Chapter 22

Snow stood on a dark plain devoid of trees or mountains. In the distance, he could see the fine line of a dimly lit horizon, but he couldn’t tell if there was truly any sun rising or setting in this strange world. There were no sounds but an eerie wind blowing through his clothes and whistling against his ears.

As alien as it seemed, this barren landscape felt familiar. After another second he placed it as the antechamber beyond the veil. This was the place he reached into to pull out the souls he sought to resurrect. But something was different about it now. He was deeper in. Snow looked back to the horizon and quickly realized it was the shore-like boundary, the threshold he crossed each time he entered through the gateway of the body.

Still unsure why he was standing there, Snow began walking for the light with an odd sense of urgency. He couldn’t imagine why he had ventured this far in, but he knew he shouldn’t be here. Fear quickly rattled him as he tried to remember what he was doing last before entering these wastes.

“Korvinian,” a voice slithered out of the dark. Snow turned but there was no one there. He briefly thought this was another one of Biletheos’s games, but it didn’t feel like his work. The golden showman would have jumped out by now, laughing as he made himself the center of attention.

“Korvinian,” the whisper repeated his name. Snow continued to look out into the emptiness. Finally, he saw something coming towards him – the ghostly outline of a body through which he could still see the strange horizon. Then movement caught his eye, and he realized there were others. Each strange being was walking towards him.

“What do you want?” He called back as he started to turn left and right, eyeing each one but finding only a shimmering emptiness in their shape. Dozens were now starting to encircle him. He squinted at each and raised his hands, but no fire came to his fingers. Nor did any ice.

He tried to lift the black earth beneath his feet into walls that would surround him and shield him from these beings, but nothing happened. He stood spinning from left to right searching his hip for his sword, which was missing as well.

When he looked up again, faint faces had begun to take shape. He took a step back as one came closer until he recognized the face of the baker’s daughter. Her eyes were still ominously empty, but her face was calm as she reached out a slender hand to lay on his chest.

“Save us,” she whispered. Snow tried to step back from her touch, but the others were around him and each laid a pleading hand on his body.

“Save you? Save you from what?” Snow replied. The chorus around him began to echo the plea.

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“Save us,” they all whispered until the voices were against Snow’s ear. He turned left and right to see more faces that looked familiar. They were all souls he had called back into the world of the living. Even Waldron was among them, though he stood a few rows back with a grim face.

“Save you from what?” Snow asked again in frustration. The figures then vanished, leaving him alone on the dark plain. The wind continued to blow, and the distant dim light was unchanged. He looked back around him to see where they had gone only to meet a massive black maw opening to swallow him whole. There was a deep rumble of satisfaction as it snapped its black, fanged jaws on him.

Snow woke with his scream and immediately hit his head on the low stone ceiling of the little shelter he had made. The frightened yell immediately became a pained groan as he crumpled back to the damp moss rubbing his sore head. The noise quickly attracted Phee who slowly clopped over to the entrance and stuck her pink muzzle down to sniff at him curiously.

“Are you alright?” Lia’s silky voice asked from her spot in the furthest, darkest corner of the tiny cave, curled up like a cat on the pelt she had taken from her last night’s dinner.

“Bad dream,” Snow said as he rubbed his head.

Outside the cave, the world was bright now with birdsong heralding the new day, but it wasn’t a day Snow was looking forward to. He was damp, cold, dirty, and there were still miles to go before he would be able to find a warm bath. Oh how he wanted a warm bath, a roaring fire, and a hot meal right now.

“Where are you going?” Lia asked as he started to crawl out of the little shelter.

“You need some clothes … and I need some food. Rest for the day. I should be back well before nightfall,” Snow replied as he crawled out on his hands and knees until he could stiffly stand up.

Every inch of him was aching from the hard, lumpy ground. He wanted a fire, but much of the fuel Lia collected last night was spent and he had learned the hard way that one can’t relax against a flame called up by hand. Fire required focus. The moment he started to relax with the warmth, the flame would vanish.

Snow had reclaimed his coat since Lia said the cold didn’t bother her as much, but it did little against the chill of damp earth. It was also still a bloody mess around the collar and unfit to be donned in any nearby town unless he was prepared to answer some odd questions.

“Something in green,” Lia said from within the shelter. Snow looked back and bent down to look back into the darkness.

“Pardon?”

“The clothes… I’d love something in green.” He could just make out her smile in the darkness.

“I’ll see what I can do,” Snow replied, though he had no idea how to accomplish it.

He thought of closing her in, but he didn’t want her feeling trapped or swimming through all the tense memories of the slavery she had recently endured. The woods felt remote enough and the dense canopy above would still offer some protection if she had to run. Instead, he turned towards the sound of the stream and took Phee’s reins to guide her to it. With any luck, he might be able to wash up a little before venturing into the nearest village.