Everlasting

by W. J. May

  “I think we’d better stick together,” she said casually. “You three obviously need me. It’s a miracle you lasted even the night.”

  Dylan nodded with a thoughtful frown, acting like it didn’t bother him either way. The two of them quickly folded up the blanket and started heading back to the others. They’d almost made it all the way, when she heard him mutter under his breath. “Heaven forbid we pick a single direction and stick with it for the rest of the day...”

  She smacked him as hard as she could, right in the center of the back.

  “You just couldn’t leave it alone, could you?” she demanded. “You just couldn’t let this be one of those happy moments, and leave it at that?”

  He kept walking with a little smile. “Heaven forbid we learn how to start a fire...”

  THE OTHERS HANDLED Katerina’s return to the fold with a lot more grace. Tanya caught her in a suffocating bear hug, then demanded she sample whatever was smoking above the flames. Even Cassiel, with whom she hadn’t really bonded, gave her a one-armed hug before returning to his seat on the other side of the fire. She stared after him in surprise, wondering if she was ever going to figure out what was going on inside that capricious head of his.

  They had been in the middle of an intense discussion before she arrived. Still deliberating as to the wisest route to Brookfield Hall. Apparently, none of them thought her little rebellion would last very long, and they wanted to be prepared the moment she came back.

  “I still say that Clever’s Pass is the best way to go.” Tanya shielded her eyes and squinted with great authority towards the mountains in the distance. “I know it’s not the easiest climb in the world, but I think we’ve proven ourselves by now, haven’t we?”

  Dylan’s eyes flickered from the smoking caldron to the half-capsized tent, but he pursed his lips and said nothing. Instead, he turned to Cassiel. His reluctant voice of reason.

  “It’s a double-edged sword,” the fae said thoughtfully. “It’s a dangerous path, but that might mean it’s the safest for people in our position to travel. The prince must have figured out by now that there are people out there working to keep the princess alive. He can’t imagine we would risk her life by taking her somewhere like that.”

  Katerina shivered discreetly at the words ‘somewhere like that.’ If it was as dangerous as they were making it out to be shouldn’t they, too, be avoiding it at all costs?

  “What do you think?” she asked Dylan quietly. The others could input all they wanted, but she wouldn’t go along with a plan until she heard it from his own mouth.

  He considered the question for a long time, glancing up occasionally at the snowy peaks in the distance. When he finally answered, it was clear he was searching for the lesser of two evils.

  “It’s cold,” he murmured, sticking his hands in his pockets as the icy wind swept his hair off his face. “It shouldn’t be so cold this time of year.”

  Cassiel nodded slowly. Troubled by the same thing.

  “Still, I think we should try it.” His hand closed around the poster; he’d taken it with him before running off after Katerina in the woods. “I wouldn’t have thought we’d still be seeing guards so far north, but here they are. Clever’s Pass might be the only chance we have to lose them.”

  “So, it’s decided.” Tanya picked up her pack with a cheerful smile, unwilling to let even the worst of circumstances get her down. “Off to a frozen wasteland of death.”

  There was a heavy pause.

  “Yeah...something like that.”

  The others gave her a long look, slowly following suit. They packed up the rest of the camp, scarfed down a quick bite of breakfast, and stamped out what remained of the fire.

  Less than ten minutes later they were all standing in a line, staring out at the frozen mountains beyond.

  They lingered there a moment, trying to make peace with the thought, before Dylan cocked his head and they started marching straight towards the summit.

  He went out in front, his sharp eyes missing not a single detail as they made their way over the rugged terrain. Katerina followed just after, a great deal more scared than she was letting on but determined to keep pace. Cassiel was just a step behind. Tall and graceful. And wary. Keeping his eyes on the trees, as if at any moment a new danger might come leaping out. Tanya brought up the rear, humming quietly under her breath and pausing now and then to pick a stray flower.

  They were an unusual group, but a determined one. The whimsical music and daisy chains certainly didn’t help. The fae tolerated them for as long as he could before glaring over his shoulder.

  “You were living as a goblin too long...”

  IT DIDN’T TAKE LONG to get to the mountains. Another day hiking through the tall grass, and another night camping amongst the heather, and they were already there. What did take long, was getting through the mountains. After just a few hours of struggling through the snow, in clothes not at all suited, Katerina was beginning to doubt they’d ever make it to the other side.

  “This...was maybe a bad idea.”

  A thick blanket of snow covered the ground, hiding dips and ravines and making everything look deceptively level. Every few minutes or so, one of them would sink into a waist-deep drift and need to be fished out by the others. Every few minutes or so, they would need to stop and shake a heavy coating of powder from their clothes. Fingers stiffened and cracked. Momentum stalled and grew sluggish. And conversations were soon reduced to the quickest grunt or shake of the head as they tried to conserve their energy for what was yet to come.

  It was bad enough for Katerina, who had next to no experience and whose skinny body offered little protection from the cold. But poor Tanya had it even worse. The girl was scarcely taller than the goblin she’d been impersonating. Just a little over five feet. While the snow came up to the rest of their chests, it was coming up to her chin.

  “I’m serious.” The tiny girl pulled out a blade and started hacking furiously at the ice bank in front of her, trying to clear a path. “Next time I have a ‘great idea,’ punch me in the mouth.”

  “Duly noted.”

  She glanced up with a scowl as Cassiel swept past her. But while he might have been teasing, he was not unkind. Before she could take another step, he reached down and lifted her clear out of the snow, setting her on a firmer bit of ice on the other side of the embankment.

  “Pointy-eared little troll...” Tanya muttered.

  “You’re welcome.” Cass nodded once.

  Katerina tried to smile, but her lips had hardened into a pale, thin line. Every breath was agony, and every step felt as though it might be the last one. Back in the forest, they’d climbed over two or three mountains every day. It was a grueling pace, but at least it was possible. But this?

  The sun was starting to slip lower in the sky, and they hadn’t even reached the first alpine peak. At this rate, there was little chance of them making it before nightfall. And even then, where in the world were they supposed to pitch the tent?

  “Thinking warm thoughts?”

  She glanced to the side and saw Dylan wading towards her through the snow. The tops of his cheeks were flushed with exertion, but the rest of him was pale white. The rest of him that she could see, at least. He’d covered his head in a scarf so that only a thin band revealing his eyes was visible. The brows above them had been coated white, making him look like a wizard in training.

  “Does that ever work for you?” she panted back. “Thinking warm thoughts?” In her mind, it seemed almost spiteful. Why taunt herself when it felt like she would never be warm again?

  She couldn’t see much of his face, but she could have sworn he smiled.

  “Don’t tell me that you lose your sense of humor in the cold. I never would have suggested this place if I’d known. I would have insisted we travel by way of the beach.”

  She started to laugh, but miscalculated a step, and went tumbling head first straight into a high snow bank. Her arms flew up as she p
repared to get a bloody mouthful of ice but a hand shot out at the last second, grabbing the back of her cloak and pulling her to firmer ground.

  “No need to be so dramatic, princess.” His eyes twinkled as he brushed a layer of frozen sleet off her back. “I’m already paying attention to you.”

  She wanted to punch him, but it would take too much energy. She wanted to scramble up onto his back and get out of the snow, but it struck her that might not be entirely fair. Instead, she gestured to Tanya, turning the spotlight away from herself.

  “Why doesn’t she just shift into someone taller?” she asked curiously. “Or into something with wings—avoid the climb altogether.”

  Dylan followed her gaze, watching the tiny girl struggle with an almost brotherly concern, before forcing it quickly from his eyes. “It takes an absurd amount of energy to shift into another sentient being. I’m guessing she doesn’t have that kind of energy right now. And as for something that flies...” He trailed off, considering it for the first time. “I’ve heard rumors of that happening. Of people shifting into giant birds, or people with wings. But it’s almost impossible. Especially for someone of Tanya’s age. Give her fifty years or so...maybe. But not now. Certainly not in this place.”

  “No problem,” Katerina panted. “I’m sure we’ll still be here in fifty years.” Dylan shot her a sideways grin as she tripped once more. “On that note, why did you suggest this place?”

  His smile faded as he glanced warily up at the sky. “I’m beginning to wonder that myself.”

  As if on cue the clouds suddenly darkened, and a thick layer of snow began to fall. There was a series of muffled shouts and exclamations before the four of them clambered under the jagged edge of a snow-covered boulder and huddled together, staring miserably at the stormy skies.

  “This shouldn’t be happening,” Cassiel said softly. It wasn’t a complaint, it was merely a contemplation. One that sent chills running down Katerina’s spine. “Not here. Not in the summer.”

  Dylan’s face tightened, but he nodded. He’d clearly been thinking the same thing all day. “I know.”

  The sky above them screamed and roared. Daring them to keep talking about what should and shouldn’t be. It looked as though the entire world was ripping apart. One seam at a time.

  “In almost five hundred years, it’s never—”

  “I know.”

  The wind picked up speed, and the four of them huddled closer together. Without seeming to realize it, they all had a hand on each other. A fistful of jacket. The side of a sleeve. As the world around them fell apart, it seemed the only way to keep themselves together.

  “Should we go back?” Tanya asked quietly. Her entire body was shaking, but she gazed at the storm with steady eyes. “Head out the way we came in? Wait for the storm to pass?”

  Dylan nodded slowly, and Katerina sighed in relief. At this point, what was the alternative?

  “We could certainly try.” Cassiel’s bright eyes squinted hard against the wind, gazing out in the opposite direction. “Take the lower trail. The one that dips down by the—”

  It might have been a good idea. It might have been their very salvation. But they would never know. At that very moment, the clouds ripped open with a flash of blinding light.

  WHAT THE—?!

  The princess let out a piercing scream as a giant bolt of lightning sliced through the center of the sky, striking a mountain cliff behind them. A curved, dome-like peak they’d passed under less than an hour before. There was a deafening crash followed by an ominous rumble, and then, for a split-second, the entire world seemed to stand still.

  The four friends stared up in terror. Not daring to move. Not daring to breathe.

  Please let it be okay. Please let it be okay.

  Katerina took a step closer to Dylan as everything around them went silent. The dizzying flurries. The thundering clouds. Even the storm itself seemed to be waiting for something.

  For a suspended moment, nothing happened. Then the entire mountain began to give way.

  Giant slabs of solid ice broke off the top. Thousands of tons of sleet and snow fell in a morbidly beautiful cascade towards the earth. They hit the ground with a noise that shattered Katerina’s eardrums and rattled her teeth. Then the four of them watched, in what felt like slow motion, as the entire mountain of furious, icy death came flying their way.

  This is it. This is how we’ll die.

  The princess pulled in her breath for another scream, but there wasn’t time. Before she could inhale, a strong hand caught her by the waist and shoved her down against the boulder. Her teeth sank into her tongue and a burst of blood pooled in her mouth. She only barely had time to roll onto her back before Dylan came down on top of her.

  His eyes were frantic, and his skin was pale white. The scarf he’d been using to protect himself flew off in the wind as he lowered his face to hers, speaking directly into her ear.

  “Just take a breath. I’ve got you.”

  How could he be so calm? In just seconds, the entire canyon would be covered in a suffocating layer of snow, and the four friends would be buried right along with it.

  Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Cassiel pull Tanya down beside them. The two of them were crouched in the far corner beneath the dome of rock, holding onto each other for dear life in the precious few seconds that remained. Katerina looked at each one in turn, her ears ringing with the screaming wind, before turning back to Dylan.

  Their eyes met, and for the second time in just a few seconds the world stood still.

  She didn’t think she’d ever be able to describe what passed between them in that frozen moment. There were worlds lost, dreams ended, and lives that would never be shared. But at the same time there was a strange sort of peace. A feeling of tranquility that spread through her, making her entire body go still.

  With a shaking hand, she reached up and brushed a frozen lock of hair away from his eyes; the rest was dancing wildly in the wind. Her fingers lingered on his face, and when their eyes locked again the princess and the ranger shared the world’s most unlikely of smiles.

  Then the ice struck, and the entire world went dark.

  There was no more smiling after that.

  Chapter 5

  It started as a dull ringing in her ears. That’s the first clue Katerina had that told her she wasn’t dead, but that some small part of her was still clinging to life. The ringing got louder and louder as she lay, perfectly suspended, in the snow.

  It seems unfair, she thought, encased in her icy coffin, that I would survive the initial blow, only to wake then have to suffocate. Why couldn’t I have just died instantly? I bet the others got to.

  Not that she needed to breathe. Not that she felt particularly cold. It was like her body had gone into stasis, a frosty hibernation. She felt neither hurried, nor impatient. Neither worried, nor alarmed. She was simply there. But as the ringing in her ears intensified, she was beginning to realize she wasn’t the only one...

  Ringing became vibration. Vibration became sound. Sound slowly became words.

  But they weren’t words she was able to recognize.

  “Ka-nu eer-me?!”

  She tried to blink but found that she didn’t need to do that either. Instead, she simply gazed up into the abyss, listening curiously as her ears came back to life. Someone was shouting. Someone seemed very anxious indeed. She just couldn’t get it to make sense.

  “Ang-on!”

  The world was getting lighter. A great weight was lifting off her chest. One she hadn’t realized was there in the first place. First the black lightened to grey, then the grey was tinged with dots of white. Those dots got brighter and brighter until they were burning into Katerina’s eyes.

  A sharp pain burst through her chest, followed by a rush of cold as the last of the snow cleared away and she found herself looking up into Dylan’s eyes.

  “Honey?!”

  Honey? Crap—maybe I’m dead after all.

  T
he world blinked back into focus just as he threw his body into the snow. His hands may have been urgent, but they handled her like she was made of glass as he swept her legs out from under her and fished her up out of the deep ravine.

  She tried to help. She tried to get a foothold on the icy bank, or at least wrap her tired arms around his neck. But it was no use. He may have brought her back up to the land of the living, but a part of her was still down there. Hibernating in the ice.

  “I can’t believe it!” The second they were back on solid ground, he embraced her without a second thought. “You’re alive!”

  That’s debatable...

  Katerina blinked slowly. Allowing herself to be fawned over. Allowing herself to be held. The world was moving a bit too fast for her to keep up with, and the most she was able to do was simply lay there and wait to catch up. It took her a full minute to realize that Dylan was naked.

  “Why aren’t you wearing any pants?”

  They were the first words she’d said since resurrecting and, in hindsight, she felt as though they should have been more significant. Wiser. Like her near-death experience had prompted her to discover some deeper meaning. But nope. He was naked, and she wanted to know why.

  He glanced down self-consciously and quickly shifted her to the side, grasping for his clothes while keeping a firm hand on her. “I had to shift to get you out of there,” he mumbled, yanking his pants up around his waist. “Wolves dig faster than people.”

  Sure enough, there were giant claw marks surrounding the hole she’d just come out of. A frantic display of both raw power and sheer panic had broken her free of the ice. It was a combination she still saw shining in his eyes as he gazed down at her, cradling her gently in his lap.

  “Are you all right? How are you feeling?”

  Her eyes locked onto his lips, still trying to slow things down. She felt like there was a question in there somewhere, but she was too dazed to hear it. He seemed to sense her plight and leaned immediately closer, speaking slowly in soft, gentle tones.