When it was Samuel’s turn to cross, he did find the stone was as slippery as he suspected and he kept his knees slightly bent. Snow had already begun to pile up upon it, making it all the worse. Sir Ferse hadtaken a peep over the side as he crossed, intrigued by the rushing river below, but Samuel had no wish to see such things. Horse crossed last, dragging the sled up onto the rock and pulling it over with barely a pause. He seemed to take every obstacle in his stride.
‘Should we leave it here?’ Eric asked. ‘The Paatin could use it to cross.’
‘I doubt they will find this way,’ Daneel responded, ‘and such desert-men would perish quickly in this cold- even quicker than all of you, I would guess. The weather will be getting much harsher yet and no army will be passing this way until the summer thaw. It is too early to speak yet, but I feel we have slipped through just in time.’
So they left the great slab lying across the chasm like a fallen obelisk and continued on their way along the pass.
Itwas a rare afternoon of clear sky. As they continued,the sun fellbehind the peaks. The temperature was dropping quickly, but Daneel seemed unsure of where they would be staying. He eyed the slopes and crags warily until ‘this way!’ he called and led them toa piece of level groundbeneatha tiny overhang.
‘We camp here,’ he stated and began unloading the sled before Horse had even pulled it to a halt.
The spot he had chosen was well away from the cliffs and seemed safe from any rock fall; itwas also sheltered from the wind. Horse andDaneeldug away at the snow with a couple of pot lids, until they reached the bare rocks and then laid out a length of thick canvas. Daneel drew some rods and ropes from the sled and wassoonconstructing a couple of tents, hammering great iron pegs into the stone and affixing the ropes as tightly as he could.
‘There is room enough for four of us in each. The magicians will need to take turns warming the air, however you can. Otherwise, sleep tightly together. Make sure you see to your toiletry needs now. If you have to get up in the night and you venture outside the tent, that will probably be the last we will see of you.’
They did as told and divided themselves into two groups. Balten went with the Koians into one tent while the Order magicians and Sir Ferse went into the other. It was bitterly cold and no one bothered to take off anything but their outermost coat.
Master Celios soon had their air warmed up, but the driving wind outside constantly worked to chill them again. The tent thrashed and flapped during the night as the wind picked up into a howling gale. It was a miserable night and Samuel only slept because he was so exhausted. The only decent thing about the whole night was their meal. It was only dried meats, warmed in their pans with magic, but Samuel was so hungry that each bite felt like the most delectable of feasts passing down his gullet.
Four more days and nights they continued like that, at times pushing through snow up to their hips. Daneel led them always onwards, shouting encouragement and making jokes when he could. He led them across the mountains on a zigzagging path that sometimes seemed to have them backtracking on themselves or spending hours just to move within a stone’s throw of where they had started, due to the rocks and drops and dangers in their way.
Balten regularly warmed the common folk, ensuring none of their fingers or toes succumbed to the frost, while the magicians took care of themselves. Only poor Samuel trudged on without aid, as he dared not risk using the Argum Stone. He felt miserable, freezing in his gloves and boots and he guessed it was only pure luck that his feet did not freeze solid and break off altogether. At the end of each day,he rubbed and counted his toes, blowing on them with his warm breath until some vestige of feeling returned.
It seemed as if the days had become a dream-a patchwork of unsteady steps and intermittent rests and huddling away from the elements-but the moment came when Samuel realised that the sun was warm upon his face, and a tiny gurgle beside him made him turn his head to see. The water was barely a trickle, running out from beneath the ice, but it had carried away the snow in places and bare dark earth was visible. He looked at the mountainsides around him and,in patches,the rocks and earth lay bare of ice and snow. He turned to Daneel and he felt his mouth quivering towards the purple-lipped guide. His face was too cold to move, as if frozen shut and he pulled his gloved hand from a deep pocket and shook a finger at the snowless patches.
‘Yes, Samuel,’ Daneel said. ‘We have come down far. We may even be having dinner indoors tonight if we make good time.’
The words were like heaven to him and Samuel shuffled forward with renewed vigour, wishing the others would hurry along.
They rounded a pinnacle-like monolith of stone andsawa valley of trees laid out below them, stretching far down the mountainside. A flat plateau lay below that, complete with a long,ear-shaped lake. Even though more snow-covered peaks and mountains surrounded the valley, just the sight of flat ground was cause for celebration. The party clambered down the side of a hillside made of slippery shale, each piece warm to the touch from the sun’s embrace. At first, they were worried that their steep descent would cause an avalanche of stones, but that was soon forgotten as they each gained speed and ended up running the final few metres into the treeline. Horse had left the sled behind at Daneel’s instruction, and he carried with him only the light bags that they would need from here. It was only the Koian woman who came cautiously down the slope, worried she might tumble.
They were immediately hit by a blanket of warm air that was locked amongst the trees and they began stripping off their coats and gloves with enthusiasm, abandoning them upon the ground.
Daneel soon led them to a stream than ran brisk and clean from the earthy soil, spilling down amongst the trees,and they refilled their water bags. ‘We haven’t quite followed the route I was intending, but we’ve reached the valley anyway.’
Samuel squatted down and cupped the water into his hands. It was freezing, but he lapped it up and gulped it down until his stomach was tingling with the cold. Standing, he rubbed his stubbled face with his sleeve. ‘I hope I never see a mountain again,’ he said.
‘I’ll wager you will regret those words once we have been in the desert for a week or two,’ Balten said.
Horse came and stood beside Samuel, putting his hand on his shoulder. ‘By the way,’ he said and a little pebble dropped from his palm to land with a
‘When did you get that?’ Samuel asked, quickly patting at his pockets, which all proved empty of any stones. ‘I had forgotten we were even still playing.’
‘The game continues until it is finished. I must say that was easy,’ Horse replied smugly. ‘I am a little disappointed.’
Samuel picked up the stone and examined it closely, scraping off the flecks of earth. It seemed to be the same little rock they had begun with, so he had to concede that the Koian warrior was the victor. ‘Very well. You win. But what was it I was supposed to learn?’
‘I’m not sure,’ Horse replied, ‘but it did give me some amusement and it shut you up for a while. That is reason enough.’
Samuel felt somewhat annoyed. ‘How about you have a turn?’
Horse nodded solemnly and took the pebble from Samuel’s upturned palm. ‘A good idea. But I know this game well. To win, you will only have to retrieve it once.’
Samuel had already begun thinking of ways to trick the slippery Koian. ‘I agree. Shall we begin?’
‘Yes,’ Horse said and immediately threw the stone as far as he could to land with a plop in the middle of the stream. ‘Good luck,’ he said to Samuel and began at once away.
Samuel was speechless, while the others were sniggering to themselves as they continued walking past him.
‘Cheer up!’ the Emperor said, and gave him a heavy slap on the back.
The lot of them looked as rough and dishevelled as city beggars. Horse stood straight and strong and still had some semblance of nobility, despite his bearded face,and the Koian woman was too well hidden in her hood and scarves to be seen, but they could all have done with a hot wash and some soap. Even the Emperor had lost much of his regal manner and appeared more of a woodsman that a monarch.
‘When can we expect to find a settlement?’ Balten then asked of their guide.
‘Down beside the lake. We will need to push hard, but we will make it after dark. The locals should be accommodating and I doubt the Paatin would have bothered to find their way here just yet. We are still deep within
