Lena Marsh's Arc

Chapter 11 of 24

They pushed deeper past the ridge. Snow lay hard over the roots. The pines stood close, branches iced white, needles glittering under a thin sun. Lena's boots broke through the crust with every step. She had walked an hour past the tree line before her knees started to shake. She had walked a second before she went down. She caught herself on Nell's arm. He was already reaching for her. He had been watching her the whole time. "Enough," Nell said. "You stop here." "The needle," Lena said. The crystal in her fist pulled north. "We have a day. Less." "You have an hour if you keep walking," Nell said. "Sit." He put her down against the trunk of a wide pine. He pulled off his own coat and wrapped it around her before she could argue. His hands worked at her collar, tucking the wool close under her chin. His fingers were warm. Her fingers were not. Linny knelt in the snow beside them. "She can't sleep out here. The bands don't help with cold." "I know," Nell said. Forge scanned the trees. "Ground's frozen. Can't dig. No dry wood close." "I'll find shelter," Nell said. "Alone?" Linny said. "Faster alone." He pressed his palm flat to the bark above Lena's shoulder. He closed his eyes. Lena watched the green in them fade behind the lids. "Stay in the pine cluster. Fox stays with you." The fox settled against Lena's hip, green tail curled over her knee. Nell stood. He looked at her once more before he went. He did not say what was on his face. He did not have to. He was back before the light shifted. He came out of the trees at a hard walk with snow on his shoulders. "Hollow under a fallen frostwood," he said. "Dry inside. Room for four. A wolf's been using it. She let me pass." "A wolf let you pass," Forge said. "Moss on her back. Old thing. Fae-touched." Nell knelt and lifted Lena under the knees before she could stand. "Hold on to my neck." "I can walk," she said. "You can't." She put her arms around his neck. His pulse moved fast against her wrist. He carried her the quarter mile without slowing. Linny and Forge walked behind with blades bare. The hollow was low and dry, floored with old needles. The wolf sat outside it, gray with green in her fur, and watched them file in without rising. Nell set Lena down against the inner wall. He built a small fire at the mouth. He fed her water from his own skin, one sip at a time, his hand steady behind her head. "Sleep," he said. "I'll wake you at dark." "The bands—" "I'll watch the bands. I'll watch you. Get some sleep." She slept. He sat beside her the whole time, one hand on the hilt at his belt, the other resting light against her wrist, counting the warmth back into it.