The Broken Link

Ten

Once Milo heaves the ladder up from the side of the ship, they begin to sail away in the sky. I watch in silence until the ship becomes a little brown dot in the sky.

Elsa lays her hand on my shoulder, giving me chills from the cold. I don't show it though. I don't want to hurt her feelings.

"Are you okay?" Elsa asks me, frowning.

"Yep. Fine." I say shortly, unable to see the ship anymore.

"We should go find the clan Milo told us about," Astrid says. "Get a start on the whole unbalance thingy."

"Yeah. Let's ger." I agree, looking around the forest. I close my eyes, and breathe in the fresh air.

Suddenly, an image flies through my mind. Me, on a giant black horse, firing arrows into random targets. I try and hold onto the memory, but it goes away as quickly as it came. I ball my fists in frustration.

"Milo told me it would be to the north of us." Elsa says.

"I don't do directions." Astrid frowns.

"I do. I'm familiar with it." Elsa says. She points behind me. "That way is north. Let's go."

"Alrighty." Astrid says, and the two of them begin to walk in the direction Elsa had pointed us in.

I numbly follow behind them, feeling as lost and confused as ever.

***

"So this is MacIntosh." Astrid says, as we step foot into a large village.

Tall, wooden structures loomed over us threateningly. There were no pathways, no dragons, no horses, and strangest of all, no people in sight. The homes were spread out over the land in no particular order, with each house looking bare and empty. Some doors had been left wide open, as if everyone who lived in the Clan MacIntosh had left in a hurry.

"Looks a little empty." Elsa noticed, frowning.

"Do yuh think thah donkey-lady got 'ere before us?" I ask, referring to the donkey-lady who had attacked me.

"And wipe out an entire village?" Astrid frowns.

"It had to be something else." Elsa mutters, looking discouraged.

"'Ello!?" I yell out to the open and bare village before us.

"Nobody is here." Elsa says quietly to me.

"Now what?!" Astrid asks angrily, gripping her axe tightly.

Around us, it starts to snow. The wind turns cooler and cooler, until I can see my breath come out in short, small puffs. Astrid glances over at Elsa, a frown tugging at her face.

"Elsa!" Astrid snaps.

"Leave 'er alone!" I demand, even though the hair on my arms rises with the dropping temperatures.

Elsa wrings her hands together, grasping them tightly. She glares at her gloved hands. "I'm going to go look someone, anyone." Elsa mumbles, even though just a minute ago she told me that nobody was here. As she walks away from us, the cool air follows her, and so does the snow.

I glare at Astrid. Even though we've made friends, I can't help but resent her for being mean to Elsa.

"Stop ragging on 'er." I say crossly to Astrid.

"Maybe if the Walking Blizzard could tone the snow down, I wouldn't." Astrid snaps.

"It's not 'er fault!" I protest, stalking off in the direction that Elsa had gone to. Astrid follows behind me, grumbling quietly.