Blaythes

Bone achingly cold, the party trudged through the snow, icicles clinging to their hair like fractals. It was no ordinary journey they were on, for they must reach the portal before it closed.

“We’ll never make it!” one blaythe called out over the roaring wind. His breath crystallized on the air, giving his words tangibility.

“Not with that attitude!” the cold one said, spitting out his words like they were unwanted apple seeds.

“Not with any attitude,” the blaythe grumbled under his breath. He turned his back on the cold one and continued beating his path through the snow.

The others followed behind, the cold one surveying them looking down his sharp nose at them as they passed.

“You!” he said, grabbing a fistful of a small blaythe’s jerkin and hoisting him up till they were nose to nose.

The small blaythe shuddered as he felt the warm sticky breath of the cold one entering his nostrils. He had known this would happen, as much as he had known the cost of leaving his family for this fool’s errand. But when he had registered, he had not known that they would be placing the cold one as the master of this expedition. He had been full of hope. He knew that he must do this, for his wife, for his children, and though he hated to admit it, he was doing it partly to prove himself. He wouldn’t let himself get away with one more minute of idleness. He had to break the cycle that he had been trapped in for 22 years.

He had told his children, when he had left them behind, that he must go in order to fight off the evil that threatened their very lives. He knew that when he painted them this picture of his mission, of his task, that they imagined that he was off to fight dragons. Off to save the world from some outside source of evil.

But his wife knew the truth: the only dragons her Jaq was going to slay were the dragons within. The thing that had been tormenting his mind, and preventing him from connecting with his children or even his wife. He had cried when he had left his Merrydew behind, but she had kissed his forehead and told him that she believed in him, and would love him no matter what. So he had kissed her, held her tight, and set out with a heavy heart, but full of determination and a little bit of hope.

The hope had long since departed, almost as soon as the cold one had been placed in charge of the march, Jaq’s hope had faltered. In it’s place was a darkness that he couldn’t shift.

Maybe the cold one knew how much Jaq feared him. Maybe he could smell fear. Jaq wondered what fear smelled like, but right now, all Jaq could smell was the fearsome odor of the cold one’s breath as it filled his lungs, making him want to gag. But he must not show fear, even if the cold one already knew it, he must not reveal any more of his weaknesses to this monster.

“What?” Jaq gasped, trying to sound more resilient than he felt.

“You’re slowing us down with your short little legs. Pick up the pace or I’ll be forced to leave you behind… where you belong.” His lip curled cruelly, as he let out a light snarl. “Get back in line, and don’t let me see you slacking the pace!”

He released Jaq, who stumbled over in the snow. Feeling foolish, and a mite bit angry he picked himself up, brushing off the snow and looking around, trying to pick up a bit of his dignity too.

But dignity meant holding his head high, and the winds were biting so he kept his head down and pushed on. He would not give the cold one the opportunity to call him out again.

“Hey,” someone whispered. Jaq looked up and saw that one of his traveling companions had fallen into step with him. He nodded to him, but kept his chin tucked into his scarf and turned his eyes back to the bleary snow below. But his companion continued, “That was uncalled for,” he said.

“Why are you telling me?” Jaq said gruffly. He didn’t like being singled out by this hairy bloke any more than he liked being singled out by the cold one.

“Hey now, friend!” the fellow persisted. “I only meant to take your side, offer my friendship. The names Howke.” He offered his gloved hand to Jaq who took it and gave a begrudging smile in return, which was probably missed by Howke because of how little of Jaq’s face was visible through his many layers of protection against the harsh weather.

“What brings you here, Howke?” he asked.