"Elayne, sweetie, are you alright?" Helen rushes over, out from under her tree. “Alec, isn’t this too rough?” She kneels beside Elayne, glaring at him.

"I'm done!" Elayne flings her sword. "We're wasting time! If you're not going to rescue Osric, I'll do it myself." She turns to storm away.

"Elayne!" Anne snaps. "Going to the demon domain alone with your skills would be suicide. We must wait until Caden finishes his reconnaissance."

"But Osric is all alone. He wants someone to save him..." Her voice trails off. "Like me," she mutters as she her nose begins to prickle. She shields her face to hide the oncoming tears.

“I agree,” Helen says softly. “Osric’s been held captive for a year now, if I’m reading the calendar right. Who knows what they’ve done to him?”

"The collars are not broken. He's alive." Alec points his sword at their necks.

Anne kneels beside Elayne. “I understand your concern. I want to rescue the sage too. If the Kingdom learned of our plans, they might try to stop us. From what you’ve told me, they’d rather pretend he never existed. That's why gathering supplies and mapping our routes has been difficult. But this caution is necessary if we all want to make it out alive.” She rubs Elayne’s back.

***

Osric and the adventurer girl sit on logs beside a fire. A rabbit she caught earlier roasts on a stick planted in the ground. The evergreen forest shields them from the blizzard.

Osric shivers as he holds his hands by the fire. "How come I get one of those?" He eyes her thick wool coat.

"I couldn't fit two of them in my pack." She warms her hands as well.

“Is it safe to rest here?”

“They can’t track us in this storm. My party should be just beyond the forest. We’ll spend the night here.” She hands him a leg of rabbit she’s carved off.

Osric chomps down on the leg, relieved to have actual food again, even if it could use some seasoning.

"So what's the name of your adventuring party? Are you guys famous or something? Why did my grandpa hire you?" Osric asks between bites.

“Let’s talk about you.” She rises, circles the fire, and sits on his log. A breeze catches her coat, revealing the outfit beneath.

She scooches in close “Tell me — can you reactivate this book?” She draws the book from her cleavage, its golden title still unreadable to him.

“Uh, um…” Osric stammers, unable to tear his eyes from her chest. He swears he can almost see everything. “I don’t think I should touch that book.”

“Just tell me.” She leans in, her breasts enveloping his arm.

I'm in heaven. He grins.

Drip!

Osric jerks up, scanning the woods. "Did you hear that?"

The girl looks up at him, concerned. "What?"

"That dripping, that damn dripping!"

She only stares, wide-eyed.

>>>

Osric lies in the lean-to shelter she built for him, its frame of sticks bound with twine propped against a tree. She even shoveled the snow from beneath for him.

Drip.

But he can't sleep. The dripping. It's following him. He lifts his head eyes drifting to her shelter nearby. Something isn't right.

Drip.

>>>

"Get up! We have to move!" She bangs on his shelter.

Osric groans, sitting up. I just fell asleep.

“Get up!” she screams. “They’ve found us!”

“Alright!” He pokes his head out. She’s already vanishing into the forest. “Wait up!” He scrambles after her.

“I thought you said they couldn’t track us!” Osric hops on one leg — it’s faster.

Shink!
The girl shrieks and crashes to the snow, an arrow jutting from her side.