Page 60 of Dragonbound

He was met with stony silence, punctuated by a crunch of her boots on the stone floor.

He forced himself upright. If he could reach her – stop her, hold her – she’d listen. He knew she felt the same as he did.

Sweat broke out across his forehead. He felt nauseous. It’d been days since he’d been fully upright. Without Skaldi to block out the pain, it crashed over him in waves.

He grabbed a nearby stick left by the side of his sick bed, an old splint, and holding the stick with both hands hauled himself up. He almost made it.

Crack.

The stick snapped under his weight.

He hit the floor hard, pain exploding so violently he almost vomited.

A panting reached his ears.

Arrow stood beside him, staring anxiously.

Arrow, the whisper rushed back to him, like water flowing beneath ice.

The wolf-dog’s ear twitched, but she stayed where she was.

‘Arrow.’ Another command, harsher and louder than the first.

The wolf-dog offered him what he suspected was a pitying look and walked away, padding over the black rock of the cave.

Erann couldn’t even muster the strength to call her back.

Erann lay and listened to Sereh’s footsteps fade away – first over stone then over the rough crust of the avalanche-covered glacier. Then there was no sound apart from his harsh breathing and the occasional crack of the fire.

The only person he truly cared about had just walked out of his life.

He was alone.

40

ERANN

He wept.

‘Sereh,’ he called. ‘Sereh, please come back.’ His voice was loud enough that Skaldi must have heard him. Emma returned from allowing him and Sereh some time alone, somewhat flustered.

‘What is it?’ he queried, perplexed despite his misery.

‘I will tell you more when you’re healed. Now, help me as much as you can.’ Emma soon had him back safe and warm in his makeshift bed, her actions neat and concise, even if her face was edged in sorrow.

‘Come on, Erann,’ she murmured. ‘A good night’s sleep and all will seem better. She can’t go far, Skaldi will watch her.’ She fed him and then gave him a drink so heavily loaded with her healing herb he was asleep before the cup was finished.

His night was peaceful, yet he was plagued with dreams of Sereh.

In them, she walked an enormous distance, not resting for food or water, her steps lit by bright moonlight. Erann had no idea where she was going. There were no landmarks. Everything remained covered with layers of snow. Even as he dreamt, he thought of the landscape and why the thaw wasn’t more noticeably underway.

Sereh had pointed that out in their angry exchange – the thaw should have started by now. There should be green shoots springing everywhere. The landscape should have shed its wintry cloak.

He felt waves of her anger. Not once did he see her face, only ever her back. Eventually, he understood he watched Sereh from Arrow’s perspective. It was bizarre for Arrow to be behind Sereh. The wolf-dog usually led the way. It was yet more evidence of Sereh’s anger. The knowledge tore at him, even as he slept.

Eventually, night fell, and it was too dark for her to continue. She was forced to stop, again, in a cave. Only then did he see her face, in the demi-light of dusk. Before the wolf-dog’s mind closed to him, he could have sworn her face was lined with the dirty streaks of tears.

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