Dusk Over Arcath

Chapter 24

Canth dropped against the ground. Sharp blades of grass stabbed him through his tunic and a thin layer of snow that had settled beneath the turf sent chills down his back.

He did not care.

Gazing up into the cold sunlight, mountains continued to tower above them just has they continued to plummet below them. The rocky shelf he lay on was one of few respites in the steep crags up the peaks.

"We've been climbing for about a day now," Castleia mused, spying across the hills. "Looks like we've made it maybe a quarter of the way into the hills, and maybe half way up them."

"Good for us," Canth groaned. "Threror said the Dwarves would find us before we found them." The boy reached his hands into the empty sky. "I'm ready. Come get me. Please."

Castleia laughed. "Get up scribbler. We've many more mountains to climb before we reach the summit."

He let his arms drop to the ground. "Please. Can we please rest for a couple more minutes."

"Did I go too easy on you in our duels?" she laughed. "Are you hurting little scribbler."

"Yes!" he exclaimed from the ground. "Yes. My arms are burning and shaking. Oaths, I could hardly hold a pen still if I tried."

"Well you have a sword and shield to carry, not a pen. Better pick them up."

He rolled over, letting his perspiration-covered face feel the coolness of the frost in the grass.

Castleia rolled her eyes. "Fine. We'll rest for a time. But when the sun reaches that peak," she pointed, though he did not bothered to notice where, "we are going again."

She sat cross-legged in the grass beside him. He could not see her but heard her plucking blades of stiff grass from the stubborn ground. Closing his eyes, Canth took a deep breath and rolled over again, propping himself up to see her.

Her fingers manipulated the hazy green stems into delicate knots, lacing them together. As he watched, she created a small chain and tied into together into a loop.

"Would you like a crown my little princess?"

He laughed, falling onto his back again. "I think not. Besides, it would look far more fetching on you than me I should think."

She shook her head, but donned the small crown anyway. The two shared a laugh at the look.

"Where did you learn to do that?"

Castleia's smile began to fade. "My mother."

After another breath, she pulled the grass from her head, letting the knots fall undone into a pile of dead blades.

Canth pursed his lips. He considered apologizing for a moment but decided against it. Instead, he stood, and she gave him a surprised look.

"I'm taking a leak," he explained, "don't get any ideas about starting this adventure again." Shaking his head as he walked a short way away, he could not help but think, Storytellers never said what it was like to be in the story. Bloody hunt, I don't know if I can take much more of this.

Turning back to make sure he was hidden behind a shelf of rock, he untied his trousers and look up.

If he had not been prepared to make water already, he would have wet himself.

Nestled in the shelf of rock between the peak face and the alcove where he had hidden himself, a beast lay curled in a monstrous form of dense hair. Huge claws, each palm as large as his head, scratched absently at the ground. Its massive eyelids squeezed closed as it dreamed, panting from a wet black nose.