Rocalla's Saga: Arrival

31: Glestnokh Pass —

1054 Kyabalaka 11

Deafened by the exploding orb, I lie motionless on the ground, staring at the leaden sky through the tree branches above. Xerxes appears, standing over me. His mouth is moving, but I cannot hear anything except for a steady ringing in my ears.

He examines my legs and torso, then helps me to my feet. Intense pain greets me, radiating from my chest and abdomen. As Xerxes steadies me, the agony slowly subsides until it blends in with all the other wounds and injuries I have suffered in the last week.

Clavius climbs to his feet, limping. Xerxes walks over to him and pulls a splinter of rock from the back of his thigh. The two of them then walk over to Elanor’s unmoving form.

I stand still, afraid to move. Lifting my gaze, I look into the space between the rocks and boulders. The ground is covered with the dead or dying. The intense redness of fresh blood is splattered everywhere. Snow continues to fall, and the pristine white flakes turn crimson as they land.

I stand there for five or ten minutes, my feet growing cold in the snow. Gradually, my hearing returns, although at first I hear the voices of my friends as though they are speaking from far away. Still, I cannot take my eyes off the carnage that lies before me.

“Rocalla,” says Dierdra, “can you hear me?” She is standing beside me, with her left hand on my shoulder.

“Yes,” I say.

“It’s getting late. The sun is going down. We need to make camp.”

“Not here,” I say.

“We cannot travel. Clavius is hurt, and Elanor is still unconscious.”

“Then we’ll go a short distance, enough to separate ourselves from this place.”

“We better leave now then, before it’s dark. Can you carry your pack?”

“I’ll manage.”

My head swims with pain when I swing the pack onto my back. I thank Dierdra for catching me as I stumble and spots cloud my vision. She hands me my quarterstaff, but it is too damaged to be useful. I toss it aside, and steady myself against a boulder until Dierdra can find me something strong enough to serve as a walking stick.

Silently, I lead the expedition away from the battleground.

I can only manage to walk a hundred meters or so, where I find a bend in the trail next to a large boulder. It is not great shelter, but between the rock and a thick group of conifers it provides some sanctuary from the weather.

“We camp here,” I say.

Dierdra helps me take off my pack, then assists me as I find a place to sit amid the tree limbs. Xerxes carefully lays Elanor down next to the rock as the sisters begin to make a fire. Clavius prepares some food, but I do not eat, taking only water.

As night falls, the snow slows and then stops. The fire is warm and inviting, but I remain sitting where I am, shivering in the half darkness. Borojs, Clavius, Dierdra, and Nassandra wrap themselves in blankets and sleep as Feneksia takes the first watch and Xerxes tends to Elanor.

It is well after midnight when Elanor awakens. “Where are we?” she asks.

“We’re safe,” Xerxes says. “Safe for now.”

I pull my blankets tightly around myself, lie down and go to sleep.

It is late in the morning when Dierdra wakes me. “Rocalla, eat this,” she says.

“What is it?” My teeth are chattering.

“Some rabbit stew. Nassandra made it. It’s delicious.”

I look up at the trees and inhale deeply, enjoying the sweet scent of the pines. “Thank you,” I say. “How is everyone doing?”

“I think we’re all tired and sore. Clavius is limping from the rock shard that embedded itself in his leg, but otherwise we’re in good shape.”

“What about Elanor?”

“She passed out from exhaustion. I guess that casting magic takes a lot of effort. She’s fine now. What about you?”

“I don’t believe that I’ve ever been this sore. But I don’t think that it’s anything that a little rest won’t cure.”

“Can you travel?”

“Do I have a choice?”

Dierdra grins. “Sure, you’re the leader.”

“It looks like late morning already. Let’s get going.” I start to push myself to my feet, but stop when pain rips through my side. “Ow, oh that hurts,” I say as my face contorts uncontrollably.

“Rocalla, what’s wrong?”

“My side really hurts, here below my right breast. A rock must have hit me yesterday when the orb exploded. I’ll be okay.”

“We could stay where we are and rest today.”

“No, we need to get moving. Winter is upon us. Can you help me up?”

Dierdra looks down at me for a minute, shaking her head. “I really wish you would sit there and rest.”

“I’ll get up with or without you. It will just be less painful if you help.”

“You’re hopeless. At least let me ask Xerxes to take a look at you.”

“It’s too cold out here to have him checking out my bare ribs.”

Dierdra stares down at me, shaking her head.

“Okay, fine,” I say. “But let’s be quick about it.”

Xerxes comes over and examines my side while I do my best to keep warm with a blanket tossed over me like a tent. My body is shaking from the wintery air, and I wince in pain as he probes my torso. “I don’t think that anything is broken, but you do have a badly bruised side,” he says. “I’ll wrap it up for you, but you’re going to have to stay out of trouble awhile until it can heal.”

Xerxes wraps a wide cloth bandage tightly around my body below my breasts. When he is finished, Dierdra reaches down and helps me to my feet, then assists me as I put my pack on.

We walk slowly through the remainder of the forest. Seeing the life amongst the trees calms me, and the aromatic smell of the conifers comforts me. Occasionally, I pause to watch a small songbird sitting on a nearby branch. By noon, the trees have dwindled in stature until their tops are level with my head. We break for lunch, then walk out of the brush onto a treeless ridge.

Two high rocky peaks guard the way ahead, one on either side of the trail. Mostly covered with snow now, their angular forms reach toward the heavens. Between them, a wide gap marks the pass. Beyond the gap, only sky is visible; there are no more mountains.

The going is slow, for here the snow is deep. We travel in single file, pushing our way through the fresh white fluffiness to make a path. I’ve seen snow before, but never this much. It is better appreciated when you can admire it from afar, and occasionally experience its cold softness on your cheek. Trudging for endless hours through great mounds of the stuff is quite another story. To avoid getting too tired, we take turns leading the way, all except for Elanor and me. Dierdra insists that I not exert myself any more than necessary, and for Elanor the obstructing mounds are chest high in places.

The frigid thin air bites at my lungs, and my feet are wet and cold from the snow that has managed to fall into my boots. With no landmarks to gauge our progress, it hardly seems as though we are moving. Darkness arrives early, and we huddle together in a hollowed-out snowbank to keep warm. Without wood for a fire, it is an unpleasant night. My body shakes uncontrollably, and my toes ache as though needles are being thrust through them.

I wake before the sun rises, and gaze at the beautiful pinpoints of starlight in a deep azure sky. The clouds are gone overhead, and when sunrise arrives, it is magnificent. Shining pinks and oranges appear around the westernmost mountain peak, and the last of the stars fade away to reveal a crystal blue sky.

Looking around, I realize that we are well up into the pass.

“Dierdra, we’re here. By the grace of the Creator we’ve made it to Glestnokh Pass.”

“We made it before the snow. Or at least before it snowed too much,” she says.

“It feels so great to be here.” Together, Dierdra and I fall to our knees and give thanks for our safe arrival. It is the thirteenth day of Kyabalaka, the thirteenth month of the year.

The End of Arrival