Excalibur's Seven | ✓ [LGBT]

~ 38 ~

CHALICE WISHED THEY BROUGHT a better coat. At Giselle's insistence, they were all wrapped in furs and leather in addition to their armor, but Chalice still felt like they were freezing. Visiting the North was bad enough, but they weren't even in the thick of the Winter Kingdom yet and their fingers were already numb. They could see the red of their nose without looking down.

Since the incident at the castle, they hadn't been able to see like they used to, but it didn't bother them until now, when they finally stepped through the thick trees and into darkness they could've seen through before. Now, it was just black before them, save for the last bit of sun creeping through the entrance.

"Gods, I can't see a thing," Kit shivered. His golden cheeks were bright pink now, and his breath was fogging up when he spoke.

Chalice took a deep breath to prepare, then pulled their glove from their lithe fingers. They didn't get the chance to produce any light, though, because at that moment, Giselle lit up a bright torch, illuminating the woods before them. The sun would still be up for another hour, but in these trees, it was long gone.

"Keep yourself warm, Chalice, it's okay," Giselle assured, light hitting her face as she smiled at them.

"Thank you." Their teeth were chattering. Everyone else was cold, too, but no one was to the point of shivering.

"Good grief, someone give that druid a bloody coat," Morgana finally said, taking everyone by surprise.

"No, it's fine, I'm not the only one who's cold--"

Morgana shoved the guards back, carefully lifting his hands to undo the clasp of his cloak and offering it to Chalice.

"What do you want in return?" they asked with a suspicious raise of their brow.

"I want to not have to listen to your teeth chattering, that is the deal. Now take my cloak," he said.

The druid accepted his offer, but not without a scrutinizing glare. They had to admit, the cloak helped a lot. Perhaps there was a bit of magic involved--after all, their deal was to get them to stop chattering their teeth.

For the next several minutes, all that could be heard was the crunching of snow beneath their feet. Chalice was holding Lionel's hand again, they didn't know when they started holding it, but they didn't protest. Kit was paranoid enough, being worried about his kid on top of that was a bit too much. It was a good idea to keep him where they could see him.

The journey through the dark reminded them of their dream, which still confused them even now. They swam deeper, deeper into the dark. They could see a dim light at the bottom, but their limbs got tired before they could reach it.

It plagued them with questions, but they didn't bother to think about them much right away. They had nothing else to think about now, though.

The light held a vague shape, but Chalice couldn't quite make it out. And the voice was no longer all around them, it started coming from a single source. They assumed it came from the light, but they didn't know how or why or what it wanted. It didn't feel like a message from the Gods, either, it felt like something more personal. It wasn't like anything they were used to.

A dim glow stretched out before them now, but unlike their dream, they reached it, stepping past the heavy trees. It was an empty field covered in snow, reflecting the moonlight and shedding light on their path.

The snow reached Chalice's knees, and they were taller than most of the others. This would be a very long, very cold trip at this rate.

"Let me go first," Morgana insisted.