The Walled Cities

Chapter 31

Pheeeeo!

Each breath was visible now, as I continued my trek to the mountain caves where I would find the plant that would heal Kaelyn. The chill in the air never went away now, even with the sun out and shining.  My feet were strapped into the snowshoes now, as I continued my trek through the lowlands of the mountains. So far I had managed from falling into the snow and I intended to keep it that way.

Snow was an interesting change to the scenery, and provided a unique opportunity. Animals that were still active left trails in the snow. I had seen numerous hare tracks along with a lynx's trail. Despite being three days from the camp, I was glad to see that these animals were active. The traps I had set for lynx had not yet caught one, but perhaps I would be able to get one now that Winter was here. Hares were a good source of food for both the lynx and humans, so there presence encouraged me that I would not struggle to find food.

Chirp Chirp Chirp

Surprised by the sudden noise I looked around, curious to know what bird was making the noise. With everything covered in a layer of white, it did not take me long to spot the bright red bird. It was slightly larger than my fist, and had a crown of sorts made out of feathers. I fished around for its name, as I knew it and most other birds. Finally it came to me, Cardinal.

Once I had named it, I looked at it for a few more moments before continuing on my trek. Now having seen the Cardinal, I kept my eyes out for other birds or animals. I should have been doing this before but my thoughts had distracted me as they had a tendency to do.

My renewed vigilance alerted me to the deep furrows in the snow ahead. Bears and hoofed animals made similar disturbances in the snow, yet the snow was too churned up for either. Only people, and a lot of them without snowshoes could have done this. Which could only mean one thing, the city of Columbia had finally be captured by the raiders.

The loss of Columbia would be felt this Spring as ships went south to the port city of Savannah, on the Gulf. Not only would the ships have to go elsewhere, but new land trade routes would have to be established if someone did not take back the city, and soon. I had no desire to fight in that city a second time, after both Kaelyn and I had nearly died in it. Someone else would get that pleasure.

War would be here in Spring, whether armies marched to retake Columbia, or left to sack other cities. Based off how secluded my home was, I doubted that the fighting would be a threat to Cassie and the others. Though she would want to help, despite my protests. Cassie had always believed that you could never turn away from someone in need, no matter the consequences. There was nothing I could do to change her mind, and if the time came I would help her the best I could.

All these thoughts filled my head as I continued trekking through the snow. Thinking though distracting kept my mind busy and from wandering to places it should not. Yet just thinking about Cassie reminded me of Kaelyn and how we had parted. I understood her reasons for being mad at me and did not blame her. Still it had hurt that she had not been there to wish my good luck. Perhaps she regretted that as much as I did, or perhaps not. Either way I would accept her decision and do my best to work with her during the Winter. Perhaps Winter would give her a chance to see who I truly was, and I a chance to get to know her better.

Not of course in the way some people would think. Lying with Kaelyn in a non sleeping way was out of the question. We were not married and while I had feelings for her, such an action was out of the question. Perhaps it would always be out of the question, which was fine by me.

Shaking my head to clear myself of these thoughts, I glimpsed a mountain in front of me. Based off of its size and the trees around it, it was roughly five miles from where I was. Such a distance would take me two hours, but the mountain was where I needed to go. Hopefully there would be a cave, as the plant I wanted only lived in caves.

Adrenaline began to course through me as I ate through the miles. Snowshoeing was quite effective once you set a good pace and remained mindful of your path ahead.

While I closed the gap between myself and the mountain, the wind picked up. Shortly the trees above me were swaying in the breeze like a drunk. Creaks and pops from above alerted me to the danger of the situation, and I picked up my pace. One falling trees or even treetop had the potential to kill me. Death by a tree was a sorry way to die, and I had no intentions of dying that way.

Almost dashing now, I sped through the forest. Creaks and pops had turned into cracks and booms as tree tops tumbled and whole trees feel to the ground. Each noise sent a shiver down my spine, and I focused on getting out of the forest. Already I could see the end of the forest and the start of the slop of the mountain. It would be a hard climb but anything was better than the forest right now.

One final step brought me out of the forest and onto the mountain side. Before I went any farther I stopped, trying to catch me breath and let my body calm down. I had not experienced such feelings of fear and anxiety in a forest in the last few years. There was nothing to be ashamed of, yet it reminded me that I was only a guest out here.

After a few slow breaths, I began my trek up the mountain. Walking up a mountain was somewhat harder than moving through a forest. Here I had to place every step carefully as I avoided various rocks that stuck put of the snow. A wrong move had the potential to break my snowshoe which meant me having to fix it, something I could not afford. This extra care forced me to move slowly, a nice break from my earlier dash through the forest. My lungs appreciated it the most, as they began to work harder to get oxygen.

Hard work would not stop me from reaching my destination as I continued up the mountain. While I walked, I listened to the cry of a far off eagle. From down below in the forest a lone wolf howled in reply, a reminder of how wild and free this land was. I understood both the lome wolf and the eagle, as I had spent much of these last few years alone wandering the wilds. Solitude was hard, no matter who you were, though I found it easier than the large cities that I traded in. Now with Kaelyn things would be different. This was something I had not given much thought to and for some reason I felt no regret with my change from a solitary wanderer to having a companion on my travels. Perhaps I had been looking for a companion and had just not known it until Kaelyn.

Enjoyable as she was, my thoughts were not going to heal her. The cave about a hundred feet from me would if it had what I was looking for, Frost Flower. Frost Flower was rare and got its names from the blue white petals that looked like they were covered in frost. Along with their color, the flowers were fuzzy to the touch, textured in a way that reminded one of frost. I had only seen it a couple of times throughout my time as a trader, yet it was easily recognizable.

At the mouth of the cave I was forced to stop and take off my snow shoes, a precaution so that they were not damaged on the hard stone floor. A torch or a candle would have been a nice addition as from the looks of it their was little light after a few feet. Without either of these, I would have to rely on my sight which would adjust somewhat once I was far enough into the cave. This would have to be enough as I did not have time to male a torch, nor did I want to hike down into the forest I had just escaped.

Ready to explore the cave, I moved into it. My steps echoed off the stone as I carefully walked deeper into the cave. Somewhere water was dripping, each drip echoing like my steps. These were both distracting but I was glad that the cave was warmer than it had been outside, even though it was dark and the air was moist. I disliked environments like this as I stubbed my toes on a loose rock.

Refraining from yelling in pain, I continued my journey, peering into the darkness around me. My eyes were beginning to hurt from the dark when I saw it. Closer and closer I moved until I stood over it. Nestled in a crack in the flower a single plant grew. White blue in color, the plant seemed to be almost offering itself to me. Each time I had seen one they had been just like this one.

Careful so that I did not bruise the petals I plucked two off of the flower. Each I slipped into separate small pouches. There were more petals I could have taken, but I wanted this plant to not have lasting harm because of this harvest. Frost Flower was rare and no one knew how long they lived, or why they only grew as individual plants. All I knew was that two petals would be enough, and Kaelyn was running out of time.

With these thoughts in mind, I hurried back to the front of the cave. Ignoring the pain that came when I stared outside and my eyes became exposed to all the light, I strapped on my snowshoes and began the long trek home. As I walked I whispered to myself as the wind howled around me, "Hang on Kaelyn, I will be home soon."