Death After Death

Progress down the mountain was slow, and by the following evening, they still hadn’t reached the gently rolling plains that would lead to the distant village. Simon would be glad when they did, though. He’d pinned his hopes on it. Not only was it exhausting having to double back whenever they encountered an area too steep to pass, but it took forever as they tried to get down the sandstone bluffs that separated them from anywhere hospitable.

Once, just after noon, they heard the shriek of the wyvern as it soared through the sky. Simon immediately dropped what he was doing and pulled Freya into the shadow of a boulder, where they hid for almost half an hour as they watched the thing soar across the sky. In the end, it was only when Simon saw it flying back to its nest with a goat in its claws that they continued on their way. Though Freya took the rest of the journey well enough, even though her feet were bleeding by the end of the day, thanks to her poor excuse for shoes, Simon couldn’t stop worrying even after they stopped and the sun started to set. All he could see was that wyvern flying back to its nest with her bloody body in its claws.

By the evening, she was noticeably limping though she still hadn’t complained. He wanted to heal her wounds immediately, but he didn’t want her to freak out, so he decided to wait until she went to sleep as they made camp for the evening. That night they didn’t make a fire because there was precious little wood on the slopes of course. It was also because Simon didn’t want a beacon that would attract attention. After all, there was no real shelter, and he couldn’t help but think that given the slightest provocation that wyvern would swoop down looking for prey and decide that the two of them were the perfect snack.

He didn’t have any idea how far those things ranged when they hunted. However, given their size and the number of calories they had to burn every day, it had to be far, and he was certain they’d still be at risk of a surprise attack for days. How many days was harder to say, but he was pretty sure that until they could make it to the light forest that was still over a day from here at least. After that, he had no idea what new dangers would await them in there.

“What are you thinking about?” Freya asked eventually, rousing him from his recursive train of thought about all the dangers that they faced.

“How did you know I was still awake?” he asked. They were spooning together for warmth, and she was facing away, so he was genuinely confused.

“If you were asleep, then you would have been snoring,” she said playfully. “When you’re this quiet, usually you’re just worrying about things.”

“The Wyvern,” he said honestly, unwilling to tell her too much.

“It’s going to be okay,” she reassured him. “We’ll get somewhere safe soon. You said so yourself.”