White Stag (PERMAFROST #1)

Chapter Seventeen: Growth

Chapter Seventeen:
Growth

I woke to the sound of bubbling water. My eyelids were heavy, my body trying to rouse itself from its deep sleep. It took a few tries but when they finally did open I found myself in an unfamiliar place. The cave surrounding me wasn't cold, furs and blankets were draped around me, keeping my body warm, and in the back there was a spring with steam rising from the water.

"Where?" My lips cracked as I said the word, the last thing I remembered flashed in my head. The Draugr. Seppo. The nail. My hand. Oh gods, my hand.

I couldn't feel it. When I turned to look, it was covered in bandages. Building up my strength, I propped myself up on an elbow, ready to take them off. Someone stopped me.

"You really don't want to do that," Soren said.

I stared at him. "How bad is it? Why can't I feel it?"

"It's not as bad as it could be; it'll heal. But you don't want to look, not yet. Now lie back down."

I did as he said, tugging at the furs that covered me. They'd slipped down. I was wearing a long undershirt though I couldn't remember putting one on.

"Skadi gave us clothes, food, supplies," Soren explained. "I needed to get you out of your clothes but I figured you wouldn't want to wake up naked."

Heat slowly burned in the pit of my stomach.

Soren pulled out a waterskin and a few strips of jerky and dried fruit. "Eat."

Despite my protests, he insisted on helping me sit up enough to drink from the skin. The freezing cold water brought the life back to my parched throat. I stared at the meat, mouth watering. It'd been so long since I'd eaten anything. I'd pushed my body well beyond the limits the Permafrost set.

As I ripped into the jerky with a fervor I didn't know I possessed, Soren spoke.

"You scared me for a while," he said. "I thought you were going to die."

"Where's Seppo?" I asked, remembering the young halfling, lying limp on the ground. "How is he? Is he...alright?"

Soren nodded. "I managed to fix it. He'll be sore for a while though, but there's nothing I can do about that. He's out with Hreppir and the wolves; apparently Skadi found a sufficient task for him to repay his debt."

"Which is?"
"Apparently, he's spending his day among the wolf pack, getting rid of fleas."

I snorted. "Doesn't seem very punishing."
"I think he grew on her." Soren lips twitched. "He seems to do that."

I 'harrumphed'. Soren rose an eyebrow a question piercing in his gaze. "He's still annoying, but I suppose he grew on me too. He just better not give us fleas. Then I might really push him off the mountain."

Soren chuckled. "I never said he wasn't annoying. He's just the type of annoying that grows on people."

"How did I get here?" I asked, changing the subject. His words were lightening the dread I carried in my chest at the sight of my hand, but it was better to get the terrible news over and done with.

"Breki carried you." He wrapped his fingers around my good hand. "You're going to be alright."

"Then why won't you let me see my hand?" Every second that passed without knowing how wounded I was, the more worry churned inside me. I should've felt pain; agonizing, unbearable pain. I remembered what it looked like, remembered the skin ripping off as I tore it apart from the iron nail. It was the cost of saving Soren and Seppo's lives and the cost of honoring our bargain with Skadi. I needed to know what I paid.