Chapter 10 - Useen Rufuge

Their fingers frozen and wet from digging themselves out, Serenity and Tlen continued walking through the icy winds. The snow now reached their thighs, making walking very difficult. The slope of the mountain wasn't helping much, either.

They'd been walking for hours and had only reached a short distance. Serenity was starting to feel anger and frustration bubbling up again. Then, without warning, something hit her in the chest. She tumbled down the hill they had just climbed until she landed on an outcropping rock with a thud.

The air had been knocked from her body. She could barely move, but she managed to turn her head to see Tlen running down to help her. Even through the blowing snow, Serenity could see the worry and alarm on his face.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a shadow dart between the trees. But when she turned her head to see, Serenity saw several pairs of red glowing eyes, looking directly at her.

Tlen had reached her side and his oversized sword was drawn. He eyed the shadows carefully. “Just stay down and try not to get hurt.”

Too late, she thought.

One of the shadows dared to dart out from its hiding spot and the rest followed. Fear gripped her heart with icy fingers.

Wolves. But not just any wolves. They were Zarayne's wolves. Completely controlled by him.

The wolves lunged at Tlen and he hit one square in the chest. It rolled backwards in the snow, dead. The rest turned their eyes from their fallen comrade and leapt for Tlen again, drool dripping from their teeth.

He swung his sword again in a wide arc, throwing two more to the ground. But one of the wolves was expecting this. It lunged underneath the flying sword and grabbed Tlen by the leg. He screamed in pain but grabbed a dagger from his other boot and thrust it deep in the wolf's skull. He kicked the wolf away from him.

“Don't think you'll get away with this.”

Serenity couldn't believe her ears. The lead wolf was talking. But before she could wonder any longer, the wolves disappeared in the snow.

“Come on, we've got to get away from here.” Tlen grabbed her hand and pulled her up.

This time up the mountains was slightly easier with their old tracks still fresh. Well, they weren't tracks so much as trenches.

Serenity's head was still spinning from her crash when they started walking again. She was finding it hard to stand, let alone walk. Wading through the deep snow was tiring her out even more.

“Can we please stop? Please?” Her legs were starting too wobble and the trees around her seemed to swirl with the wind.

Looking over his shoulder, Tlen said, “We're almost to a safe shelter I found a while back. It should be just up ahead. Can you last that long?”

“No,” she grumbled and fell face first into the snow, more on purpose than anything else. “I'm not going anywhere,” Serenity mumbled through the snow, but it sounded more like, “Mm nt gnin mmywer.”

“What?” Tlen couldn't help but smile.

Serenity lifted her head and said again, “I'm not going anywhere.”

“Well, right now we can't waste any time. Zarayne knows exactly where we are and could attack us at any moment. You can make it a few more miles”

Sarcastically she said, “Then you'll have to carry me.”

So Tlen came over and picked her up.

“I didn't mean it!” Serenity laughed.

“Good, then you can walk.”

“No! I don't want to walk!”

“Okay.”

So the two went on, Serenity in Tlen arms, wading through the snow while Serenity continued to complained sarcastically. She couldn't help but burst out in laughter.

Finally she gave up her useless complaints and asked, “So what's so safe about this place that Zarayne won't find us?”

“Oh, you'll see.” A smug grin played across his face. “I hardly found it until I ran right into it.”

Not understanding, Serenity just stayed quiet. Not more than half an hour later, Tlen stopped and put Serenity down. “We're here,” he declared.

Serenity looked around to see what “here” was exactly.

Nothing but white could be seen through the wind. She continued looking in each direction until she turned back to Tlen, who was smiling at her. She notice his eyes seemed to blend in with the snowy background.

“Where?” she asked.

“Right there.” He waved a hand directly in front of them.

Serenity looked again. It was just as white as everything else.

Tlen walked over to where he'd pointed and motioned for Serenity to follow. Then he walked right up to the whiteness, and knocked on an unseen object.

And it opened. The whiteness opened up and a short hairy face poked out.

“Yes?” It asked gruffly.

“Toffan, it's me, Tlen.”

“Ah, yes! Come in, come in.” Just before the short fellow shut the door, he looked around outside cautiously.

As Serenity stepped inside, she realized it was a trading post. Furs hung on racks and food on shelves. Boots lay neatly on the floor while walking sticks aligned the wall. It seemed weird to her, to walk from snow into a warm cozy building. Now she understood what Tlen meant about running into it. You couldn't even tell it was there!

When the short man popped his head back inside, Serenity guessed he was a dwarf. He had to be. He had a long, thick beard hanging from his round face. His plump body only reached about four-and-a-half feet tall.

“So what can I do for you this time, Tlen?” his gruff voice asked.

“Well, this time it's under a bit more serious circumstances, Toffan,” Tlen replied.

“Oh boy, what did you do this time?”

“Toffan, I want you to meet Serenity, Fayrah's Earth Keeper.”

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