“Gee, thanks,” Lex sighed.
“Glad we all agree. We’re heading out tomorrow morning, so make sure you’re well-fed and rested.” Tara gave them a stiff nod before turning and walking off.
Lex and Dusk looked at one another in disbelief.
“I’m starting to feel like the lot of us would be completely at a loss if we weren’t looking for trouble,” Lex grinned, his eyes fixed on Dusk. “It’s just one fight to the next with us.”
“Not a habit I really wanted to get into,” Dusk replied, shaking his head. “I guess we had enough peace on the boat. Time to shake things up a bit.”
“We blew up another ship and took prisoners on the way here. That’s your idea of peace?”
“Well, we didn’t burn down a building and kill a bunch of people before we ran from an entire army, so I guess it’s a step in the right direction.”
“That’s a really low bar, Dusk.”
“Believe me, I’ve realized that.”
◆◆◆
The next morning the group found themselves packed, fed, and standing outside the tavern with their bags strapped over Maribel’s back. Thanks to Diana they’d had enough money to gather supplies and take a few more nights in the tavern if their hunt failed. But beyond that, they’d have to start sleeping outside and hunting again to stay alive. That alone was motivation enough to start walking to the north end of town, towards the danger that inevitably waited for them in the foothills beyond.
As they left the village border, they found the snow untouched and deep. In some places, Lex and Dusk were light enough to be able to walk on the frozen surface of the snow, but Maribel and Tara were forced to break their way through.
"Look who's got it better now!" Lex taunted, walking backward on the crunchy surface. "Less muscle means I don't sink to the bottom like you, ya meathead!"
"I swear on all that is holy in this world," Tara hissed, "I will break you once I get ahold of you."
"Sure thing. If you can catch me!"
Lex turned to jog away, but Dusk stuck out a foot just in time to trip him. With a gasp, Lex fell and struck the hard snow, breaking through the surface and sinking down a foot. A near-perfect outline of his body was left behind. Tara burst out laughing so hard that she fell over in the snow. Even Maribel was snorting. Dusk walked over to the hole, trying to contain his giggles.
"Whoops!" Dusk snorted. "Didn’t see you there."
Before he could even offer a hand he was on the ground laughing. Lex pushed himself up, brushing the snow out of his hair and eyelashes. He took a handful and threw it at Dusk before he began to laugh as well. He clambered over and on top of Dusk, straddling him and piling snow on top of him.
"I'm going to bury you and leave you here for good," he joked, still laughing.
"Okay! Okay! I give up! I'm sorry," Dusk giggled, holding his hands up in defeat.
Lex stopped, still smiling. He stayed there for a moment before grabbing Dusk by the collar and pulling him into a rough kiss. Dusk felt the world fall away around him, lost in the warm sensation emanating from Lex's lips.
"Alright!" Tara called, but Lex didn’t stop. Then a few seconds later, "Dammit Lex, let the man breathe!" Tara paused for a moment, a hefty sigh breaking the silence. "If you two start fucking in the snow in front of me I’ll feed you to the monster myself!"
Finally, Lex pulled away, a sly grin on his face as he bit his lower lip. Dusk felt breathless and suddenly hot, the sweat forming on his skin under the cloak.
"S-sorry…" he replied.
Lex stood up, brushing the snow off himself. He held a hand out to Dusk to pull him up. "I'm not."
"You two are disgusting," Tara chided, beginning to force her way through the snow once again.
Lex pulled Dusk to his feet, both brushing snow off their cloaks. Dusk leaned in and kissed Lex once more, slipping by and following after Tara. From behind he heard a contented sigh before the footsteps followed.
By the time night fell, they had moved deep into the foothills and Watersedge was no longer visible behind them. All day their path had been clear with little to no disturbance in the snow they trekked through. It seemed like a desolate place without a tree in sight and Dusk was glad they had packed a small amount of firewood for the trip. The Dorsum Mountains had grown even taller to their right, their stony cliffs stretching dark claws into the land.
The sky remained clear until the sun began to sink into the west. Standing at the crux of a hill and feeling the almost-warm wind, Dusk watched the sun fall to the horizon for the first time since he’d come within sight of the mountains. Now that they were on the other side he could watch the entire descent into darkness instead of looking to the clouds for clues. The skies above were filled with golds and oranges reflecting on the low underbelly of the clouds. As the sun disappeared they slowly turned to pinks, purples, and eventually dark blues.
“We should find a safe place for the night. Those clouds don’t inspire a lot of confidence in sleeping outside tonight,” Tara said, grabbing him by the shoulder. “We should take shelter on the east side of the hill.”
“And probably quickly,” Lex added, giving one last glance over his shoulder towards the dark clouds in the west.
Pushing their way through the snow they jogged to the bottom of the hill where it only became deeper. Tara led the way with Lex and Dusk following behind. Maribel was almost pulling the boys along, stealing a quick glance over her shoulder now and then at the approaching storm. If she was worried, they all had reason to be. Tara led them towards the rocky cliffs, seemingly searching for something. Just when the wind picked up and Dusk was about to call a halt, Tara cried out. She waved an arm, beckoning them forward. Cloaks whipping around them, they pushed forward until Tara suddenly made a left turn into the snow.
Dusk stopped and shook his head. It was as if Tara had just disappeared, walking right through the cliffside. After a moment she poked her head back out and waved them in. Stepping up, Dusk saw the snow suddenly give way to a small cave entrance just big enough for Maribel to slip through. He took one step back and watched as all traces of it disappeared. From only a few feet away it created the illusion that it was all one bank of snow. A creature or person could pass within five feet of the cave and never see it. He stepped forward, watching the cave appear once more. Leading Maribel through he felt confident that even if there was a monster, it wasn’t going to find them there.
The interior was cold and covered in slowly-dripping icicles, but completely free of the wind, thus making it feel instantly warmer. Tara led them a few paces in until the cave opened up a bit. Dusk dropped Maribel’s rope and began to pull the bags off her back, letting them drop to the ground. He fished around in one and pulled out a bright red apple. Maribel immediately whipped her head around, nearly throwing Dusk off his feet as they collided.
Dusk rubbed his shoulder where her head had struck him, holding out the apple. “We feed you every day you know,” he sighed, keeping his fingers well out of her way as she munched.
“You spoil that animal,” Tara scoffed, cutting loose a few pieces of firewood. “No wonder she’s such a handful all the time.”
“You’re a handful and we don’t complain about it,” Lex added, grabbing the blankets.
“You complain about it constantly, Lex,” Dusk sighed with a smile on his face, still keeping his fingers clear of Maribel’s teeth. Lex shot him a dirty look, but he just shrugged. “It’s true.”
Lex dropped the blankets and grabbed Dusk’s other hand, wrapping his arms around his waist. “I like it better when you can’t speak,” he murmured and pulled him in for another kiss.
“Alright!” Tara called, throwing the firewood to the ground and spooking Maribel. “We need to set some ground rules here! I’m not going to have you two tongue-fucking each other in front of me constantly. You want to do that shit, you can go outside. For fuck’s sake. Damn.”
“Jealousy doesn’t look good on you, Tara,” Lex giggled,
still keeping Dusk pulled close.
Tara lifted a finger, pointing it directly in Lex’s face. “If I hear a single weird sound tonight while we’re sleeping I will bury you where nobody will find you.”
“Tara,” Dusk said, pulling himself free of Lex. “I’m sorry, we didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”
“I’m not uncomfortable,” Tara enunciated, punctuating the syllables with her hands. “I have watched plenty of people fuck in front of me. In fact, I’ve done it myself in front of a group of people.”
“Show pony,” Lex whispered, clicking his tongue.
“One more word, twink, and I will break you in half.” She paused for a moment, nostrils flared, daring Lex to speak. “I’m happy for you two, but it’s revolting how much you like one another. I can’t take it. Save that for your own rooms.”
Dusk felt his cheeks warm a bit, but he nodded in understanding. “Okay.” He turned to Maribel, running his hands along her mane.
The other two went back to setting up and Dusk continued to fight the fluttering in his chest that just wouldn’t go away. Being around Lex made him feel almost drunk and when their lips touched his world caught on fire. Lost in his thoughts, Dusk pulled his hand away from Maribel and leaned his head against her side. Absentmindedly he began playing with the threads on the back of his leather glove.
All at once, a sound filled the air. Dusk looked up towards the mouth of the cave with the other two. It was a strange sound, like rice being poured into a ceramic pot, but multiplied a thousandfold. There was no other way to describe it. Dusk took a few steps towards the cave entrance. Leaning out he saw that the cold wind had picked up, but instead of snow, it was raining. Tara and Lex stepped up beside him, peering out into the strange weather as the last of the light was leaving the sky.
“Rain?” Dusk asked, looking to the other two. “But it’s winter.”
“Look,” Tara replied, pointing to the snow that had already grown glossy. “It’s freezing as it hits the ground.”
Sure enough, Dusk saw a thin sheet of ice forming and realized the strange sound was actually the crackling of the water as it froze. He stuck a hand out of the cave and felt the ice-cold rain strike his skin. It froze immediately on contact with cloth, but his skin was left wet and numb from the cold.
“It’s too bad there aren’t any trees around here,” Lex murmured, looking out into the growing dark. “I’ve seen this once before back in… where I come from. I got up the next morning and all the trees were covered in ice making them look like the whole world had been coated in glass overnight. It was exceptionally beautiful.”
“It’s going to make for hard travel until it snows again,” Tara grunted. “I doubt even Maribel will be able to walk on that if it keeps up for long.”
Tara turned away and went back to building the fire. Lex and Dusk stayed staring out of the cave, watching the ice form across anything it touched. Dusk reached out with his gloved hand and gently took Lex’s, lacing their fingers together. Smiling, Lex glanced down, then turned back to the rain. After a few minutes an orange glow welled up behind them, pulling their attention away from outside.
“Come on you two,” Tara sighed, waving them over before pulling their rations out of a bag. “Man cannot live on affections alone.”
Nineteen
Although there were no trees, the landscape Dusk awoke to was more beautiful than he had imagined, and much more treacherous. At first he and Lex had tried to step out of the cave only to slip and fall immediately. But the snow didn't give way. Instead they fell onto a rock-solid sheet of ice that coated everything for miles. The entire world was ablaze with sparkles as the sun reflected off the surface, but all they had to show for it were bruised elbows.
"I don't think we're going anywhere today," Tara sighed, helping them back into the ice-
free cavern. "If Maribel fell on this she'd never recover."
Dusk glanced nervously at the horse who was happily munching on her breakfast. "Yeah, I don't want to risk that."
"We didn't bring enough supplies to be stuck out here," Lex said, rubbing the shoulder he'd landed on. "What are we gonna do to keep warm or eat past tomorrow?"
"We'll figure that out as we go."
"I can make water," Dusk whispered, raising his gloved hand. "I think I remember the glyph for it."
"Dusk, you shouldn't be—"
"No, Lex." Tara held an arm out to silence him. "We're going to need the help when we run out later today. I don’t want him to have to use magic unless he has to, but this is gonna take all of us. We'll all pitch in however we can." She turned back to Dusk with a serious look on her face. "But you take it easy. Don't overdo it."
"Yes sir.”
"Here's what we're gonna do. You two keep an eye here, see if there's anything deeper in this cave we can use. I'm going to take my sword and cut my way to the top of the hill and see what I can see."
The boys nodded, glancing to one another.
"Be careful," Dusk added. "Don't get eaten please."
"No promises there."
With a nod and a wave Tara unsheathed her sword and began to drive it through the ice to break it, making her way slowly away from the mouth of the cave.
Lex waited until she was out of sight before turning to Dusk. "Well, since she's gone... Do you wanna make out?"
"Lex…"
"Well you're no fun."
He smiled, his blue eyes sparkling mischievously. It made Dusk's heart soar and he felt himself blushing again. Somehow even the smallest things seemed to hit him without warning, like Lex had some secret language he was speaking that Dusk didn’t understand.
"So what's in this cave then?" Dusk asked, desperate to change the subject before things got too intense.
"Tara made it sound like there's more to it."
"No idea honestly." He held out his arm for Dusk, as if to guide him. "Why don't we find out, milady?"
Dusk crinkled up his nose. "Just for that, I'm going alone."
Lex sighed as Dusk stepped back towards the smoldering campfire. Digging through his pack he pulled out a folded-over piece of cloth tied with leather. Unwrapping it he revealed the glowing stone he’d created in the island ruins. Lex stared as Dusk lifted it up, holding it above his head as he walked to the back of the cavern.
Dusk was surprised to see that the cave didn't come to an abrupt halt like he'd thought. Instead he saw many undulating shapes and broken rocks weaving back and forth, creating a kind of serpentine hallway. The rocky walls were certainly not the water-carved caverns Dusk had seen in the past. This one had been made by shearing and destructive force as the mountains had erupted up out of the ground, grinding and breaking against one another. The floor was rough and uneven, making it difficult to traverse, but the walls stayed wide enough to allow them to pass shoulder to shoulder. They pushed deeper and deeper in the cave, their only source of light being the small stone in Dusk's hand.
After what seemed like an eternity, the passage widened out and they could see light up ahead. As they came to the edge of a large open area Dusk looked up to see snow and ice forming on one wall of the cave. He lifted his head, seeing the fissure in the stone that let the daylight in. The wind whistled through the gap, stealing away any warmth that might have gathered inside. Large icicles hung from the fissure some twenty feet above like knives just waiting to plummet. The cavern itself opened up into a large room that made Dusk feel less claustrophobic for a moment. Until he saw the bones.
The floor was littered with bones of all shapes, sizes, and colors. Some of them were broken and obviously chewed on while others were frozen in the ice, the little bits of flesh still stuck to them preserved for the winter. At first Dusk thought it might just be a wolf den, but then he saw the human skull. He walked a few feet further, careful not to step on anything, and squatted down. Turning the skull to the side he gasped as he saw a row of punctures through the bone itself. The first thing he thought of was teeth, but they seemed imposs
ibly big for that. He thought back to the crude drawing of the creature Tara had shown him. Remembering the tusks he rolled the skull over. And there it was. The massive puncture that went clean through the bone. He silently hoped that this person, whoever they were, had been dead before that happened.
"By the gods…" Lex whispered, looking around the room. "That's a lot of bodies."
Dusk looked around. There were many human skulls interlaced with elk, wolves, and even a horse skull or two. "I think we figured out where the monster has been hiding," he whispered. "We should get out of here before it comes back."
"Good idea."
Lifting the stone high, the pair of them turned back towards the passageway. They made it no more than a few feet before a loud crash sounded behind them. Whipping around they stared as broken pieces of ice skittered across the floor in all directions. Glancing up Dusk could see where it had broken off near the opening to the outside. Beyond the gap was nothing but gray skies.
"Probably just the wind," Lex muttered unconvincingly. "I'm sure it's nothing."
He began to turn back, but Dusk remained vigilant. Keeping his gaze fixed on the opening he watched as another icicle shifted before breaking off. Before it struck the ground he saw a strange shimmer in the air, almost like heat waves rising in the dead of summer. The icicle shattered, causing Lex to jump and grab onto Dusk's cloak.
"I don't see anything," he murmured. "Why does that keep happening?"
"It's here," Dusk replied, lowering the stone. The light streaming in made the room bright enough to see without it. "I saw something, like a shimmer in the air. Watch the gap near the ice."
The Crystal Key: An LGBTQ+ Fantasy Series (The Crystalline Chronicles Book 3) Page 15