5. Dashing Through the Snow

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The Anger of the Mountain, by Ted Nasmith

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The Anger of the Mountain, by Ted Nasmith

"It was a different world up there, and one even a witch would rarely venture into; it was a landscape left over from the frosty birth of the world, all green ice and knife-edge ridges and deep, secret valleys.

It was a landscape never intended for human beings – not hostile, any more than a brick or cloud is hostile, but terribly, terribly uncaring."

― Terry Pratchett, Wyrd Sisters


5. Dashing Through the Snow

Kat had nothing against snow as such – quite the opposite actually, she enjoyed building lanterns with it and making snow angels and of course throwing snowballs on unsuspecting friends. The past winters in Sweden had been lousy – more like prolonged autumn, really – and therefore when she felt the first snowflakes she was quite excited.

The excitement lasted exactly twenty-one minutes. That was how long it took for her to realize this snow was different. It was not fluffy and friendly, it could not be formed into neither snowballs nor a cute snowman with a carrot nose. The Caradhras snow was harsh, grumpy and cruel, whipping the company's faces and stinging their eyes. It fell on the ground in powdery heaps their feet sank down into and was cumbersome and tiring to wade through.

After another twelve minutes Kat had had enough of it and swiftly climbed on top of the elf.

I am not a pony. Ride Bill instead.

You smell nicer. She made herself comfortable, draping her body over his shoulders like a living scarf.

At least you are warm, Legolas grudgingly admitted.

In the front, they were discussing the weather in worried voices.

Legolas recounted: Aragorn says it is not usual with so much snow this far south, and Boromir suggests it is the Enemy's doing. Axe Guy says Sauron's arm must have grown long to trouble us this far away, and Gandalf agrees.

Kat shuddered. An enemy with long arms... that made her think of Slenderman, but hopefully they had not meant it literally.

They trudged on, but it was evident the shorter hobbits had it difficult. The blinding blizzard chilled them and they had to walk nearly bent double. Even the humans and the dwarf were beginning to tire.

After a while Kat heard a strange sound in the air. It reminded her of when one was searching for channels on an old radio; a murmur of almost-voices and laughter just barely perceivable through the white noise. It would have scared her pants off, had she worn any, and under her body she felt the elf's shoulders tense.

Do you hear it too? she asked.

I do.

She could smell his fear, which increased her own fright fourfold.

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