Coming for your heart

Chapter 91

Erwin POV

The storm played on their desperate feelings, the fear cursing through their bodies an irrevocable fact. White snow against the darkness, that slowly befell the lands, was the deadly offspring of icy wind.

Lio's small body wouldn't be able to take the strain much longer and Armin had taken to carry him in his arms, teeth gritted and jaw clenched. The strong look on his face complemented the power behind his every step and Erwin pushed him further, supporting the boy with a hand on his back.

The chaos around them wanted to woo them back to into the forest, deeper and deeper until their backs faced the cold and gruesome rocks of the mountains. Fog, thick and cold, touched their cheeks.

Lio murmured broken words, cut off by the noise around him. His curls were spiked with white, his skin turning blueish.

Erwin blinked and blinked but the fog was too dense. He couldn't make out the end of the forest. That's when Erwin decided that they definitely needed a rest.

He pressed his young lover and the child up against a tree, cornering them – shielding them with his broad shoulders. Armin's shivering form curled up against him, hid his face beneath his coat and laid a hand over Lio's face to protect him from the icy threads.

The child showed a resilience he wouldn't have thought possible.

"Erwin...", he said softly, almost inaudible. "Don't."

Erwin kissed his scalp, the action as gentle as it could in their current situation. Blue eyes searched for his, red rimmed and snow clinging to his skin like crystals. Erwin promised himself right then and there to always take good care of the boy so that he would never have to torture himself like that again.

They closed their eyes, leaning against each other and seeking comfort from the only source of warmth nearby.

Above them there was no telling if it was day or night. If the moon or the sun reigned over the sky.

"We will get through this.", Erwin whispered but his words got carried away. Yet Armin had understood and nodded with a strained smile. Suddenly his head whipped to the right. Erwin followed his gaze.

In the middle of the storm, seemingly untouched by wind and weather, came a deer out of the whirlwind. With graceful steps it came closer and closer, movements endearingly soft and uncaring.

Erwin narrowed his eyes and hissed in pain when the wind hit his face in a different angle, kissing his cheeks like the tip of a sword. He wouldn't have been surprised if blood ran down his cheeks any moment now.

"What is it doing out here?", Armin gasped, heaving up dry coughs.

The deer lowered its head, showing off cute ears covered in brown fur. Then it turned it sideways, stepping in the same direction with a pointed look in their direction. If something like that was even possible for an animal.

Am I dreaming?

For a second Erwin wondered if they had already died out there in the snowstorm. But when Armin tugged at his sleeve and he felt the bones of his companion on his, he realized that this was really happening.

"It wants us to follow!", Armin screamed against the howling wind.

Erwin shook his head. "This can't be-"

"This forest is strange in more ways than you can imagine!", Armin laughed and a new glimmer of hope awoke in his eyes when he grinned up at Erwin, who had a hard time focusing on anything.

Well, I don't particularly enjoy being out here any longer so...

He wrapped an arm around Armin and the boy, who still hid his head against the smaller one's shoulder and together they stepped closer to the animal that was apparently waiting for them.

- - -

Armin POV

The deer led them through the storm and Armin thought himself to be crazy while he watched its graceful movements, so secure and steady as if not a single hair on its body could be touched by the wind.

Lio clung to his side, arms thrown around his throat and fingers in desperate search of something to hold onto. His fingers scratched Armin's back but he could barely feel it. The cold had made his body numb, blessingly so because otherwise he was sure he would feel it aching.

Erwin puffed out small breaths of air, his broad hand tight around his shoulders.

Armin was thankful for his support, for his legs didn't seem to move on alone any longer.

The storm didn't cease and yet it felt like it wasn't as bad as before.

Armin coughed again, not liking the rough feeling in his throat. His nose was running and his eyes watered whenever he blinked away the snow that hang on his lids.

Where is it going to lead us to?

Armin shook his head. The dizzy feeling in his head got stronger and he was keen on getting closer to Erwin as his only source of blessed warmth. They didn't utter a word and even Lio's small whimpers had stopped after some time.

Armin knew he was awake but by now all strength had left him and Armin's heart bled in agony when he took a look at his skin, pale and sick.

The deer went on and on and it must have taken them hours or minutes or just seconds until they finally left the forest and were greeted by the sight of endless fields covered in white gold, the storm whistling and roaring above and beyond them as if it wanted to proclaim its reign over the sky and the earth itself.

Without the protection of the trees, the wind hit them much harder and they closed their eyes, not used to feeling the full power of the storm.

When they opened it again, all they could see was the stony façade of the palace.

The deer was nowhere to be seen.

(This chapter was quite a short one, I know and I'm sorry but anyway - Armin and Erwin have found their way back, Lio doesn't do well with the cold and whatever was that deer...

Since there was the question concerning the length of this (first) book, I have now planned out the necessary chapters and so far I think we'll end this one at 102 or 103 chapters.  The updates might take longer because I've taken into consideration that they will be longer ones but I don't think any of you will object to that.

Let's start the beginning of the ending!)