Frontier of Fear

Chapter 23: Into the Tomb

Mira awoke in the morning feeling rested in spite of her sore back. She was pleasantly surprised to find that the morning's gray clouds had not come with damp fog or rain. It was an hour after dawn. Kabra had already returned from her watch, and she had lain down for a nap.

Today's the day we reach the tomb, she realized when she was awake enough to think clearly. Tomorrow we could be on our way back to Brendan's village, and we'll either have killed the monster already or we'll be hunting it down. I don't see any reason why Sulloch won't give us the sword. He was a decent guy, according to Tarkus.

Overall, she felt that this trip, or at least this part of it, had been a success. She could be proud of herself for getting the three of them this far.

When Brendan and Kabra woke up, they rebuilt the fire, and the trio cooked MREs for breakfast.

"You know, I might be enjoyin' this trip a lot better if the food wasn't so...tasteless," Kabra commented as she slurped her MRE.

"It could be worse," Mira told her. "We could have zero food."

"If we have time on the way back, I ken find us some tirnui eggs," Brendan offered. "Or mayhap even tonight, if we find a nest. We ken live off the land just fine, ach."

"Well, do you know any salt licks between here and the tomb?" said Kabra. "I'd rather not eat franhogg again without it."

"Wish I did, hen."

Mira had been thinking the same thing. "We'll manage."

The franhogg pelt had not entirely dried out, but it was wearable. Brendan cut two little straps out of the skin, and then he draped the pelt fur-side down on his shoulders.

They were climbing down the side of Hullan's Chair a short while later. That day, Mira carried the bedding pack, while Brendan got the leather satchel with their other supplies. Mira felt it safer not to press Kabra to take on extra responsibility. Their conversation the previous night had revealed that Kabra's feelings for her and the boy were genuinely hostile.

At the foot of the mountain, they rejoined the trail to Sulloch's tomb marked by the cairns. The bottom of the glen was still wet from the day's rain before, so they climbed on higher ground above the mud as much as possible. Bigger stands of trees and even whole forests now flanked the hillsides. The highest peaks of the mountains were covered with short mantles of snow, some of it recent judging by the powdered appearance of their trees. The trail marked by the cairns stayed mostly in the open, only occasionally cutting through wooded areas.

Before they left the glen of Hullangar, Parran's sun appeared through thin spots in the clouds above them. However, the clouds never completely gave way as they hiked onward.

"'Tis as tho' the sun cannae make up its mind whether to shine or not," Brendan commented at one point.

They did stop to rest and refill their canteens once, but other than that there was little time or energy to relax and enjoy the unique landscape. Mira wished they could stop longer, or go slower. She was captivated by the occasional views of distant valleys where shafts of sunlight fell down between the clouds. They passed small herds of grazing ganhaks and witnessed gliding franhoggs on the slopes. Vantuu and other birds soared between the mountaintops.

I wish I was an artist, or a photographer, so I could remember these views, or share them with people, Mira thought. But I've gotta focus. We all do.

What was more, the thought that any of these pleasant glens or passes could be haunted by the Ornuthagg—that the creature could be waiting for them around any corner—almost ruined the scenery for Mira. The increasingly frequent trees and bushes around them also unsettled her, as they gave the Ornuthagg more potential places to hide.