Enchantment of the Bow

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Jed's POV

We ride until I no longer have any sort of feeling in my body and I cannot control my facial expressions. I am positive I could not speak if I tried. I am passed the point of shivering now, the bitterness consuming my skin and making it like itself: beyond cold and impossibly wet. I do believe that I happened to drool at one point, but it is hard to judge through the relentlessly pelting water. Somehow, I find that riding in the cold, constantly soaked, is worse than riding in the snow for a long while.

Hamais is shivering beneath me, and I lay a hand on his steaming neck, as if I could give him any sort of consolation. His ear flicks back to me, but that is the only response from him as he breathes hard, his lungs catching up to his legs. My gelding's bay coat is turned nearly black with rain and sweat, and has began to produce a sort of foam, not at all unlike the kind that currently flies from his mouth with each new stride.

The other mounts are in similar condition, but at least their riders are somewhat dry beneath their armor.

I thank God for such a strong, willing horse, as I see one of the others nearest me stumble, and another buck beneath its rider ungratefully. Hamais slips in the mud for the umpteenth time, but catches himself and gets his stride back within seconds.

I am about to propose a rest when we come up against a bunch of rock with an overhang, providing some sort of shelter from the horrible weather.

Sam signals with a gloved hand that we are making for it, and we slow our mounts to a trot. Hamais plods through the sucking mud, lowering his head with exhaustion. He keeps his slick ears pointed, alert, in the direction of Sam's beast, who still seems to be dry somehow despite the waves being hurdled at our company. Then I remember that he was born in the water- I'm certain his coat has some sort of resistance to it that horses do not. Instead of seeming exhausted like the others, the Vann Hest seems to have more energy, as if gathering the lightning that flashes overhead and coiling it beneath his bones.

As soon as I dismount, my legs are jarred painfully on impact of the muddy ground, stiff with cold and disuse, and I have to hold to my saddle as I stomp blood back into my boots. I move to Hamais' head and grab the reins, trying to comfort him somewhat by patting his cheek. Stress veins are popping over his chest and neck, and I stroke a hand down his wet coat, water shucking off of his skin only to be soaked again by more rain. His breath puffs onto my cold, clinging shirt as he rubs his head on my chest, and I scratch between his ears as I try to regain some sort of control over my tremulous muscles.

Sam and I wait out in the storm as two Guards go first into the dark mouth of the over hang to be sure that it is uninhabited. If a company of robbers, per say, had set up camp here already, it would hardly do our adventure any good. We couldn't continue without horses or any sort of currency, and to lose a man or two in a fight would put quite a damper on things.

It feels like an hour in the pelting rain, but it couldn't have been more than a minute before the Guards call to us that it is safe. Sam goes in first with his Guard at his heels, and then I lead Hamais in after them.

Inside, I see that it is taller than expected from the exterior, and is actually rather cave-like. The over hang is long enough for our entire company and our mounts, and I gratefully lead Hamais towards the back, where it is the most dry. I ignore every one else as I focus in on Hamais and his quivering muscles that mirror mine, working swiftly to cool him. I first strip my shirt from my back in attempts to remove some of the chill, and get to work with unloading my gelding to tend to him. It is a bit warmer out of the rain, but chill bumps still raise on my skin.

Once I pull the dripping saddle from my mounts back, I untie the saddlebags and rummage through them for anything remotely dry. I find a shirt stuffed at the very bottom of one of the bags, the cloth only halfway damp. I should use it to clothe my naked chest, but I instead take it to Hamais, not wanting him to colic or to catch a chill.