Chapter Four
To say that Eira was not pleased would be a slight understatement: she was seething.
Three days. She’d been in her home for three days.
There she was, within the cold walls, alone and bored out of her wits, reading a book on metaphysics that should have sent her into eversleep faster than Morpheus could, and she was fully awake.
Well, she’d slept, but for five hours per day, max. It had been an age since she’d felt as conscious, as involved in the material world around her.
Dammit. She was so blaming Bear for that predicament.
“Not you again!” she swore under her breath.
The biting frost around her home was stronger than ever, yet each time she looked out the window, there he was; the humongous white bear apparently had stalking tendencies.
With a resounding sigh, she dropped her guard and, right away, Bear charged in, unaware that he was the very first creature who’d set foot in her domain since the dark ages.
He hurried through the deserted town square until he’d reached the steps of her home; then, the clever creature started to wail in agony. He could have given Belle a lesson in guilt trip.
She resisted for almost an hour, but the cries just didn’t stop, so Eira jumped down.
Bear immediately pushed his nose on her chest, until she gave in and scratched his ear. Shit. The stupid creature had imprinted itself to her.
She shouldn’t have been surprised; the water might have saved his life, and bears had always had a thing about honor, protection and bla-bla.
But damn if that wasn’t inconvenient. There was no way he was leaving her alone, now.
“Ok, Ok, I get it. Let’s go for a run, then.”
Trying to bore herself to death wasn’t working, so she might as well go out.
Eira climbed on the bear’s back, relishing in his warmth under her finger. She could feel the damn smile plastered on her face.
It had been a while.
The animal launched forward like a cannonball, running at high speed between the trees, and she was laughing like a silly youngling.
Those who’d judge her for it obviously hadn’t tried riding a bear.
She knew her playful frame of mind was dangerous; she felt the ice around her melt away as she let it all go above her head for a few precious moments.
When they finally stopped, Eira looked around her and chuckled. The scenery might have changed just a little bit.
Oh, well.
Kai and Gerda had been gathering clean ice to melt for over two hours, loading it on a sleigh which was almost full, now.
They were pushing the last block when they got drenched.
The ever unchanging frozen river where they’d worked suddenly burst to life, and water poured down.
His body moved quicker than his mind: he pushed Gerda aside and managed to move out of the way just as a torrential jet floated down, heading towards the village.
Kai wasn't pressingly concerned; they hadn't built it – it would have been completely useless, as every source of water had been solid since before they'd moved here – but there was a dam between the jet and their village.
Gerda was laughing in delighted, incredulous and joyful about the outcome, as was her shortsighted nature: Kai was made of different stuff.
His eyes went up, narrowing; incredible, life changing things like that didn't just happen out of nowhere – not to them.
“Come on, Kai!” Gerda beckoned, jumping on the sleigh. “Let’s go tell everyone.”
He shook his head. For one, he wasn’t about to sit on a sleigh directed by Bae, Gerda’s idiotic reindeer; but regardless, he wasn’t returning to the village right now.
“You go. Get Fyn to test it, and wait for my return before anyone drinks it. I'm going to see what happened.”
Kai climbed up, although the constant storm got worse and worse with each step.
They'd established their village as far as anyone could go without freezing to death; a mile up, survival was impossible without the best equipment.
Well, for a human, in any case, which was exactly why this place was perfect for them. They tolerated the cold better, and when threatened, they only needed to run up to find shelter.
That village down there was the relic of his people; less than four hundred folks, most of them old. Every decade, they lost an ancient to time and a child to their enemies, at best; but they were hanging on.
Which was why he wasn't taking chances; desperate as they were for drinkable water, he wasn't allowing anyone to touch it until he knew what had caused it to erupt – and whether it had been tampered with.
It took a while for Kai to realize he’d stepped into a territory he’d never seen before. The wards generally pushed him away a good five miles down, but he hadn’t felt the powerful, gut-clenching need to turn back.
That was worrying. Did it mean the mountain wasn’t as safe as it had been?
A sound interrupted his reflection; the laughter seemed to resonate around him, echoing in the forest.
Kai turned around, his frown deepening. What the hell.
It wasn’t snowing right now.
It was always snowing in the mountains; but in the last few minutes, the storm had stopped, the misty frost had lifted. He could actually see around him.
Harsh, uncaring, dangerous as the world he lived in was, he couldn’t deny how breathtaking it looked today, with the sun beaming through the powdered trees.
It was too perfect; there even were damn birds singing. These lands had never harbored birds; he would know. He and the other hunters went after everything his people could eat; the rest of what they needed, they had to get from human towns.
Following the songs of the birds as quietly as he could, Kai eventually arrived exactly where he needed to be.
There was the answer to his questions: between the mountain where his village was settled, and a higher, more imposing peak, dominating the entire chain, there was a large tarn, and water flowed freely, heading down.
Kai was torn between thanking his fortune and wondering why it had happened now, after ten years of struggle. He was no meteorologist, but there had been no dramatic change of climate, as far as he knew.
Eventually, convincing himself that it didn’t matter, he drew an arrow from his back, and shot one of the deer around the pool, first – then, before they could fly away, a couple of pheasants, and something that looked like a duck.
Fuck. He’d never brought back that much food in one go, after less than an hour of hunting.
Needless to say, the duck would be his. He was generous and all, but there would be no sharing that roast.
Things were definitely looking up; they might not need help after all.
Unless you already received some, a little voice whispered, killing his mood before he’d had the time to feel a slither of contentment.
Truth was, the changes were just too abrupt, too perfect, and that generally meant there was magic involved.
And magic always came with a price.
Sobered up, Kai went to recover the dead animals, tied the deer’s hoof to drag him down with ease, and went on his way.
Kai was too polite to curse out loud, but a volley of insults did cross his mind when he bumped into her. Again.
The woman was wearing his blue and silver coat; it fell to her knees, fitting her quite well, now she’d tailored it to her size. Otherwise, she hadn’t wised up: her cute boots and thin trousers were still pretty damn out of place.
“What size are you?” he grunted.
She’d get herself killed, or she’d damage some of her limbs if she insisted in parading around here in that stupid get-up.
One thing sure was certain: he didn’t want her to bring any harm to those long, lean, delightful legs.
“Excuse me?”
“Shoes, trousers. What bloody size are you?”
After a long pause where she stared at him, visibly wondering if he’d lost his mind, she blurted out: “Six. Shoes and clothes; in Jereenan size, anyway.”
Of course, she was Jereenan. He rolled his eyes.
Every one of the crazy sport jocks and extreme explorers out there came from that kingdom.
“I’m sure we can find something. Come down. I’ll get you some clothes.”
He pushed past her, excepting her to follow; people generally obeyed his orders. But he didn’t hear any footstep behind him, so after a few seconds, he turned.
And the girl was gone.