Frostbloom, when it could be found, was unmistakable in the barren terrain of the mountain range. It was the only plant growing that had any colour to it, so it was easy to identify it once the harvesters got within viewing range. However, it was sparse – one plant was all that could be found dotted around here and there, and after their initial luck at finding the first plant, they were now few and far between. After securing their horses to a nearby tree, they set about searching the area at the base of the mountain for more frostbloom. They searched together at first, but soon discovered that a far greater area could be covered by splitting up, which was necessary due to the short supply of the resource they craved. Alleran stayed near the horses whilst Jana ventured off a little further, but he made her promise to stay within his sight so he could make sure she was safe.
Only two plants had been found and harvested after around an hour of searching. Alleran was disappointed, as he would have liked to end up with around ten plants’ worth of leaves before they left that evening. He estimated they probably had around another hour or so before they would have to think about leaving.
Things suddenly seemed to be looking up though, as Alleran found another plant behind a large boulder at just the same time Jana let out a triumphant yell that she had found one also. It turned out that she had actually sourced two plants which took their harvest to about half of the desired volume.
As the next hour passed, and the bright sun dropped to a stunning orange sunset that descended west, a further three plants had been sourced. This took the tally to eight, which was a reasonable amount, Alleran thought to himself. Hot, sweaty and parched, he decided that it was time to stop for the day. Now that the sun had set over the distant horizon, it would not take long before twilight fell and they would be plunged into darkness very quickly – and this barren setting was not a place to be stuck when night fell.
He stood and winced as he stretched his sore back, made so from an afternoon of bending down to pick leaves from the plants. Wiping his sweat-covered brow with his shirt sleeve, he looked around and realised that he had not heard from Jana for some time – nor could he see where she had gone. He started to get nervous; he had become so distracted in his harvesting that he had not checked on her recently.
He called out to her. “Jana?”
No answer. “Jana?!”
Still nothing, the area was silent. He had himself ventured a little further than he would have liked, and could no longer see where they had left the horses. Anxiety mounting, Alleran ran towards the area he had left them and was relieved to see both mares right where he had tied them, grazing happily on some grass at the base of the tree.
Jana, however, was still nowhere to be seen. His heart was racing now. Where had she gone? “JANA!” he cried. “WHERE ARE YOU?”
A wave of pure relief came over him when the reply came from the distance. “I’m here!”
“Where is here?”
“One sec!” A moment later he saw her appear from around the side of an earthen mound about ten feet high, clutching her little bag of leaves. She waved happily at him, and he waved back, his heart rate starting to return to normal. She is exquisite, he thought, as he watched her elegantly walk towards him, still a hundred yards or so away. Jana was one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen - in fact, all the sisters were stunning - but he found Jana to be particularly so.
He was shaken from his daydream by Jana’s blood-curdling screams of pain. “Arrrggggggghhhhhhhh! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”
He heard a metallic click and saw Jana drop to the floor like a sack of potatoes, screaming her lungs out. “JANA!” he cried, dropping his bag and running over to her as fast as he could. She was still thrashing and screaming, now clutching her right ankle. As he approached, he saw to his horror that something was attached to her foot. He ran faster, and when he made it to where she was crumpled on the ground, thrashing wildly, he saw immediately what had happened.
Jana was caught in a hunter’s trap. The device had clamped itself around her foot and ankle, and although her leather boot had absorbed some of the cruel serrations, he could tell that the sharp edges had managed to penetrate the leather, biting into the top of her foot. Part of the trap had lodged its teeth into the flesh of Jana’s lower leg where the ankle boot ended, and blood had started to pour from the wound. He sat with her for a moment, frozen in horror, his mind not able to work out what to do. He snapped out of his trance when she grabbed his arm and screamed in sheer agony, and his senses abruptly returned to him.
He thought the trap was an old one, as it was rusty and looked like it could have been there for some time. This gave him further cause for concern as her wounds would quickly become infected if not treated soon.
“Get it off! Get it offffff!” she cried, one hand grabbing his shirt whilst the other reached for the trap.
“Try to keep still,” he asked, although he knew how stupid his own words must have sounded. “I’ll try to pull it open.”
He scanned around the cruel metal object for signs of a release plate or other such means to open the clamped jaws. But whether it had broken off in time or its manufacturer had simply neglected to include one, he could see no obvious signs of how to remove it from the stricken girl.
“Hurry,” Jana groaned, the strength in her voice weakening.
Alleran decided he would need to attempt to prise it off her by pulling the two sections that snapped around her foot apart, but this would not be easy due to the old but still quite sharp teeth of the trap. It was difficult to grasp it hard enough to pull away from her leg, as the only thing he could grab was the serrated edge of the metal. He could not get a good enough grip to move the plate one bit without cutting off his own fingers.
He grasped the two outer sides of the plates snaring her foot as hard as he could and grimaced, trying to open the cruel device. But it would not move. The trap remained firmly attached to Jana’s foot.
“I cannot get it apart,” he announced, frustrated. “It won’t budge.”
Jana groaned, blood trickling down into her boot from the metal teeth biting into her leg.
Alleran suddenly thought that he should get her to the village of Mallam and try to find a blacksmith who may be able to use his tools to remove the device. If he could just get her to the horses, it was only a short ride. However, to his dismay, he found the trap was attached to a chain of around three feet long, mostly hidden in the overgrown grass. As he followed the chain through the grass, he found it welded to a metal spike, hammered deep into the ground. His heart sank. Not only was the trap clamped around Jana’s foot, but she was also tethered to the ground. She was going nowhere.
Alleran sighed in frustration. He was out of ideas, and he drew in a long deep breath and wondered how to break the news to her. Jana was so preoccupied with the pain, she had not yet noticed the chain.
He was just about to tell her the bad news when they both heard a deep, menacing growl behind them. They slowly turned their heads in unison in the direction of the noise, not daring to imagine what could have made it. The guttural growl came again, louder this time, and they suddenly realised they were in far greater danger than they could have imagined.
A hundred feet from where they huddled, an enormous grizzly bear ambled towards them, slow and calculated. Even at this distance, its eyes fixated on them. It was as if it knew its prey was trapped.
Alleran was rooted to the spot, frozen with fear. Jana was agape, trembling with terror.
The bear moved closer.
CHAPTER 10 – The Unwelcome Visitor
The smell of leather drifted on the gentle breeze, making Esteri take in a deep breath, savouring the pleasant odour. Cerana was finishing a job off in her workshop - a pair of boots for a customer in the village. Esteri loved that smell, and although Cerana was so accustomed to it that she didn’t even realise how strong the aroma was, Esteri relished it.
The beautiful day was quickly turning into evening, and the
shiver that ran through her body made her realise how cold it was getting. She saw goosepimples had appeared on her bare arms, so she decided it was time to go indoors. “C, I’m heading in. It’s getting cold.”
“I’ll be there in a sec,” her sister called back, holding up a black, knee-high leather boot, scrutinizing her work.
“I’ll get the fire going. Don’t be too long.”
“Almost done, my love. I’ll be right in.” Cerana watched her trot across the lawn into the cottage, her long blond hair bobbing at her back as she walked. Although she had spent most of the afternoon in her workshop, she had done little in the way of actual work. Cerana had been thinking hard. She had finished the boots, that was true, but they were not for a customer. They were an old pair of her own that she was repairing. She had needed time to think, and used her work as an excuse.
She realised that she would have to make almost immediate arrangements to bring more gold into the household, but how? Gold did not grow on trees, so it would need earning, but Cerana realised again that she just could not afford any ongoing treatment for Esteri from her leatherworking alone. Living in such an isolated section of the village meant that they had few contacts to call upon, but until now this had not been a problem – and they preferred the life they lived in relative solitude. But this was not helping Cerana now as there was no-one she knew to ask for the favour of employment, and with her limited skills and knowledge, her options seemed few.
Her best idea so far was to try the inn at Barnesbay village. She had never worked as a barmaid before, but how hard could it be? It was the only feasible idea she had come up with, so she decided that she would make the short trip over the river and enquire into some part-time work.
They ate a lovely evening meal of roast boar ribs glazed with honey, accompanied by vegetables and roasted potatoes. Afterwards, they were both tired and sat before the fire with their feet up on wooden crates, warming their toes.
“I hope Jana is ok,” Esteri mumbled amidst a large yawn.
“I’m sure she will be, love. Alleran is with her anyway, and he knows where he is going. I trust him to look after her.”
“I like Alleran. I’m glad you found him.”
“Me too, feels like we’ve known him a lot longer than we actually have.”
“Yeah!” Esteri exclaimed. “I feel like that too. Funny, isn’t it?” she rubbed her eyes and yawned again.
“Why don’t you get yourself off to bed, you look exhausted.” She was exhausted, and Esteri knew that she probably should retire for the night before another bout of fatigue took over her.
“I am,” she said. “But I don’t think I can move off this seat. Maybe I’ll just sleep here.”
“Oh no you don’t, young lady! Off to bed with you, you’ll wake up stiff as a board if you fall asleep there!”
Esteri grumbled but gave in, rising from her seat and kissing her elder sister goodnight before disappearing into the bedroom. Cerana stayed in her seat, wiggling her toes in the warmth from the fire. She would go to the inn after lunch tomorrow, and hopefully find some work.
It was cosy and warm sitting by the fire, the only light in the room coming from the flames in the hearth, the only sounds from the cracks and spits of the kindling and chopped logs that burned brightly. After a large meal and with the heat from the flames, Cerana grew sleepy and was struggling to keep her eyes open even though it was still well before her usual bedtime. She had just chastised her youngest sister for falling asleep right there on the seat, but she found herself doing just that, her eyelids slowly opening and closing before they soon stayed shut and she drifted off.
A sudden noise arose her from her slumber, causing her to awaken with a start. Her eyes darted around the room, looking for signs of movement or other noises. Had it come from inside? Maybe it was Esteri – a cough or sneeze. Perhaps she had dreamt it, imagined it? There was no-one else in the room, and the crackling fire provided the only audible sound. Satisfied it was nothing, she settled back down and drifted off again.
She was awoken for a second time by a scream, and this sound she did not imagine.
It came from the bedroom.
Esteri. Oh no, had the symptoms started again? Cerana bolted from her seat, kicking over the footrest crate and charging into the bedroom.
“What’s wrong?” she demanded as she entered.
Cerana found Esteri sat up in bed with the covers pulled up to her neck. When she saw Cerana enter, Esteri pointed to the one small window in the room.
“There’s someone outside!” she blurted. “I saw them in the window, staring right at me!”
The shutters on the windows had not been fully closed, but as Cerana ran over, there was no-one in sight. It was dark outside, but Cerana saw no signs of movement.
“Stay here!” she ordered, before running through to the main room and picking up her sheathed dagger from the bookcase. She drew the weapon from its scabbard and flung open the front door, pausing for a few seconds to scan the immediate vicinity outside the cottage. She still saw no movement, but the hoot of a nearby owl alerted her to the tree at the top of the garden. Had she seen something move in the gloom?
“Who’s there?” she demanded.
No reply.
She raised the dagger and ventured outside, closing the door gently behind her. She soon realised she was still barefoot as the damp grass tickled her toes. Her eyes darted left, to the edge of the cottage and the side of the house where Esteri was convinced she had seen someone at her window. She scuttled across the front of their home, eyes constantly moving from the tree to the corner of the cottage, trying to see any signs of movement in the darkness.
When she reached the wall’s edge, she leaned against the stone and peered around the side which gave her a view of the wall that housed Esteri’s window. Nothing. Back to the tree. Still nothing. Something rustled in the trees, and she instinctively pointed her dagger towards it, but it was probably just the breeze. The owl hooted again, and Cerana sagged against the wall with a long sigh, lowering the dagger and looking upwards to the starry sky.
There was no-one there. Esteri must have imagined it. Maybe she woke abruptly from a dream? It was perhaps that period of a few seconds when one awakes, and it seems you are still in the dream.
Time to go back inside and try to calm her young sister down enough to get her off to sleep again.
She pushed herself off the wall and sheathed her dagger when she heard the yell.
“Yarrr!”
Cerana turned around just in time to see the horse and rider galloping away into the night. Emerging like a shadow from the bottom section of the garden, the horse thundered towards the stream branching from the Tohenas river. She reached for her dagger again, but by the time she grasped its handle, the rider had vanished, well past the cottage, heading north upstream. It was pointless giving chase - on foot she had no chance against a horse, and with Winter stabled, it would take too long. The stranger was gone.
But what were they doing snooping around outside their house, and why did they clearly not want to be found? Cerana walked to the front door of the cottage, wondering if she would ever know the answers to her questions.
CHAPTER 11 – Teamwork
The enormous brown bear let out a low growl as it continued its path towards its prey. Jana, for the time ignoring the pain in her leg and foot, shook and pulled the chain that tethered her to the ground, but to no avail.
“Alleran!” she yelled, breaking the apothecary’s paralysis of fear. He snapped out of the trance with a whimper before grabbing hold of the chain, and they both yanked as hard as they could, trying with all their combined might to prise the metal stake from the ground.
But it was no use. It would not budge.
Jana was becoming desperate. She was now trying to pull the jaws of the trap away from her foot by the chain. But she quickly gave this up and screamed in agony as the teeth cut deeper into her leg. Her pain was so great that she almost passed ou
t in the process. Her screams seemed to anger the bear as the lurching beast emitted another deep, guttural growl.
Jana sat facing the approaching bear, but Alleran had to turn from his position to see it. It was a big bear, probably fully grown, he thought. If it stood on its hind legs, it would tower over him, and he guessed it might well stand over eight feet high. Half a tonne of fearsome wild animal was now about eighty feet away from them, steadily gaining on their position. And Alleran figured that they were the bear’s next intended meal.
Jana had given up trying to free herself from the trap and just sat clinging to Alleran’s arm, tears flowing. They were both out of ideas.
“What do we do?” she cried, frantic with fear. Alleran had no answer.
“I……I…...one last push, hold still.” He grasped the jaws of the trap as best he could and took a deep breath, steadying himself for one final effort; one last attempt to save them. He grimaced as he pulled at the jaws, the teeth biting into his hands, blood steadily pouring from the wound it was creating. He yelled out loud as he strained every last ounce of strength out of his body, his face reddening with the effort. The trap did not give one tiny bit. He gave up and stared at his bloody hands, his entire body shaking from the effort.
Jana resigned herself to her fate. “Go,” she commanded, her voice soft and measured despite the gravity of the situation. The bear growled, sixty feet from them. “Save yourself. I cannot get free, but you can run. Cure my sister.” She forced a smile despite her tears.
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