Tear of Ice

Chapter 6

The Guecedand, the wildlands full of scattered civilizations and nomadic villages, of people who refused to give into the way of life of any of the countries on the other side of the Great Fjord. These villages scattered across the east side of Hourn survived solely on cooperation and determination.

Very seldom did Grandma and I visit the villages in the Guecedand in any way. There weren’t many close to the Neigless Forest, and the main one Grandma and I relied on for supplies was very cautious of me both whenever I came around.

Lia and I had ran for what I assumed to be hours. Night was falling, and the stars were bright in the sky above us. The field we had been running across was finally interrupted by the sights of small farms. Crops of all shapes and sizes litter the ground around us, and once I spot them I raise the hood over my head, knowing that I would stand out like a sore thumb regardless. .

We came to a large archway with a quaint little wooden sign, rustic and crooked writing upon it.

“Arboose.” That was the name of the only town of the Guecedand I’ve become familiar with. I feel a small nudge against my arm as white fur steps before me.

“We can get more info and supplies here.” Lia leads me in, not looking at me for any longer than she needs to. I can’t blame her. I hold the cloak close and tightly over my head, staring at my feet so that my eyes don’t meet anyone else’s. It was night, so most of the townsfolk were home or heading home. A few farmers are still out and about, and some folk are still walking around with their daily chores and taking care of their stores. Occasionally, I would peek up to see where I was walking until I felt a harsh push against my back. I stumbled a bit, catching myself with my heels stabbing into the ground as I quickly turned to who bumped into me. I see a small child on the ground, her blonde shaggy hair tousled as she shakes her head.

I walk over gently and extend my hand, using my other to cover myself as best I can. She looks and takes it, hesitantly as I pull her to her feet.

“Are you alright?” I ask softly.

She nods, as I noticed so much dirt in her hair. I take a moment to brush it off gently before she suddenly-

“AH!”

Her screams, startling me as I stumble back from the force of her little hands pushing me. I land back and instantly feel fur against my back.

“Loraine!” She yells as she runs off, frightened.

Oh.

“What was her problem?” Lia complains as she helps me up to my feet, my hand leaning on her furred back so I can regain my balance a bit better. “Are you okay?”

“I guess.” Whenever I came here before it was always a messy time. The people saw my red hair and yellow eyes and avoided me with my Loraine heritage. I sigh, “We should hurry.” From the little girl running from us and her announcement I could see the nearby villagers glaring and hurriedly making their way to their homes. None came close to us, or even seemed to want to. It’s just like Grandma had said, the villages aren’t too welcoming.

We continued our way until we came up to the village inn. ‘Arboostay’ carved into its charming sign, a quaint small business for passerby travelers.

Walking in, the warm glow of the indoor lanterns drowned the room. Tables set with a few travellers lingering in seats, eating food or at the bar over to the far left. A lovely stewardess walking by with a tray of small glasses as she sets them down, before coming over to us.

“Sorry, no animals allowed in the inn, little buddy will have to sit outside.”

Lia growls, before my hand drags across her snout to calm her. “U-uh. Actually, she’s-”

“Oh well, she will have to wait outside. If you want a room we have blankets for companions.” she continues.

“Um, well, we’re not here for-”

“And our food is able to be eaten by any animal. All made fresh.”

“That’s nice and all, but-”

“As well as-”

“WE WANT TO BUY A MAP!” Lia suddenly yells out, I scramble a bit and hold her mouth shut as I try to keep my hood secure to hide my face. For a second the stewardess stood there shocked. Not expecting the yelling, but she stares at me for a moment. Her eyes are blinking, and I pray that she doesn’t try to kick us out.

“Oh, a map? Easy. No need to yell sweetie.” She walks off to the bar area and behind the counter. She must’ve assumed it was me yelling, Thank Hex. I kneel to Lia.

“Why would you yell like that?” I whisper aggressively to her.

“Well, I didn’t think anyone but you could understand me!” She whispers back.

I shush her and point to the ground, “Stay here.” With a huff, Lia rolled her eyes and planted her butt to the ground where we were.

I get back up and walk over to the bar. Leaning against it in the corner and far away from the other patrons.

“Alright, so do you need a full map of Hourn? Or just of the Guecedand?” She asks as she shuffles through something.

“Oh, of Hourn please.” I stutter a bit. Trying to avoid eye contact but peek just enough to get a view of her shuffling through pages. I hear the crackling of parchment as she shifts through them and the long sigh of a paper as she finally pulls one out. Before laying the paper before me and rotating it so I can read it properly.

“Here’s a nice clear one, even with a nice labeling of each village and rivers along the Great Fjord.” She points at it, her long fingernail tapping the paper before slowly dragging along the lines on the paper to represent the Great Fjord.

“The paper is also made of homemade Arboose bamboo so it’ll stay in good shape even after a hefty splash.” To demonstrate, she rolls up the paper and bends it a bit as it easily returns to its curled shape. I stare a bit, mouth agape before clearing my throat and holding the rim of the fur hood.

“How much?” As I reach to my side and pull out the small bag attached to the edge of my corset.

“Costs 30 silver.”

Shuffling through the bag a bit I pull out silver and place them on the counter. Then a weight changes my balance, making me stumble a bit as I scramble to keep a hold of the bag of silver as well as keeping my hood over my face. Then a waft of some sort of rotten fruit, as a weight laid itself over my back.

“Ugh, 30 silver, you say? Here, lemme cover it for ya.” A boisterous voice spoke as he dropped a small bag on top of my already placed silver. Glancing up enough I found myself being covered by an older bearded man, strands of silver running through his messily attempted slicked back hair and his scruffy long beard. His muscular arm tugged me closer as I tried to curl into myself. Attempting to scoot away from my captor.

“Hey, I was talking to the young lady. Get your arm off her and let her pay for her own damn map.” the stewardess spoke up.

The man laughs, loud and proud, as he pulls me closer. “Come now, lemme have my fun!” My body dwarfs him as I attempt to push him away. Biting my lip to hold back from yelling, before I notice at the edge of my fingertips the gentle blue mist.

My arms push forward in a rush, hitting the side of the man. Causing him to stumble backwards and into one of the littering tables before he hits it with his side and flips over, crashing into other patrons and spilling other drinks and glasses on the way. For a moment, the room is drenched in silence, eyes darting around as the man groans in a puddle of alcohol and humiliation. On his stomach flecks of blue ice and a gasp was heard.

“The hell-? You must be-”

Quickly, I reach over the counter and snatch the map from the stewardess. “Sorry!” Turning and racing pass the other patrons and busting through the doors, leaving Lia to follow me.

“Get out and stay out Wolf Ringer! This isn’t your territory!”

“You won’t take any more of us!”

“Get out of here!”

The leftover patrons and even the stewardess called out to us and even distant thuds of glasses as they hit the dirt ground. I held onto the map tightly and ran with Lia at my side.

“So,” Lia pants, “You handled that well.”

“Don’t start with me, Lia!”

We ended up stopping at the other end of Arboose, panting as we leaned against the archway that exited the village. No one was around as we finally took a moment to ourselves. I look back down at my hands. There are specks of light blue still staining my fingers.

“Ugh! How do I stop this!?” I clap my hands together and blow my breath over it, only to see more blue mist come from my mouth. Ice begins to manifest on my hands as I shake them in an attempt to stop it.

“Carmine! It’s not normal ice! It’s magic, remember? You can’t just ‘get rid of it’!”

“Oh no, I didn’t know that.” The sarcasm was mixed with venom, “I thought my hands turning into literal icicles was a coincidence!” It spreads, starting to get to my palms. “If you know so much, then tell me how to stop it!”

Lia blinks as she walks over to me and looks at my slowly freezing over hands. My eyes scatter around them before her paw comes onto my hand.

As a habit, my hands curl around it, knowing she is not affected by the cold. “Carmine.” My eyes rise up to Lia looking directly at her, before she abruptly looks back down to my hands.

“Take deep breaths.” It wasn’t until she mentioned that when I noticed my breath was short. I quickly took a deep breath, watching as my hands slightly shook over her furry paw.

“Panicking will get you nowhere.” She started, “Dad always said that to me.” Her voice was soft as she watched my hands. My breathing slowly became normal and slowly I watched as a blue mist left my hands. The ice that manifested on them slowly faded away. Once my hands return to normal, I open them up as Lia pulls her paw away.

“Feel a bit better?” She asks.

“Yeah, sorry. I didn’t mean t-”

“It’s fine. Let’s just keep going.” She rises again and looks around. “What’s the quickest way to Kreidd from here?”

I pull out the map and kneel to her, opening it and pointing to Arboose. “We can either go directly east until we hit the Blyx Delta. But that means going above the Osina Mountains, and then, hopefully, having a ferry to travel down the Great Fjord.” I drag my finger over to the landmarks as I explained.

“I doubt we have time for hope. Let alone scaling mountains.” I nod in agreement as I bring my finger back to Arboose.

“Then, going southeast is best. To the edge of the Luvell Banks and the Creux Delta. Getting a ferry there and then just crossing the Delta directly east to reach Kreidd.” My finger lingers over Illiar, sighing at the mere thought of going there.

Lia uses her snout and traces the path my finger did and then nods. “Well then, that means that next stop is-”

“Lostwick. The biggest town.” pointing to the center of the Guecedand, there was a large star with fancy letters, showing just how above the surrounding plains and villages the town was. Lia nods and nudges my cheek gently, before beginning to walk.

“Wait, Lia.” She stops and looks back at me as I stood there and rolled up the map. “South is that way.” I point right as she stares at my finger before simply following my words. I follow her as I store the map in my skirt pocket.

To the tear, we need to get there quickly. We don’t know how much the forest is already suffering, let alone the pack, as we made our way past the only town I was even somewhat familiar with.

My hands come up and stroke the scars of my eye and the fur of my hood. Taking another long, deep breath, as I grip the cloth of the hood.

I suppose this is what Grandma meant when she said the Guecedand wasn’t open to people like us.