Forbidden love (MGE harem fanfic)

Chapter 53: lost in the snow

Since most of the middle territories relied on farming to sustain themselves, we coordinated our attack to start when it began to snow. Thanks to a few monsters we were able to create a storm that made their winter seem like summer. What I hadn't expected to happen was the storm becoming uncontrollable, I was separated from the rest of the group and since I couldn't see three feet in front of me, I ended up tumbling down a hill. My wrist hurt but that faded when the cold numbed it. I walked for some time until I collapsed and was unable to stop myself from falling because of my wrist.
I felt tired and although I knew that if I lost consciousness I would die, I couldn't stop myself, it was freezing and the world around me was like a dull throb. I swore as my eyes slowly shut and I lost consciousness.
Several hours later...
I slowly came to and found myself enveloped in comfortable warmth. I could hear the sound of a cackling fire and the breaths of someone who seemed to be partially excited. I opened my eyes to find that I was in a small cabin and the warmth I had came from a centaur who seemed closely related to a reindeer.
"Human... you're awake... thank goodness. You scared me... I found you half dead with wolves circling your body, it seemed as if something was holding them back because they weren't attacking. I was bit when I fought them to get your body and you were still breathing. I quickly brought you to my home in the snow territories. You're lucky that I was scouting out my path for travelers or you would've died out there. What were you even thinking? This is one of the worst storms that these lands have ever seen."
"Leading an assault on the farm territories in order to end the orders' reign of terror." I answered weakly.
"Not in this condition... at least stay with my for the rest of the day so I can make sure you don't get sick... the cold here is really bad." She said.
"T-The snow territories?! That's in the heart of the orders' lands." I stated.
"They've never found me... most people don't venture out this far." She replied.
"There's someone who was possessed by something, he claims to have the goal of bringing balance to life and death, he won't kill me but he'll get his men to do it for him." I explained.
"What's your name, human?" The whitehorn asked.
"Y/N, why does that matter?"
"Y/N, there hasn't been an order member here in over a decade, it's far away from their land and their armor have hydraulics which freeze, I would know because I saved most of those men myself." She said.
"Normally that would make me feel comfortable but... they lost most of their forces in the outskirts by the demonrealm, they might try again." I said.

The whitehorn sighed and grabbed me before placing me on her back.
"I'll take you to the border and we'll watch from there if it makes you feel better." She said.
"Alright." I replied in agreement.

The border was a fifteen minute walk for the whitehorn who I learned had the name of Erika. She kept asking to making sure I was alright and wanted me to keep talking. I wasn't sure if she was naturally unsure or just didn't know how warm her deer coat was. Erika suddenly jolted to the right and ducked down behind a bush. I could hear her breathing heavily.
"What did you see?" I asked.
"Hunter class soldiers... they never went this far both before." Erika answered.
The term she used seemed to cause her a greater deal of stress then the thought of the order in its entirety coming here. I slowly got off of her back and wrapped my arms around her.
"I remember what they did... they don't care who they kill... they don't care what the victim has to give... I've seen them do things that the order would call overkill."
"They didn't see us, we can get away." I said.
Erika nodded.
I climbed onto her back and she took off running and just as I thought we had escaped, I heard a dog bark.
"Fuck!" I shouted.
Erika started to run faster.
"We should head into the storm, the dogs will lose our scent and you can keep us both warm." I said.
"If it's our only option... I guess we don't have a choice." Erika said.
We turned and headed right for the snowstorm but Erika cried out and hit the ground which threw me off of her. I heard whimpers and I turned to see her struggling on the ground with an arrow in the side of her deer body.
I moved towards her and felt as something struck the back of my head. I hit the ground and my vision became blurry. I could faintly hear as Erika began to cry loudly. I saw as her jacket was ripped off and thrusted in my direction. It landed on my face which was probably for the best considering what I heard next.
Her cried suddenly became muffled and a second later I heard a swear and then the sound of palm against face as someone shouted that Erika had bit her.
I began to hear whimpers and grunts from the hunters. It was then I realized what they were doing to Erika. I couldn't move, I couldn't see, I selfishly closed my eyes and prayed that they would just get done with her. This went on for twenty minutes until I heard a dog let out a whimper, this was followed by a low, dangerous, growl. I heard as flesh tore and the hunters who survived the initial attack began to cry out.
Something bit the jacket and pulled it off of my face and I was face to face with a wolf who began to lick me. I then noticed Erika who was crying. This was enough to get me to move. I hobbled a few inches before collapsing onto Erika who grabbed and pulled me into a tight embrace. Her body was burning hot and continued to heat up as she put her head against mind and shuddered with every warm breath.
"They did this to my mother after killing my father and before killing her. I watched as they took turns raping her and when they were done they skinned her alive. In her last seconds of life she didn't scream, she looked into my eyes, at my hiding spot, and just shot me a weak smile. I want to go home... I-I think I can walk." Erika said.
"I'll help you... at least the ones who knew about us are dead."
It took some time but we eventually made it back to her house. Erika collapsed almost instantly and I ran to her side.
"I had a sister once... the only difference between her and I, is that she was found. The order mentality is it's not rape if it's a monster... but she was hardly a teenager a-and she died to distract the hunters who were approaching my binding spot. Every night since then I continued to hear those same screams, that's why I moved farther north, to run from the constant barrage of screams and guilt." Erika began to cry.
I ran a hand through her white hair and made my way down to her cheek where I wiped away her tears. I then pressed my lips up to hers. Her mouth was warm and I almost forgot to breathe, but I didn't pull back until Erika stopped trembling.
"Everything we'll be alright, I'll take you with me, we'll get the order out of this region." I promised.
"And if we succeed?" Erika asked.
"You can come back here or you could come back here." I answered.
I felt her arms wrap around me. A sudden knock on the door brought us out or this moment. I jumped up and opened the door with a ball of fire in my hand. I opened the door and a Cu sith forced her way in.
"Two times I didn't show myself, two times I had to use my wolves to save you, there's no way I'm letting you out until I can guarantee your safety, I'm not letting you out of my sight!" She shouted.
A shockwave threw me back and the door slammed, great, she was a sorceress, this was unexpected to say the least.