Rose Tolan's Arc

Chapter 7 of 8

The clawed tracks led straight into the pass. Rose crouched and pressed a hand into one print. It was wide as a dinner plate, the snow still soft at the edges. The creature had passed here minutes ago, not hours. She looked up the narrow gap between the peaks, where shadow swallowed the trail. She could not tell if the thing waited ahead. "We can't just walk in blind," Rose said. Her breath fogged the cold air. The pass was the only way through. Turning back meant crossing the deadly ridge again with nothing to show for it. Jackie knelt beside her, brown eyes on the tracks. She had joined Rose at the sugar hills campfire, saying the path ahead needed two to survive. Now she planted her walking stick and studied the prints. "Look how they turn," she said. "It went in, but the snow's kicked back here. Something scared it off its own path." She stood and pointed with her stick. Just past the first bend, a small pile sat on a flat rock. Bread, dark grapes, nuts, wrapped in a green leaf. Rose crept closer. The food was fresh, set out with care, like an offering for a hungry traveler. Beside it lay a sword. The blade was black and purple, sharp as glass, half buried in snow. Someone had left both here on purpose. "That's bait," Jackie whispered. "Or a peace gift." She nudged the leaf with her stick. Nothing moved. The chihuahua poked his head from her vest, sniffed, then whined and burrowed back down. The purple cat-dragon circled overhead, then landed on the rock and sat by the food, calm. Rose watched the little dragon. It knew the way to the crown. It had guided her this far without fear. If it settled here, the danger had passed. She let out a slow breath and reached for the sword. The grip fit her hand. The blade came free of the snow, lighter than it looked. "Whoever left this wanted us armed," Rose said. "The creature's gone. It fled through the far side." She pointed the blade up the trail. Fresh tracks led out the other end of the pass, deep and hurried, running away from them. Jackie grinned. "Then we eat first." She unwrapped the leaf and split the bread. They shared the food on the rock while the cat-dragon nibbled a grape. Rose sheathed nothing, for the sword had no sheath. She carried it bare in one hand as they walked into the pass. The shadows held no monster. They stepped out the far end onto open snow. Ahead, the ground fell away into a white valley. Far below, dark shapes moved along the trail, more of the clawed creatures, a whole pack, right across the only road forward. Rose gripped the sword tighter. The pass was behind them. The pack was ahead.