House of Curses by K.A. Linde

Author:K.A. Linde [Linde, K.A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: K.A. Linde Inc.

Kerrigan was freezing before the sun fully rose through the fog of snow. The furs and new boots helped. Not to mention, the snowshoes that kept her from sinking down into the snow and rather kept her on top of it. But still, she was cold.

It certainly didn’t help that while all the others had been born in this climate or spent months adjusting, she had come from Kinkadia a few days prior, where summer was in full swing. Her body was used to heat and humidity, not snow. Not by a long shot.

But she couldn’t complain. She had no doubt that the Erewan would leave her behind rather than turn around now.

She used spurts of magic to conjure a flame in her hand to warm up her extremities, but even that she couldn’t sustain. She had no idea what she was going to go up against once they made it up the mountain. She would need every ounce of her magic.

When they stopped for a short lunch, Kerrigan collapsed with her bag against a tree. The snow had ceased an hour earlier, leaving a dry chill, which was somehow worse than a wet chill. Every blast of wind bit into her skin. She pulled her mask up higher against the cold, but it did little to keep back the wind.

“Don’t rest too long,” Darvin warned. “Your body can get too cold.”

“Or do,” Enta grumbled, staying on her feet and stalking away.

Fordham offered a hand and hauled her back up. “How are you doing?”

“Freezing.” She took a sip of her water, which she’d had to heat to keep from freezing. Then a bite of her bread and meat. The cheese was hard as a rock, and she’d given up on it.

“And your magic?”

“Fine,” she grumbled.

“You had a vision. I know what that does to you.”

She met his gaze. “I’m not backing out. I’ll make it to the top.”

He stared her down, surely hoping she would change her mind. But he should have known better than that. She would never back down from a challenge.

Finally, he nodded. “Keep your reserves up as much as you can but stay warm. You can lose fingers and toes to the cold out here if you’re not careful.”

She wiggled her cold fingers in her gloves. “So far, so good.”

Hours later, she was cursing herself for agreeing to do this. The wind had picked up, so the rope was half there to keep her from blowing away. She was roughly half the size of the Erewan people and clearly not meant for these extra conditions. Fordham picked her up out of the snow twice. Finally, she found a large stick and hacked it off of a tree to use to help her keep her footing in the snow. It did just enough to manage her center of gravity that she didn’t need anyone else’s help until they reached a sheer cliff.

“What the gods?” Kerrigan groaned. She tilted her head to look straight up. “Can we go around?”

“Up,” Enta grunted.

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