The Bewitching - Midsummer Aine - Book 2

Chapter 10 - The Dead Valley

Dantes found the first day to be a difficult one. They had hiked all day through the mountainous region and the surrounding forests. Luckily the wind was at their backs, which would have made it laborious for anyone to follow them unnoticed. That left the only worry to be what may lie ahead of them waiting in ambush. For this reason, Dantes attempted to stay several yards ahead of Dewdrop although that proved a challenge of its own. He hadn't realized how fit she was, and he often found himself huffing and puffing as she easily kept pace.

Several times during the journey he asked if they were nearing their destination between gasps for air. The usual response in most cases was a shake of the head, or something as simple as knowing it when she sees it. She had already shared that she wasn't sure of its exact location, but her answers were beginning to worry him. She seemed as lost as he was, and that was never a good sign.

As it had been the last few days, they barely spoke to one another. Dewdrop instead continued to keep to herself. If it hadn't been for Dantes struggle to catch his breath, he may have pushed to get her to finally speak to him. It wasn't like they had much else going on as they searched for the black book. Instead, he resigned himself to make an attempt when they finally took a breather.

At one point, he began thinking he was getting far too old to attempt these adventures. He quickly realized how ridiculous such a thought was though as he was old, at least by human standards and most every other two and four legged living animal on earth. The thought wasn't a pleasing one to him, not by a long shot. He quickly tried to remove it from his mind with little avail.

Most of his attempts to keep his mind occupied were focused on what Dewdrop might have been thinking. From the statuesque look on her face though, it was hard to tell. This too caused his mind to wander in ways that depressed and anguished him. Half of them flowed back to the thoughts of his age and hers. He finally threw in the towel, realizing that his mind was once again one of his worst enemies, an enemy that was here to stay.

By the time night fell they were thoroughly worn out, and Dewdrop was covered head to toe in tiny cuts. Dantes would have been just as bruised and bloodied if he didn't heal so quickly. The short break Dantes had hoped for had never come, and he never bothered to ask for fear of looking weak. The last thing he wanted was to hold up their quest, or to cause doubt in Dewdrop's mind about his chances of retrieving the book. Although based on the hike up to this point, he was already forming doubts of his own.

It wasn't until part way through the night when they finally decided to stop and get some sleep for a few hours. As tired as Dantes found himself after not sleeping much the night before, he knew tonight would be even more challenging. If anything he just wanted to rest his sore body.

The air was bone-chilling as they pulled out their sleeping bags, deciding to forego any attempt to pitch the tent and its stakes into the cold, hard ground. They reasoned it'd be faster and easier skipping the tent and it's minimum warmth. By the time they'd have it pitched, it'd likely be time to start the journey again, especially after getting the stakes planted properly into the ground which was quite rocky and covered by a thick layer of ice and snow.

It didn't take more than a few minutes before they had sleeping bags rolled out and were snuggly nestled inside of them. It was still cold, but better than not having them at all. As Dantes lain there he tried to think of the best way to ask Dewdrop about her recent change of demeanor. He wasn't exactly sure how to go about it. It wasn't a subject he particularly liked talking about himself, which made it even more complicated.

After several minutes of awkward silence he finally abandoned his hesitation, and moved to wrap his arm around her. Surprisingly, she didn't resist and instead wrapped her hand tightly around his.