Fragments of your Soul (The Mirror Worlds Book 1) (22 page)

The short break had let Arvid feel how exhausted she was. While they had monotonously trudged through the snow, she had not really noticed, but now she clearly felt her limbs ache and her muscles were weak and numb. She needed a longer rest, but where they were was no good place for it. Arvid was inclined to bring as much distance as possible between herself and the body in the snow.

When they finally reached a ledge under which it was dry and protected, Arvid was trembling with exhaustion. Nod curled up in the far corner of the niche and Arvid dug into the thick fur of his belly and stretched her legs. She ignored her growling stomach and the stench of Nod’s predator breath and fell asleep after a short time.

The next two days were even more monotonous than the first, because nothing remarkable happened at all. Twice they made a brief stop, as the snowfall subsided temporarily, and Arvid tried to orient herself. In the distance, she still recognized the outline of the forest, but it was so dark and hazy that it just as well could have been her imagination. They had, however, never even come close to a river, which meant that they at least didn’t go in a completely wrong direction.

The third night they spent in the shelter of a dense thicket, where some kind of natural snow cave had formed. It was freezing, and Arvid awoke several times because of the cold, despite Nod’s warming fur. As the first dim ray of daylight lit the sky, she finally got up and woke Nod, even though she felt anything but rested. But something bothered her: She thought she could hear sounds in the distance, something that reminded her of the howling of wolves—except that she was sure that it was something else.

Nod seemed to hear it too. His ears were moving incessantly and his tail twitched nervously in the snow, and so they moved on quickly.

It was the first day since their departure that it wasn’t snowing. The sky was clear and full of stars, whose light reflected in the glistening snow and made the landscape appear unusually bright.

When they had climbed the crest of a hill after a few hours, Arvid stopped and turned around her own axis. Here she could finally see into the distance and didn’t feel quite so lost anymore.

In the south she could see the forest as a thin lining, which confirmed that they had not gotten lost. They were probably a bit too far to the north, because in the northwest Arvid could see the glint of a river that was a bit too close. Nevertheless, they were still on the right track. They had to keep going more east from now on. As Arvid looked in that direction, she saw a few small wooded areas. A little farther away there was something that looked like a small village. Behind it loomed the dark outlines of the distant mountains, which had come much closer.

They progressed better now, because even though it was much colder, they were not constantly battered by icy gusts. The snow on the ground was frozen and powdery and offered little resistance. Around noon, the sky took on a grayish pale color, and the light of the still-hidden sun covered the light of the stars like a cloudy veil.

When they arrived on a hilltop again hours later, the sparse daylight had already faded again. Arvid could now see that what she had seen in the morning was, in fact, a small village. It was a collection of about twenty houses, whose star lamps softly blinked in the darkness. At some distance from it, two large courtyards could be seen.

“Do you think that we could stay there for the night?” said Arvid.

Of course, she didn’t expect an answer from Nod, but she had started to talk to him from time to time, just to not feel so alone. “If we hurry, we might make it before evening.”

She was wrong.

They had descended into a broad valley. At the lowest point was a small, round piece of wood, from which they couldn’t see very far.

When they reached the first trees, it got considerably darker around them, and Arvid felt her strength leaving her. She felt so exhausted, she could hardly put one foot before the other, but she struggled on bravely. As soon as they left the forest, however, she sank to the ground.

“I can’t go on, Nod,” she sighed. “We need to rest somewhere.”

She looked to all sides, but there was nothing that could serve as shelter. Everything was covered with a thick layer of snow, and during their march through the forest a cold wind had risen again.

Nod had already continued his way up the slope, but now turned around and came back to Arvid. He was restless and tried to push her farther with his head.

“I told you I can’t continue,” she said. “I know we can’t sleep here. But I have to… at least rest a little.”

But Nod would not let her. With whipping tail he paced nervously around her, and neither Arvid’s scolding nor her begging changed anything about his behavior. She noticed suddenly that his ears were moving incessantly. Maybe he heard something that Arvid couldn’t perceive?

Although every muscle in her body was reluctant, she forced herself to get up and continue to climb the slope. She stumbled more than she walked, for now, as she had already stopped once, her strength faded rapidly. After a short time she tripped and fell, picked herself up again and fell again after a few steps.

For a moment she remained on her knees in the snow to catch her breath. Alarmed, she noticed that Nod now quietly growled and again turned his head toward the woods. His tail whipped wildly. When Arvid was holding her breath and listened, she could suddenly hear it: In the undergrowth of the forest rustling and crashing noises could be heard. In between were barely noticeable, strange, hissing sounds.

“Oh my god,” she exclaimed in horror, “we have to get away immediately!”

Hastily, she stumbled on, but Nod blocked her way and pressed himself down on the ground in front of her. Arvid now knew what this invitation meant; she grabbed his bushy fur and pulled herself on his back.

Nod ran off before Arvid had even wrapped her legs around his body. At a breathtaking pace he ran up the slope of the small valley. Nevertheless Arvid could feel that he was exhausted. Her weight clearly got to him, and after a short time, he started to slow down again.

The bursting and hissing sounds behind them grew louder. While Nod drudgingly continued step by step, Arvid again and again anxiously looked back over her shoulder and to the edge of the forest.

She almost wished she hadn’t. It wasn’t long before she saw two dark, frighteningly large shadows between the trees. Barely a moment later they broke out of the undergrowth as black, scaly creatures.

They were clearly demons. Their bodies were long and slender, ending in a pointed tail, so they at first glance looked like shiny black snakes with legs. Their heads, however, were large and bulky, and their eyes glowed deep red in the darkness.

“Faster, Nod!” cried Arvid. “They’ll catch up with us!”

Nod obviously understood her words, because he accelerated again. His breathing was gasping and rattling, his body trembling with exhaustion. He mobilized his last reserves of strength, but Arvid feared that even this wouldn’t be enough. Their pursuers were getting closer.

When they reached the top of the basin, Arvid knew that they couldn’t escape the demons. There was no way to hide from them or outdistance them. The creatures were obviously well rested and, moreover, very persistent runners. If they fled until the demons reached and attacked them from behind, their chances of survival were zero.

“We have to fight!” Arvid called at Nod, even though the idea of a direct confrontation with the demons filled her with deep horror. “We can’t run away from them.”

At first Nod didn’t respond, but after a while he slowed his pace and finally stopped, so Arvid could slide off his back. In the noisy panting of his breath now mixed a low growl. He turned around slowly. The fur on his back bristled.

Arvid’s heart was racing, but she forced herself to rest, drew the found dagger out of its sheath and clutched the handle frantically. She had never fought with such a weapon. The blade seemed ridiculously small, but the heavy metal in her hand gave her a feeling of not being completely defenseless. She stared at the onrushing demons and, with a twinge of panic, thought about just how she should defend herself against these gigantic creatures.

They attacked almost simultaneously. One jumped straight at Arvid. With a cry she threw herself sideways in the snow. She escaped the snapping jaws by a whisker, but the demon was fast as lightning and lunged out at her again. With a twist, she narrowly avoided his fangs, but his claws scraped hard over her arm. Effortlessly they penetrated through the thick woolen cloth and left a trail hot burning pain. Arvid felt overwhelmed by anguish and despair. The demon was superior in every way. She had no way to fight back, and was momentarily paralyzed with fear.

Then suddenly something happened within her. The feeling had almost become familiar. She could feel the darkness inside her awake to seething life, only this time it happened in one fell swoop. In an instant, her fear turned to anger, which seemed to grip her like a mighty fist.

She rolled over and came back on her feet in a flowing movement. Driven by a burning rage she dashed forward and pushed her dagger toward the gleaming black beast. She missed, but her doubts were likewise swept away. The demon reared up, roaring. He towered over Arvid at least one meter. Not only his fur, but also the long, saber like teeth shone like brightly polished obsidian. His claws were so long that a targeted hit would probably crush Arvid’s bones to pieces, but in the blazing fire of her rage there was no more room for fear.

With a cry Arvid struck again with the dagger, this time toward the slender neck. Again the demon backed away from her. His tail lashed wildly on the ground, then suddenly he snapped out at her again.

Arvid clearly saw the attack coming at her, as the seething anger in her automatically made her leave the time stream. Although the movement was in fact so fast that a breeze tickled her skin, she easily ducked under the snapping teeth. She thrust with her dagger and hit the beast’s scaly body so hard a dull pain shot through her wrist. One of the palm-sized scales splintered with a crunching noise, but the rest of the blow bounced off the black armor.

Arvid stumbled, torn forward by the momentum of her own attack, and escaped the next bite through sheer luck. Somehow she managed to keep herself from falling, and panting, she brought herself back into position. The demon had already spun around again. Arvid saw it jerk forward for another bite, and felt the darkness in her entirely taking possession of her.

Did this creature really think it could be faster than her?

With a lightning-quick step she drew back and pulled her free hand in the air, exactly toward the giant attacker. There was a sudden bang, and a glistening ball of bright, white light exploded in front of her. The demon gave a bloodcurdling screech and was thrown to the ground, where it skidded on through the snow a few steps and then lay still.

Arvid staggered, dazzled and repulsed by the blast of her own spell. She had acted instinctively, driven by the roaring rage that still blazed in her. Dark spots danced before her eyes. The demon in front of her tried to get back on its feet, but buckled again and made whimpering sounds.

He was an animal, nothing but a pathetic animal that now crawled scared on the ground in front of her. This creature was armored with steely scales, had lethal claws and teeth, and an agile body. But what did that help it now? Arvid knew that she had the power extinguish this life here and now, with a gesture, a focused blow with her dagger. The thought filled her with a satisfaction that almost disgusted her.

Suddenly more noise came through to her, sounds of a part of the action she had been ignoring completely. Almost violently she tore herself away from the sight of the fallen demon. She just spun around as another huge shadow raced at her.

Arvid let herself drop into the snow. Panting, she rolled over and came grudgingly back to her feet. A moment later she fell again, her knees weak and shaky. But the second demon had not meant to attack her. He only built up threateningly before his wounded companion. Only now did Arvid feel the dark anger slowly subside in her.

While she slowly stood up again, Nod’s massive, shaggy figure appeared beside her. The fur on his back was still raised; he had his teeth bared and snarled angrily as he slowly moved toward the two demons.

The injured demon had finally managed to get back on its feet. The two creatures now dodged back gradually before Nod, who threateningly walked toward them. Then suddenly the black beings turned around and fled.

Later Arvid couldn’t remember how she had managed to start moving on again. Likely, it was the thought that the two demons could return. Step by step she dragged herself forward through the snow behind Nod, who was injured on a front paw and limping.

The cut on Arvid’s arm burned more violently. She tried to ignore it and concentrated on the small, pale star lamps that had appeared in the darkness before them.

At first Arvid thought that they had reached the little village they had seen from a distance the day before, but it was only a single house. Somehow she managed to reach the door and knock with her last bit of strength, then blackness broke in over her.

As Arvid came to, she didn’t know where she was. She saw a large, warmly lit room with skins on the floor. Her view was blocked by a massive table. When she sat up on her elbows, a searing pain drove through her arm. The memories of the encounter with the demons came back at once. She groaned and looked down at her injured arm. It had been carefully bandaged with brown linen fabric.

She was lying on a wooden bench, which was also equipped with furs and apparently belonged to the big table of the house. Carefully Arvid let her feet slide onto the ground, sat up straight and looked around.

It was a simple room. Thick wooden beams supported the ceiling, and everywhere hung bundles with leaves and something that looked like yellowish grass. In fact, there hung so many dried plants that besides the thick crossbars hardly anything was visible from the ceiling. In addition to the dining table, the bench and the accompanying chairs there were two closets, a huge chest and a broad stone fireplace, where a blazing fire spread warmth and the soothing, smoky smell of burning pine. Nod wasn’t here.