Dreamthief

by Tamara Grantham

Seventeen

  My first thoughts were of the bitter cold. I tried to sit up, but my muscles refused to cooperate. Ice crystals stuck to my eyes as I opened them. I tasted snowflakes on my tongue, and the air stung my lungs as I breathed it in.

  I lay on a bed of snow. A blue, cloudless sky spanned overhead. I wiggled my fingers, then my toes, hoping I would feel them soon.

  As I sat up, I tried to get my bearings.

  A barren expanse surrounded me.

  I concentrated on remembering the last couple of hours. Images tumbled through my head in a jumbled haze. The temple ruins. The goblin tombs. The ambush. And the black fog. It had tried to kill Kull.

  I’d used a banishing spell, but the dream catcher had mingled with my own magic. Had the dream catcher’s magic banished me as well?

  I tasted bile as I stood. Pain shot through my joints with my first step forward. I needed to find Kull. And Heidel, assuming they were still alive.

  But where was I?

  The temple ruins and mountains were gone. Was I in goblin country?

  I knew they had been involved in Jeremiah’s capture. I knew they must’ve conjured the Dreamthief and taken my godson. I also knew they must be working with the Regaymor. What the creatures actually were, I had no clue.

  As I stumbled through the snow, I tried to keep my eyes on the sun sinking toward the horizon. Assuming I was in goblin country, I needed to head south. Back to the sky king. And home.

  I needed to tell the sky king that the goblins had invaded the Wult tombs. That they had my godson’s dreamsoul.

  But where had they taken him? And how could I find him?

  Frost bit my fingertips. I kept my hands under my cloak, but as the wind gusted past, the cold pierced through the thick animal hide.

  The sun sank deeper toward the horizon, growing bloated and orange. I knew I wouldn’t survive the night without shelter.

  My boots crunched over the snow-packed ground, and my breathing sounded loud in my ears. I worked my fingers open and shut to keep the blood flowing.

  Something made me trip. After regaining my balance, I stood straight and found a hint of animal-hide cloak peeking from the snow.

  Kull.

  He stirred and opened his eyes. Dried blood matted his hair and forehead. I knelt beside him. “Olive,” he managed in a hoarse whisper.

  “This is the second time I’ve found you passed out.”

  A hint of a smile crossed his face. “Where are we?”

  Wind howled past, making it hard for me to hear my own reply. “Goblin lands, I think. Can you walk?”

  Using my good arm, I tried to help him stand, but he hesitated. “Heidel?”

  I shook my head. “I haven’t seen her.”

  Fear flashed through his eyes. “We must find her.”

  “We need shelter first.”

  As he sat up, he stared at the snow-encrusted landscape. I knew what he was thinking. No caves, no forests, no villages of any kind. We had little chance of survival.

  “Come on,” I said and helped him up. He rose slowly, and I noticed a gash of black blood drying on his neck. I leaned in to inspect it.

  He drew back. “What are you doing?”

  “That wound was made by dark magic. You need a healer.”

  “No time.”

  “But you could die.”

  He limped away from me. “Looks like I’m not far from that anyway.”

  “Where are you going?”

  He pointed to a steep rise. “There. We’ll follow the foothills. With luck, we’ll find the mountains soon.”

  I shouldered my pack with numb fingers and followed him. My boots slipped over an icy crust of snow. Kull caught me before I fell. We trudged on, my breath coming out in labored gasps as we started up the steep rise. The hill seemed to go on forever. My toes turned numb in my shoes. I stubbed them more times than I could count but felt nothing. That was a bad sign.

  I focused on the path ahead of me. Darkness came swiftly, and soon I strained to see anything. After a while, a large moon rose above us, casting its silver hue over the ice and snow banks. We traded one hill for another, trudging on with the moon as our only light.

  Maybe we should stop, I thought. Please, let’s just rest for a moment. But I held my tongue, although it took every ounce of energy to keep moving forward.

  We crested another hill, and I paused. My mouth gaped.

  We stood over a valley. Below, a forest spread before us, the trees forming dark silhouettes against the star-flecked sky.

  Kull stopped behind me, and it was only then that I realized I’d been ahead of him, which surprised me.

  “Are you okay?” I asked.

  “I am well,” he said after a pause. He rubbed his neck. Although I couldn’t see it, I knew that wound was slowly killing him.

  “Are you sure? Let me use a healing spell—”

  “I am well,” he said, though he didn’t move forward.

  I took his arm.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Helping you,” I said. “Don’t argue.”

  He didn’t, which surprised me. For Kull to accept help meant he must’ve been worse off than I’d realized.

  The forest loomed ahead. We stumbled through the snow until finally making it inside the thick cover of trees. I stepped onto a carpet of pine needles. The air warmed, and I inhaled the familiar scent of pine boughs similar to those on Earth. The canopy insulated us from the biting cold, though the frozen feeling wouldn’t leave my toes and fingers.

  Kull stumbled, almost falling. I caught him, took his arm, and wrapped it around my neck, letting some of his weight rest on me. My dislocated shoulder tensed, and pain shot through my arm. I wasn’t sure how long I could hold him.

  Our footsteps sounded loud in my ears. Twigs snapped underfoot. My shoulder screamed with pain, but the cold kept me from focusing on it.

  The scent of wood smoke made me pause. Pinpricks of orange light glowed ahead. Campfires? I prayed I wasn’t hallucinating.

  I moved forward with Kull leaning against me. “Kull?” I asked.

  He mumbled something—a yes, maybe?

  “I think we might’ve found a camp close by,” I said.

  “Camp?”

  “Yes, straight ahead. Stay with me.”

  He stumbled, but I managed to keep him upright. The lights began to take shape—I spotted several campfires now—and the scent of wood smoke grew stronger. I heard shouting, and soon, a man appeared from the edge of the encampment. He wore a fur cloak over his leather tunic and breeches. There was a wild look about him, his hair long and braided, gold earrings in his ears and nose.

  He moved in front of us, his eyes on Kull.

  “Stop,” he said. “Who are you? What are you doing here?”

  “My name is Olive,” I answered. “My companion and I are lost. We seek shelter.”

  The man pulled a spear from his back. He took a step toward Kull. “What is wrong with him?”

  “He’s been infected. Please, we need a fire and food. Can you help us?”

  He raised an eyebrow, and that’s when I noticed his pointed ears. Was he an elf? I’d never seen an elf with a stocky frame or wearing clothes such as his. “Do you have any weapons?”

  “Yes. Only a knife. In my boot.”

  “What about him?” He pointed the spear at Kull. The warrior slouched against me, though I managed to stay upright.

  “His broadsword.”

  “That’s all?”

  “That’s all he needs.”

  The man whistled. Several archers appeared behind him, all wearing similar clothes to his. “Take their weapons. Escort them into camp. They shall be our guests.” He smiled, a leering grin that made me question whether we were to be his guests or his prisoners.

  After the men removed our blades, we followed them through the darkness of the trees. I felt grateful that Kull was too sedated to argue. Blood would have been shed before anyone touched his broadswo
rd.