The Fugitive Prince

by Daniel Arndt

  “Valente! What were you doing throwing chicken eggs at the merchants? We are guests in the capital. You represent Tharia. We must demonstrate that.”

  “But Jonathan and the noble kids were doing it too!”

  “If your friends jumped into the sea would you jump too?”

  “I am sorry Arthan.”

  Valente leapt into the raging current.

  The water consumed the prince. The frozen current constricted him with its tight and frigid grasp. His mind and body dispersed throughout the chaotic water and then pulled back as it contracted his mind to a singular and irrefutable thought.

  Cold.

  The thought and the prince bearing it tumbled through the current. The river unceasingly juggled Valente. Fracturing regret and frigid pain attacked from all sides burrowing deep into his skin. The creeping numbness itched. The icy tingle twisted and mutated as the might of the frozen river boiled it into an unnatural burning. Valente could swear he was warm.

  The current rose up pressing against the prince’s skin. The Araheil seemed to shudder around him shaking Valente’s very spirit into a frozen submission. Everything spun and surged towards an unseen point of growing intensity. The cold lifted for a moment, but freedom was not given.

  Cold. Dark. Falling.

  The water‘s icy grip reached out for Valente as he fell. The waterfall crashed all around him. Constant icy barrages battered him with chilled water and a deafening din. Valente heard the resounding splash before he felt it. His body smashed into the water below erupting a cracking agony throughout his bones. The searing numbness cascaded over him as he disappeared beneath the torrent of the river. A terrible agony scratched at the prince’s skin. Pain riddled his body with the clinging frost that sharpened the sensation to a near unbearable precision. The prince squirmed under the current as it tossed him in circles. He flailed trying to free himself from the depths. Valente grit his teeth. His stiff body reacted to his fierce effort’s will as he pushed upwards towards the surface. The rampaging flow of the river starkly dissuaded his attempt. Valente kicked his agonized legs against the water’s full force. The river strained against him but his drive was stronger. Valente broke the surface. His lungs greedily met the air with sputtered gasps. His bones continued their aching march of pain from the cold that riddle them. Valente’s floundered his arms in all directions trying to head towards the bank. The river’s flow dragged him. Valente grunted through the incredible cold. The river pulled at his every stroke.

  So cold.

  The ground met him underfoot. His frantic swim moved to a burdened wade as he trudged to the shore.

  He wavered over the ground and heavily coughed out some river. Valente’s body quivered and screamed. His mind yearned for rest from the chaos and persistent cold. The prince pushed back his frozen bangs from his eyes. His body rebuked the action sending back a tense pain. Valente pulled his arms close to himself trying to capture any form of heat left in his body. He searched the grassy bank of the river. His eyes blinked the blurring and frosted moisture away. His sight settled past the frozen mists on the two who lay motionless on the river’s shore. They were but paces downriver. The air clawed at Valente’s skin with a deep cold. It cut deep and without remorse. Valente shivered.

  Not much time.

  His movements were slowed and thick with heavy labor, but he trudged on.

  The small grassy hillock provided very little to its guests. Cass was curled up and violently shivering. Valente shivered back in a relieved response as he looked over to the knight. Gregor’s chest was near motionless as his breath barely escaped his mouth. Valente heaved himself over Gregor searching for injuries. The bolt from before was missing, but the wound was still there. Many other old scars and recent scabs were open and bloodied. The red slowly seeped from the lacerations forming red patches of ice on Gregor’s clothes. Cass rolled on the hillock.

  “V-Val?”

  The voice would have made Valente leap if his senses were not already frozen. The prince turned to the curled huntress as she peered at him through heavy green eyes. Her skin was faintly blue and pale. Valente knelt down beside the huntress causing agony to pirouette throughout his body.

  “C-Cass. I-”

  The huntress intensely shivered as she mustered an incredible effort to smirk.

  “Y-you j-jumped off the waterfall like an… an idiot?

  Valente reached down and grabbed Cass’s hand. She coldly clasped back as Valente helped her to her feet. Valente’s arm shuddered in pain and cold. Valente winced.

  “At least I didn’t d-do it first.”

  Valente looked beyond Cass to the knight. Gregor was fading quickly. Valente searched the along the bank another time. Nearby, a small outcropping of trees caught his eye. The huntress legs stuttered as she leaned into Valente’s shoulder. The weight caused the prince’s knees to buckle as his legs burned in numb shock. Cass placed a hand on Valente’s chest pushing herself back onto her own legs.

  “V-Val. I’m sleepy.”

  Valente propped Cass’s falling head up with his hand and he gave her a gentle slap.

  “Stay with me, Cass. I need you to help me carry Gregor.”

  The huntress shook her body and rattled her arms trying to throw off the numbing cold. Her teeth tapped against each other as she nodded through her tremors.

  “O-okay.”

  Valente led the huntress to one side of the fallen knight. He rigidly moved to the other. The cold pierced deep into his skin freezing his blood. His mind blurred with fragmented thoughts and his vision faded in and out of clarity. Valente slung the arm of the knight over his shoulder and pushed up with his legs. The heavy torso moved up from the ground. The cold greedily wriggled into Valente’s arms forcing him to collapse to the ground. Cass shivered and stood while she stared at the knight’s arm held in her hands. Her eyelids bounced dangerously while her head swayed in the icy wind. Valente’s body desired a tempting rest. Valente bit down as he pushed against the grass and tried again. He called through his clamped teeth as he strained with the little strength left in his legs.

  “C-Cass I need you!”

  Cass’s hood bobbed up as she blinked and heaved on the knight’s arm. Gregor’s torso lifted from the ground as it moved with the two towards the trees. The crippling weight and obdurate cold beckoned for the two to stop. They pushed on. Time twirled on the finger of frost that wrapped around them. It dragged into an eternity. Their bodies slowly unraveled to near inability. Finally, they heaved Gregor into the shelter of the trees. Cass shivered as she buckled. She dropped Gregor and herself into the ground. Cass’s eyelids dropped as she lightly spoke.

  “V-Val… I… can’t…”

  The huntress tapered to silence. She curled tightly up under Gregor’s arm. Valente’s mind teetered over a void of blankness. Valente bit down hard on his tongue letting the warm blood drip into his mouth. The pain brought him back for the moment. He stumbled towards the trees. His eyes were already fixed on a goal. He reached their base as he tore up mats of grey moss. Sloppily he tossed handfuls of tundra moss onto his freezing companions. The clumps landed with absorbing splatters drawing away the cold water from their skins.

  The prince dangerously swayed into a tree. Bark scratched at his arm keeping him upright. He pushed off with a desperate shiver and searched for fallen branches. The moment threatened to freeze into an endless infinity of agonizing cold. In a feverish stupor, he stumbled back to his friends with an armful of branches. His knees gave out from under him as he collapsed beside the huntress. The wood scattered itself and clattered against the frosty grass. Valente’s muscles drooped on his body as he moved to a strained kneel. His body was strangely warm, and the pain faded beyond numbness. Rest beckoned to him. The prince tasted the iron of the blood that dripped from his mouth. The taste pushed him a little further. Valente’s quaking hands shot out and grabbed the pieces of wood. His muscles tried to remember what the huntress had shown him. He placed a tuft of dried g
rass between the sticks and rubbed them together. The violent cold in his hands and the spreading blur in his mind held back his full vigor. The wood refused to spark. Valente mumbled a curse as he continued.

  A pain pierced passed the numbness into his hand as he wildly shook the pieces of wood. A new gash in his palm let his blood drip onto the wood. Valente’s world teetered and spun towards darkness. He forced pain through his arm as he gripped the wound to the stick. He clenched his teeth and continued to grind the wood together. Valente’s grunted in effort for just one hopeful spark. The grass did not smolder. The cold seeped deeper. Invisible tendrils of cold reached into Valente’s head forcing him to sway. His body collapsed. Valente landed in the welcome comfort of grass. His mind began to drift down the icy river. Valente reached out to the sticks he had dropped. His hand quaked before him. The numbness twinged and turned to a burning tingle at his fingertips. Valente weakly inhaled and spoke to the wood in a near whisper.

  “Please… ignite.”

  Valente’s eyes transfixed themselves on the grass-covered wood. The brown bark covered in the beige blades of grass stared back at him. He could not carry on. He had done everything he could, but it was not enough. Valente’s eyes closed against his will. The cold darkness he saw chilled him beyond his flesh and blood. It rattled his soul. He fought against the incredible weight of his eyes for one more time. A red line of dancing light twisted across a blade of grass. Valente suppressed a surprised cough. He wriggled his body forward towards the spark. Valente’s shivered into a lean and exhaled onto the small spark. The small blade shared its gift with others as the sparks turned to flames. Fire lapped at the dry wood. The sticks crackled to life. A familiar tingle of heat landed against his frozen cheek. Valente inhaled letting the smoke and warm air fill him. His body convulsed as he rolled on his back and coughed into the sky. The comfort of his back threatened to take him away. Valente rolled back.

  Just a little more.

  Valente pushed against the stiff senseless cold. He swept up the scattered pile of wood onto the flame. The hunger of the heat rose and swallowed the branches. The dry wood sputtered sparks releasing a fresh wave of heat. The pain returned to Valente’s flesh. He held his body around the fire letting it seep warmth back into his skin. Cass lightly groaned behind him. Valente forced himself to his knee. His legs refused to give him any more ground. Coughing, Valente crawled to more moss and branches in the nearby trees. The ground clawed at his shuffle with a sticky cold. With the little heat he had gained, he heaved a pile of fallen wood towards the fire. He pushed it all onto the flame. His knees buckled forcing him to the ground. Valente outstretched his trembling arm around the fire. Valente called out letting whatever little he had left fly from his mouth in a final cry. He pushed his arm against the flame and the wood as he thrust it along the ground to meet Gregor and Cass. The fire tasted his forearm and blackened his flesh. Valente’s arm let out a pang of anguish, but the prince heaved again pushing the fire close. Valente pulled his body along the grass. His hands absently grasping for stray pieces of the greyish green moss. He grabbed the few clumps and placed them on himself. The water slowly seeped away as he ended his crawl beside the fire. He welcomed the warmth with happy shivers. Valente rested his head in the grass as his eyes fluttered shut. His mind dwindled and his body weight turned to a frigid stone. This time the prince did not fight as the numbing cold dragged him away.

  -20-

  A frozen darkness wrapped everything into a constricting cocoon. It muffled the world. Dreams dared not show their face and even nightmares lost the desire to be known. Cass curled tighter in hopes the dark would pass her by. It did not care for her hopes. It dragged her down deeper to near point of suffocation. Cass reached out in the darkness grasping for anything. Her hands closed on nothing. The darkness grew around her. The chaos of the void spun around her. She scoured for anything else. A glimmer in the distance caught her desperate eyes. It pleaded for her. Cass reached towards it. Her dreams and hopes reformed around her as warmth bit at her fingertips.

  The heat of the fire whipped Cass’s hand as she instinctively pulled it away. The numbing ice clung all over her skin. She looked down at her damaged garments where large pieces of damp moss grasped on her skin. Her eyes darted around taking in her unfamiliar surroundings. The huntress brushed the moss off as she huddled closer to the wavering fire. Beyond the flame, Valente was curled up around the fire. The his sleeves was nearly burnt to a crisp. Cass thought back. All she could remember was falling, cold, and a prince saying he needed her. The faint memory of Valente nearly warmed her more than the fire. She let herself a small smile as she leaned back. Her fur cloak bumped into the mass behind her. Her posture shot up as she turned towards the mound of unconscious knight. Gregor was similarly patched with moss. The grey strands danced with each heave of the giant’s chest. Cass pushed herself onto her frigid knees as she looked over him. His wound had long stopped bleeding, but not for the reason she had hoped. Being laid on his back the knight’s right arm had been furthest away from the fire. A concerning dark purple and blue taint tangled up the skin of his arm. Cass rubbed her arms with knowing worry.

  Frostbite.

  Cass hurriedly got up and ran to the other side of the knight. With a labored groan, she pushed Gregor’s to his side to face him towards the fire. The back of his cloak crackled with shards of ice breaking free. The huntress’s body shivered from the effort. It seemed to drain the much-desired heat from her body. Her skin ached in the cold as she worriedly looked over to Valente. The prince bore a smile while he basked in the dwindling fire’s heat. Cass shook her head in disbelief. The embers flickered in between her sight. Cass looked down into the poorly ordered embers. Their heat was waning. Cass pushed herself towards the outlying trees. With experienced agility, she gathered more wood to add to the fire among the base of the trees.

  It was not long before the embers glowed brightly once more and flame struck out against new fuel. Cass steadied her shakings hands over the flames letting warmth return to her blood. A piece of moss slid on the back of her hand as the heat melted away the sticking ice. Plucking it free she looked at it with interest. The familiar greyish green moss was nearly all crystalline as the water had frozen within it. She nodded her acknowledgment at the lichen.

  Ogan’s Beard.

  Cass threw the piece back on the desecrated patches it had come. She looked to Valente with a small sense of pride. Her glance lingered longer than she first intended. His black bangs clung frosted to his forehead like a helmet. The cold prickled along the huntress’s skin interrupting her thoughts. The brisk chill of the mountain continued to pour forth from the waterfall. Cass shivered off the cold advance. Cass moved to stoke up the fire once more. Satisfied with the emboldened blaze, Cass moved to the knight. Her eyes glided over the dark purple arm. Small blots of black dotted the giant arm. Cass’s forehead wrinkled in worried thought.

  He might lose the arm.

  Cass grabbed Gregor by his other arm and heavily heaved him as safely and as close to the fire as she could. She pulled out the lumbering arm from under him to balance him on his side. As he lay, the knight served as a small wall from the elements. Taking off her cloak he placed it behind Gregor hoping to aid his fight against the cold. Cass moved around the fire to the prince. She grabbed his burned arm and looked over it. Her eyes squinted at the minor burns and light scratches.

  How is he virtually unscathed?

  Cass looked with disdained jealousy at the stupidly smiling face of the prince. She sighed and pulled Valente to Gregor. Kneeling down she picked up the prince’s head and laid it on the knight’s arm. She absently brushed the frozen hair away from his face. She moved the prince into the knight’s chest. The shared heat of their bodies was desperately needed. Cass moved to Gregor’s legs and pushed them upwards placing them to better surround the fire. The dampness carried a chill that still clung to his pants. Cass wiped her hand free of the icy moisture on the grass. Getting up,
Cass returned to the tree to collect some fresh moss.

  Cass meticulously dried the two at slumber. Checking herself over for excessive frost, her eyes landed on her bag. She moved to inspect the remaining contents of her bag. Most of the plants and supplies inside were ruined by the weather and the water. A few of them were outright obliterated or missing. She picked through the tattered remnants. Finding some herbs worth saving, she prepared simple concoctions. As she chewed on one root, she peeled another with her knife. She was quick in apply the raw center to the wounds of the knight.

  After tending to her companions, Cass looked over the two men unknowingly cuddled together. She chuckled through her shiver and smile to herself. The cold cut her short as a breeze brushed against her skin demanding more. Crouching down before the fire she maneuvered towards the two men. She laid in the grass and placed her head down on Gregor’s massive arm. She hesitated and hovered beside Valente unsure how to push herself closer. The frigid wind tickled her skin again. Cass placed her back against Valente’s chest. A warmth emanated forward heating her up and burning into her cheeks. She was still not used to being this close to anyone.

  Especially him.

  As her logic of survival fought her hesitation, Cass’s vision strayed in a sleepful moment. Her eyes looked beyond the fire towards the crashing waterfall beyond it.

  He jumped after us.