"We travel seeking refuge beyond your borders," Taurus explained slowly with his hands raised in front of his chest.

    "And we bring news from Hbáekut," I added hurriedly before any more of our precious two minutes could be wasted on speaking with care.

    "We do?" Taurus hissed at the same moment that the hooded man speaking to us asked, "You do?"

    I nodded firmly. "We do."

    Taurus blew out through his lips slowly before taking a step back and gesturing for me to take my stance. I shook my head for a moment, but he gave me a look that said it was too late to be shy now and nudged the back of my leg with his boot.  I narrowed my eyes at him and took a step forward. 

    "We passed through the town on our way toward your border." I spoke quickly to try and keep the waver out of my voice. "We stopped for supplies -- and...to make a flag -- this flag."

    I pointed at Taurus clumsily.

    "But before it could be finished, some...strange -- " I shook my head slowly as the words flew around my head without falling into a coherent sentence. "A strange sound floated over the town. It was high...and pretty..."

    "Like a flute," Taurus added.

    "Like a flute," I amended before pressing my face into my hands.

    The head man grew still as I continued on with my bloody tale. Every moment or so, I would stumble over the details, get something wrong, or pause at the cold memory, but in those moments, Taurus or Aldyth would step up to fill my silence. But aside from that, they left the explaining to me, like I was the one who got them here in the first place.

    Two minutes came and went.

    The hooded man in the lead started tapping his foot in agitation, and with each step the temperature dropped like lead. By the time was I able to choke out the last hoarse words, my arms were fisted and clamped clumsily around myself in a bitter hug.  "The East is here. Les-ss than a day's journey away." I shivered violently, but didn't dare put up my hood.  "And they are bringing war with them."

     The man turned his eyes first to Aldyth, then Taurus. "He speaks the truth then?

    Aldyth nodded slowly and moved closer so that her arm hovered barely an inch from my own.

    Taurus bowed his head respectfully. "Aye. They're moving north and taking entire towns with them."

    "Did Hbéakut make it?" The man asked slowly.

    "They fought back," I whispered. "If they survive the atrixes, then they'll live on."

    The soldier blew out slowly and loosened his grip on his weapons. "Our lady will be glad to hear that." He took a slow step sideways and gestured with one hand. "There are more words to say, but there are better places to say them. Don yours hoods, tighten your scarves, and keep your fingers wherever they won't freeze. Come, make haste. Bring your horses,  but do not ride. It will get colder before before it gets warm."

    Taurus shot a begrudging glare at the man, his hand hovering dangerously over the pommel of his sword. For a moment the elf stood where he was as Aldyth and I made our first steps forward. I paused and turned back at him with my hands tucked under my arms. "Coming?"

    He nodded before darting to the other side of Aldyth. He offered her the flag. "Hold this?"

    "Why?" She queried as the elf set the pole down in her gloves.

   He meerly shrugged and continued on.

    "Hurry," the man called and beckoned for us to keep moving. The rest the hooded men had already dispersed between the trees, their feet barely making whispers as they glided into the distance. The soldier's icy eyes darted up toward the break of the south horizon. "Sivena The Protector approaches."

    Taurus cursed and glared at the Northerner. "The protector?" he spat. "Under what moon is Sivena the protector?"

    "Under ours." The man's stare was like needles. "Now move it, elf. Or incur her wrath alone."

    "Who's Sivena?" I asked as I ducked back to help Aldyth reign in the horses.

    "Sivena is the Winter," the man answered and nocked an arrow to his bow.

    "Yes," Taurus agreed sourly. "The Winter that kills."

[[]]

It started with flurries -- tiny snowflakes that floated from the sky so slowly that it almost wasn't real. I watched a single white speck dance between the branches, taking its sweet time as it made it way toward the ground.

    It landed upon my forehead, barely an inch away from my right eye, and I gasped, stumbling backwards several steps as the feeling disappeared from my skin.

    Taurus cast me a knowing look, "See, that was a single flake of Sivena. The moment a shower of this starts falling, we will never make it out."

    "Cut the threatrics and keep moving," the nameless soldier snapped. "There is a camp a half mile up the gorge. We will be safe there."

    "There is no safety from Sivena," Taurus growled under his breath.

    "Not for the elves, there isn't," the Northerner agreed.

    A brief expression crossed the elf's face, as if he were wondering if he could get away with strangling him.

   The journey that followed was longer than any half mile I'd ever traveled. It didn't feel like we were going uphill, but when I looked back the valley plummeted beneath us in a drop that could break necks. My chest heaved as the air grew thin and coarse with ice; the cold was seeping into my fingers. Less than a week had passed since we'd started this expedition, yet it could have been months and no one would have been the wiser.

    Some part of my mind -- the part that wasn't complaining about the cold, or making jigs out of the wind -- was wondering if the leaves were still yellow on the branches of Gris, if they coated the ground like a blanket and told the earth there was still time before the snow would come.

    It was still autumn in the eyes of my people, yet here we were running from a humorless, personified, snow storm, toward a nation of magic that none knew exists.

    Running wasn't exactly the correct word for it either, because running would imply some speed faster than a rushed trudge.

    "Here," the Northerner called, pushing me away from my thoughts. Despite this, there was a high humming pound repeating in the back of my mind, as if a half dozen men were beating on drums of dried bone.

    Tat. Tat. Tat. Tat.

    The hooded man proceeded slowly toward the sound. Aldyth and I shared a look and followed. The air was alive with the smell of cinder and flame, and with it came the promise of warmth -- or at the very least, not numbing cold.

    Taurus took up the rear of the procession, his hands curved into soft claws, his back bent for attack. Under the shadow of his hood, the glowing eyes darted suspiciously. He stumbled back a step as the ground grew icy beneath our feet.

    As we continued on, the snowflakes grew fatter and the patter grew louder. The numbness had made its was up my arm and into my shoulders. I could feel it spreading into my neck, gripping at my throat and hindering each breath.

    I risked another glance over my shoulder and let out a weak peep. The snow flooded through the trees in a tidal wave of white. It followed us up from the south, whipping parallel to the ground instead of falling from the sky.

     Taurus noticed my pause and turned to look as well. "I hate my life," he muttered under his breath before running and pushing me into a sprint.

    Tat. Tat. Tat. Tat.

    "Looks like your protector is tired of its job!" The elf yelled as the wind shot ahead of the snow storm.

    The soldier took one look over his shoulder and agreed with Taurus. "Run."

    "Horses?" Aldyth asked.

    The Northerner shook his head. "You have to cut them loose, they wouldn't make it over the ridge anyway."

    Aldyth looked about ready to bash him over the head with the flag when Taurus pulled her back and grabbed the Northerner by the elbow. The man and the elf glowered at each other as they exchanged several lines of a foreign language. The soldier's expression changed; Taurus flashed his teeth.

    "Girl."

    Aldyth looked up.

    "If you can get the horses over the ridge, then do it. Stay down and we'll be right behind you."

    My childhood friend nodded, her eyes fierce between the folds of her scarf. Then in one movement, she flunge herself up into the roan mare's saddle, and spurred the horse into a gallop -- the blue train of the flag flying like silk over her left shoulder. Bethor kept pace and followed them through the trees.              

    "C'mon, move fast."

    It seemed like the first thing the two of them could agree on. Behind us the ground cracked with ice and shifted as the storm flew over it like a swarm of villainous birds. The three of us broke into a run, of which Taurus instantly took the lead with the make of a crazed deer.

    Tat.Tat.Tat.Tat.Tat.Tat.

    The cold numbed my legs and made it difficult to find purchase on the icy ground. My own body worked against me as my sore feet stumbled and breathing grew labored. The storm came biting at my heel, forcing me to move faster than I ever would otherwise. My heart was probably hammering in my chest, but the cold was halting my every ability to feel.

    Up ahead, Aldyth had disappeared into the ridge. The rockwall cracked and full of sharp shards that could make quick meat of a human body. The beating grew louder as the three of us approached.

    Taurus was the first to make it to the ridge. His body flew through the air like a squirrel as he scaled handhold for handhold up the face of rock. By the time the Northerner and I made it to the base, he was already disappearing over the top.

     The hooded man gave me a hard look before starting to climb. I didn't so much as have the time to catch my breath before ascending as well. The Northerner made steady work of the rockface, like it was something he had done many times before -- but me, my frozen fingers pawed numbly at the slippery stone and my boots found little purchase.

     But still I forced on.

     The wind chaffed in my throat and suddenly forced my hood off my head.

    The pain.

    It was so horrid, and if the air hadn't been so thin, I would have screamed. The icy wind burned into my face, colder than murder, yet hotter than coal.  My fingers unfurled at the force of my gasp and I felt fell down several feet until my knee hit a sharp slab of rock that ripped through my slacks and left a deep gash in my leg.

    "Eli, it's almost here. Come on!" Aldyth yelled and I risked a look up to see her leaning on her knees over the top of the ledge. The scarf had fallen to her neck, allowing her dark hair whip wildly in the wind.

    Suddenly, the soldier above me yelled. He words were blurred, and stolen by the storm, but the pieces that I caught sounded like, 'no!' and 'stand down'.

    Then, in the quickest flash, I saw it.

    Streaks of black flew through the air. The flint heads glimmered against the dark background.

    "Girl, move!" The Northerner yelled as he slung one arm over the top.

    I forced my limbs as fast as they would go.

    She was reaching down to help me when her entire body jerked. Her eyes traveled slowly down her cloak to where the arrow stuck several inches out of her chest. She convulsed again, the second impact throwing her weight forward.

    Aldyth's hand closed around my wrist, her mouth slightly parted. "The storm," she choked as a line of blood spilled over her lip.

    The winds screamed; the cloud of white descended upon the ridge.

    Tat. Tat. Tat. Tat.

A/N

I really got into this chapter.

Now before anyone yells at me, let's get some disclaimers out of the way. Epic gif banner above by stardust24601.  It's Eli, look how awesome he is. And the new cover is also by her. Above is also all my favorite covers for this story.

I have a lot of graphics made that I need to put up so we will be seeing a lot of them, not only only by stardust24601 but also by MulanJiang. So keep an eye out for those.

Okay. So how could you all feel if I just ended the book there? Hmm?

What are your thoughts?