The fire burned hot as the first streaks of morning hit the rocks overhead.
Adeya, bleary-eyed and wilted, sat hugging herself and watching flames dance. They licked at the stub of the log, half-burned away through the night, and reached for more, flaring up the sticks and branches that’d been freshly piled on. Beside her, Kyen groaned. Shifting under the cloaks, he muttered something unintelligible. Adeya brightened as he opened his eyes.
“Good morning.” She leaned over him. “How are you feeling?”
Kyen’s brows pinched together as he looked up at her. He shifted as if to rise only to lie back again with a groan. His dark hair, damp with sweat, stuck to his head as he shivered, and his face looked gray.
She put a hand to his forehead, her smile fading. Pulling away the cloaks, she checked the bandages under his tunic. The stitched gash across his chest glared raw; little red veins were spreading from the wound towards his heart. She drew a sharp breath. Fumbling with her healer’s pouch, she cast it open, dug around, and pulled out the salve. She spread the last of it over the wound, smearing it thin in order to cover its length. Violent shivers wracked him up and down as she worked, and he said nothing. He struggled to focus on her face when she tugged his tunic back in place and covered him again with the cloaks.
“Is it s-s-nowing?” he asked, teeth chattering, a strange haze in his gray eyes. “It’s s-so cold…”
“No. Let me build up the fire for you.” She reached for a stick.
“W-where’s Kilyenne?”
“Kilyenne?”
“My s-s-sister.”
Adeya’s hand froze in midair. She looked back at him.
“Kilyenne s-s-said she’d be back before the s-snow. She promised me s-s-she’d never go marauding.”
As the words stumbled from his mouth, Adeya’s eyes grew wide. Her hand crept up to the amulet at her neck and gripped it till her fingers turned white.
“She promised.” Kyen stared up at her, his face concerned, his gray eyes looking at her without seeing her.
Adeya swallowed hard. Taking Kyen’s hand in both of hers, she struggled to find her voice for a moment then said, “Kilyenne isn’t here, Kyen.”
He suddenly squinted hard at her. “Wuh-why are we talking about K-Kilyenne? We have to k-keep moving.” He made as if to sit up.
She held him down. “You’re not well, Kyen. You’ve been badly hurt. You need to rest.”
Unable to resist her gentle hand, he laid back and closed his eyes. “T-tell her not to go. Tell her...”
“I will.” Adeya drew in a shaky breath. “Kyen, is Kade there?”
He looked at her, his eyes unfocused, uncomprehending.
“Can I talk to Kade?”
“…s-s-sure.” In the space of a blink, his gray eyes changed to gold. Despite the chills wracking him, his body relaxed back, and a strange, serious expression overtook his face.
Adeya flinched when the golden eyes shifted to her. “Kade?”
“Yes, Adeya of Isea?” he said; though he used Kyen’s voice, Kade spoke flatly with a different tenor and without much feeling.
“Kade, Kyen’s losing too much blood.” Tears bubbled into her eyes; she swallowed hard and continued. “Fever is taking hold. He’s not going to make it if we don’t help him. Isn’t there anything you can do?”
“I’m sorry, Adeya of Isea. Had I the strength, I’d have used it already. I need more aura—an arcstone or an auramere—before I can do any more.”
“You wouldn’t know of any Firstwold ruins nearby? Anywhere we could find aura?”
“Yes, deeper in the mountains,” said the arcangel. “But I do not know your landscapes. I cannot tell you where or how far in mortal steps.”
“What if you go to the ruins and bring the aura back?”
“I can’t leave the shelter of Kyen’s flesh. If I do, every fiend on the mountain will see me and come down on us.”
“But my medicines are out! What are we going to do?” A tear escaped down her cheek, and she put her face in her hands.
“Are you not a healer of Isea, trained in herbal lore?”
“Yes.” She lifted her head a little.
His golden gaze shifted to the trees sheltering them. “Do not herbs grow on this mountain? Is there any you might find if you hunt?”
“Yes. I’ll try. Maybe I can look for any signs of ruins nearby also. Will you keep watch over Kyen?”
“He cannot go far on his own power, but I will hold him down if he tries.”
“Thank you.”
The golden color flickered out, leaving Kyen gazing at the space between their faces.
“I’ll be right back,” she said.
He didn’t respond, looking exhausted.
“Stay here.”
“Is it s-snowing…?” He mumbled as he settled back. His hand reached out from under the cloaks, groping around. Adeya shifted his empty scabbard into his reach, and his fingers gripped it. He drew it near, drifting into semi-consciousness again.
Adeya rose, loaded branches on the fire, and gave Kyen a last worried look. Then, she faced the rising mountain. Walking out of their cove, she stepped atop a half-buried boulder to gaze up at the heights where the trees thinned away into rocky, barren ground.
A dark shape winged out of the nearest copse.
Adeya bristled.
The caladrius fiend swooped down to alight in a nearby tree. It cocked its toothy grin at her and swished its cascading tail.
“I’ve had enough of you!” Adeya drew her knife. “What do you want with us? Get out of here! Go!” Snatching up a rock, she chucked it at the fiend.
The fiend watched as the stone flew wide then turned its grinning nub back to her. It chortled.
A man’s chuckle joined it, and Adeya tensed. She whirled around.
Ennyen stood at the fire beside Kyen; he gazed at her, amusement shining in his dark eyes, the faintest smile playing across his face.