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Aein's eyes opened and she realized Lars had shifted. She was not spooned around the body of a werewolf, but instead, around the body of her best friend. She started to pull back, but his hands took her wrists and he gently pulled her back into place.
"Stay," he whispered.
It was cold outside and he was warm, so she did.
Lars stroked her arm. "So what shall we do today?" he asked.
Aein pressed her cheek against his back. "Besides finding out what else is waiting in the fog to kill us?" replied Aein. She felt Lars sigh, knowing that their safe cocoon would have to be abandoned.
"Let's not think about all that death stuff until later," he said.
She groaned and sat up.
"Come back," he whined.
"No," said Aein, standing up. Her bones creaked and popped from sleeping on the ground. Her injuries ached. She ticked off all the necessaries for their survival. "We need to gather firewood. Hunt for some food so we're not eating all our stores. Go back to the camp and see if we can repair it enough to stay there. If we lead something to this glen..." Their precious bush was now visible in the daylight. It was still in hibernation without a single sign of bloom. She was terrified to leave it unguarded, but terrified their presence might guide something to it. She felt like a bird trying to trick a predator away from a nest of defenseless chicks. She sighed. "We are a choice menu item for practically every creature here and we can't afford some stumbling cyclops to accidentally step on the bush while he tries to make us lunch."
Lars rolled onto his back and laced his fingers behind his head in resignation. "You're right."
"How are we supposed to protect the entire border just by ourselves, Lars?" Aein asked as the memory of last night's battle crashed back into her thoughts. "This is a suicide mission."
"Yes," he said. "Every tour on the border is."
She pointed her finger at him. "You are not helping."
He sat up and laid it out for her. "We are out-manned, out-maneuvered, and completely about to die. Welcome to the guard."
"Do you think there is anyone left?" asked Aein, quietly.
The camp was the central hub for the Arnkell army. They met there with their replacements and traveled out to the territory they would be protecting. There was only one road going in and out, so everyone leaving would have to pass through. She hoped there was a chance that someone could still be out there wandering the border.
"Not after this much time," said Lars. "You and I were the last to be deployed to this area. Anyone serving a tour would have long since gone home."
Aein kicked the ground. The realization was sickening. No one came home after Lars ate the mushrooms. And now she understood that he, in werewolf form, was the reason. She had not understood viscerally why he hated his shift so much, but did now. The massacre they found last night was something he woke up to every morning. He made the mistake of holding his post. How many people had died because he would not leave? He had stayed in the camp, thinking he was creating a safe haven, when in fact, any of their fellow guardsmen who came walked into their own death.
"I don't want to stay in the camp," Aein blurted out.
"Me, neither," he replied. "We need to repair it, in case help comes. But we won't stay."
The wind began blowing through the trees and Aein shivered. It was not from the cold. "Let's go now. I want to make sure we are out of there before nightfall."
Lars stood and rolled up their wool blanket. They helped each other put their armor on. Aein wondered if she should start sleeping in the metal plate. Lars held out the reins of her horse to Aein, but she did not mount. Instead, she walked the horse out of the clearing. Immediately the fog enveloped them.
"It is like it was waiting for us," Aein hissed with frustration as the sounds of battle surrounded her again.
"It was," replied Lars.
Aein walked over to her pack and drew out her axe. She held it loose by her side.
"Good thinking," said Lars. "I wouldn't know something was about to attack us unless it had its claws through my neck." The metal rang against the scabbard as Lars unsheathed his sword.
Then another gust rattled through the trees, but with it, the fog thickened and Lars disappeared into the white.
"I cannot see you," said Aein, "even though I know you are walking just feet away from me."
"Keep talking. I am going to reach out to you," said Lars. "Try not to cut off my hand."
Aein was glad he gave her warning, because it took all her strength not to strike as his phantom fingers broke through the mist and grabbed at her.
"That is you, correct?" she asked. "Not some undead creature who decided to take advantage?"
"You should be so lucky," Lars replied.
They walked in silence, feeling the path with their feet. Suddenly, she saw a shape, a silhouette in the fog.
"Hello?" she called.
"What do you see, Aein?" Lars asked.
"It's..." her breath caught in her throat. A lump formed, threatening to spill tears from her eyes. "Cook Bolstad?" she called again.
"It's not him, Aein," Lars stated.
The sound of Lars's voice was unwelcome. His words harsh and unkind in her ears. She knew the man that the shadow belonged to. It was Cook Bolstad. It was him. He was alive.
"Aein?" Cook Bolstad replied back.
She loosened her fingers from Lars, but he wouldn't let go. She leaned towards Cook Bolstad, trying to tear away. She thought about hacking Lars's arm off if he didn't let her run to her friend. Cook Bolstad was there. Right there. He was dead, but now he was not and she didn't understand why Lars wouldn't let her go to him.
"It is not him!" Lars shouted.
"Let me go!" Aein screamed.
The flat of Lars's sword struck the side of her metal helmet. The noise rang in her ears like a bell. Immediately she stopped and realized the shadow was gone. "Where is he?" she whispered.
"It was a phantom, Aein," Lars replied, squeezing her hand.
The fog began to lift and Lars appeared. There was so much understanding sadness in his eyes. "It is just the swamp playing tricks on you."
At once, the longing to run towards a shadow seemed ridiculous. The belief it was a living man whom she knew was dead made no sense.
Lars did not move. He brushed back a lock of her blonde hair and gently guided her back to reality. "When I was here before, I saw these figures all the time. Fallen friends. Family that was gone. I chased one once right into a bog. If it had not been sunset and if I had not transformed into a werewolf just moments later, I would have died. It is the swamp trying to kill you, Aein. It is the swamp trying to ingest your power."
It became difficult for Aein to breathe. "It was waiting for me. It knew exactly what I needed in order to be lured away." She looked at Lars. "The swamp knew..."
Aein wet her lips, which were suddenly dry though her palms were sweaty, the panic of their situation beginning to build.
Lars sheathed his sword and took Aein's axe from her limp hand, placing it into her holster for her. He wrapped her up in his arms, resting his head against the top of hers. "It always does," he said. "And it will get worse."
"Lars, how will we survive these two months?" she asked, no longer able to pretend to be the brave soldier she was supposed to be. "How?"
His body softened against hers. "The good news is that with two people here, we can watch out for each other," said Lars, his voice rumbling deep inside of her. "We can keep the swamp from overtaking us. Be my eyes and ears, Aein. And I'll be yours."
What would she have done without him? Die, she realized. She gazed up at her tall, gangly, red-haired friend, the man who had been there for her since the beginning. How could she have left him in the swamp for so long? How could she have left him to face all of this on his own, even if he had been the perpetrator of the horrors he had seen? He survived it. And now, he was helping her to survive. If it hadn't been for him, if it hadn't been for his terrible ordeal, she would be dead now. He let her cling to him until the fear faded. He gave her this moment to rest.
And then she realized her vulnerability actually gave him strength, gave him something to think about besides his own fear. She had grown up needing to be so hard, needing to protect herself after her parents died. The only person who looked out for her was Cook Bolstad until she met Lars, and she had thought she needed to stay unbreakable. But by allowing Lars to see her broken and support her, it didn't give him room to think about his own troubles.
Aein never thought of that before, that somehow allowing someone to give her strength gave them strength.
"Shh. We will get through this," he murmured. "Even if it is just you and me, we will get through this."
And Aein was happy to give him all the strength he needed.