A Quest of Dragons The Heart of Winter

Bargains in Frost

Gavin lay on his back, shimmeying his way through the tight passage way.  He reached for anything he could get his young hands on.  Roots, dead grass, vines, it didn't matter.  The boy had come this far and he wasn't about to let an old tunnel keep him from his goal.  "We're so close!" He called.  "Just a little further, I can feel it."

"That's what you said ten minutes ago," a girl's voice called from further back in the tunnel.  "How do you know this is the way anyway?  It could just be another dead end!"

Gavin bit his lip to keep himself from retorting.  Finally, he reached but there was nothing to grab.  He was at the end of the tunnel.  Everything was dark and he couldn't see a thing.  He reached to his side and retrieved a prepared torch.  He rummaged around in his pockets for some flint and steel and set about igniting the torch.  When it finally did take fire, his surroundings amazed him.  It was solid ice everywhere he looked save for the very narrow passage way that seemed to weave and wind its way through a solid wall of ice.

"Help me!" the girl's voice called to him from the tunnel.  Gavin motioned with the torch and illuminated his best friend.  "You said you wouldn't be a bother," Gavin teased, reaching down with one hand and helping the girl free.  Her short brown hair flickered in the torchlight and her soft, gentle features hid her rough interior.  She looked like a princess but Gavin knew better.  He knew she could cuss like a sailor and drink with the best of them.

"So what, you'd leave me trapped in there?" she asked, nudging him in the side.  "I have half a mind to leave your ass here alone."

"And again, you'd leave with no treasure," Gavin said, reminding her of their past.  "This is Obsidian City all over again."

"Obsidian City was a fluke," the girl argued.  "You can fool Sariel Silverwood once but you won't fool her twice.  Obsidian City taught me a very important lesson about you, Gavin Gabrielle."

"And what lesson is that?" Gavin inquired, motioning to the tight passageway with the torch.  "That I'm wise beyond my years, more handsome than the devil himself or maybe some other obviously flirtatious quality that I've forgotten?"

Sariel laughed, but immediately quieted herself.  "Oh, no," she sputtered.  "But you do always find what you're looking for, of that I am quite certain.  Whether by sheer dumb luck or problematic persistence, you always seem to get the job done.  Obsidian City taught me that."

"What about Emberhollow Ridge?" Gavin inquired.  "I seem to remember someone running off when we were surrounded by that pack of Vorgs.  Then, after I fought them off, by myself mind you, the treasure was right there for the taking.

Sariel nudged him again.  "Oh shut up," she spat.  "The point is, I know if I can get you close to the treasure, you will find a way to get it.  You always do."

"Do you remember the Cyclops of Searidge Cove?"  Gavin had begun to slide his way through the narrow, icy passage.  He traded hands with the torch and held it back to Sariel could see her way into the crevice.

"Ough, don't remind me," Sariel complained, entering the icy tomb.  "You left me to entertain that big dumb idiot while you stole everything he had.  I swore right then and there that I'd never let you drag me along again."

Gavin chuckled.  "And here you are, three, or four years later, can't quit me, can you?"

Sariel could barely move but she had enough range of motion to reach out and hit Gavin across the shoulder.  "You begged me to come, how could I say 'no'?"

Gavin looked back at her and forced a serious look.  "No."

After working their way through the passage, Gavin and Sariel finally came to a more forgiving area.  Gavin held the torch to what he perceived to be the ceiling and saw only solid ice.  He wondered if it were daytime if he could see the sun through the ice.  They stood on a mixture of gravel and chipped ice.  To their left and right, it was all open and seemed to stretch into infinity.  Suddenly, Gavin felt very, very small.