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Chapter Six
“Bravery is half the victory.”
—The Saga of Harald Hardrade
“This looks like a graveyard.”
Sorin would agree.
The black and brown swamplands stretched before them farther than the eye could see. At least in terms of width. Like a great river of mud and decomposed slush. It was about five hundred yards to the other side.
If he’d been in phoenix form, he would wager that the aerial view looked like a dark line drawn into the earth, demarcating where they came from and where they were going.
The division between two worlds. Past and future.
On the far side, jagged, ice-encased mountains rose into gray, forbidding skies, their peaks extending beyond the clouds. Below, the cracked earth was covered in heaps of snow. Flurries circled the air like white ashes. But he could see that, farther north, those flakes clumped together like feathers, churned to and fro by a blistering wind.
Behind them, beyond the pebbled plains they’d just traveled across, he could still see the tall fields of grass and wild flowers. Summer still reigned.
Any normal person might have stopped here and retreated. The past was warm and inviting. The future unknown. And it boded ill from everything he could see. Especially if they had to wade through the graveyard before them.
The present.
Sorin did not believe in Fate or Destiny. He only held trust in himself and Ere. In the rightness of their love.
But what if—
“Well, there’s nothing for it but to cross, eh?” Ere remarked with a twist of his mouth, clearly not looking forward to the prospect.
“Who wants to go first?”
Kai dismounted, and so did Sorin and Ere, in silent agreement that their steeds did not need the extra weight when there was no telling how deep or difficult it would be to slog through the swamp.
Kai tested the dark, murky slush by tossing a rock into it. It sunk with a plop and a muddy splash.
Things were looking up. At least they weren’t facing quicksand.
Without a word, Kai waded into the bog, leading his horse along with him. He went slowly, testing his footing and the depth of the swamp.
The slush sloshed around his body as he descended. When he was several yards out, it seemed that was as deep as the bog would go, coming just above his waist.
Kai turned and gave them the go ahead with a brief nod. And so, Sorin led the second horse, while Ere clutched the reins of the donkey.
“Come on, you stubborn beast,” his Mate huffed beneath his breath. “You’re coming with us.”
The donkey dug in its heels and shook its head, clearly disagreeing.
“You’ve got all the goodies on your back,” Ere said. “We need those.”
The animal bared its teeth and blew its lips in a loud snort, as if to say,tough luck.
Seeing that they were reaching a stalemate, Sorin stepped in and handed their stallion’s lead to Ere, while he took the donkey in hand.
“Come,” he commanded softly to the frightened animal, staring into the one eye revealed by the parted fringe of long hair over its forehead.
It stared back with that intelligent, liquid dark eye. Let out a resigned whuffle and trudged forward.
“Huh,” Ere grunted, his expression sour.
