Courting Darkness by Yasmine Galenorn

Author:Yasmine Galenorn [Galenorn, Yasmine]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Otherworld, BN
ISBN: 9780515150070
Goodreads: 8074831
Publisher: PENGUIN group
Published: 2011-10-04T04:00:00+00:00

Over the rest of the day, we managed to elude any sign of Hyto, and the weather stood with us. We reached the bottom of the snow field where it evened out before heading into the Skirts of Hel by dusk, and I wanted nothing more than to keep going, but one wrong turn on the rocks and we’d have a broken leg, or worse. We found an outcropping of boulders and huddled behind them, trying to brave the winds the best we could.

Hanna suggested building up the snow on either side to block the wind, so we managed to find two boulders with enough room between them where we could stretch out. We packed snow around the entire fort, smoothing the sides to look like drifts. We couldn’t do much about being seen from the sky, but with our cloaks and the darkness, there was a fair shot that Hyto wouldn’t be able to spot us.

We took turns guarding each other as we stepped outside the snow fort to relieve ourselves, and then we spread out our cloaks and snuggled beneath them to generate as much warmth as we could. We didn’t dare build a fire, but the snow packed around the sides sheltered us from the worst of the wind, and if we lay facing each other, we were warmed by each other’s breath.

Sleep did not come easy and neither of us felt like talking, so we dozed, listening to the howl of wolves in the distance. Shortly after moonrise, I woke, sensing something was going on. I slowly peeked over the edges of the fort, up the slope toward Hyto’s cave.

Fire. Fire was burning near the top of the mountain. I could vaguely make out where it was coming from—sparks were lighting up the sky near the cave. Hyto had returned and discovered we were gone.

I quickly woke Hanna and we scooted as far back in the shadow of the boulders as possible. My stomach lurched as we watched the pyrotechnics. I tried to keep my thoughts away from what might happen if he found us. A low rumble and we could hear the sound of a small avalanche racing down the slope, but I searched, reaching out, and could feel that it wasn’t heading toward us, so we stayed put. Hyto must have set it off in his anger.

Another flare and the upper forests began to burn. A loud roar filled the air—this time Hyto rather than tumbling snow. It echoed all the way down the mountain to where we were, and it took everything I had to keep from screaming. I began to cry, silently, the tears freezing on my face. As my shoulders shook, Hanna drew me into her arms and I hid my face against her shoulder.

We clung to each other through the night, unable to sleep, as the show continued. Toward morning, before dawn hit, she leaned close and whispered, “We should go. Now, before first light. We may have a chance to cross the glacier in the mists .

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.