Genesis #25

*Part two of chapter 11*

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Clint crawled blearily from his tent, stung by the sudden, frigid just of wind that met him head-on. His teeth chattered together, frozen eye gunk rimmed his eyes; he quickly retrieved his thick, soft coat and long pants and joined the other by the fire, where a wonderful aroma was drifting through the crisp air. The young man sat in the sand.

“I see what Augen meant about the fickle weather,” Clint complained, stuffing his stiff hands in his pockets. “Yesterday it was still hot, a little cooler, yes, but not like this.”

Rune nodded absently. “It’s because we’re at the base of the Crown of Mountains. Get used to the cold, there’s going to be a lot more of it.”

“The mountains are cold? That makes no logical sense! We’re in desert woods!” As an afterthought, he said: “Actually, that doesn’t really make sense either.”

“Nothing on this planet makes logical sense.” The sarsh retorted, shoving a plate toward Clint. “Eat. We leave in fifteen minutes, start climbing the mountain.”

Clint and Keila groaned, Jethro chuckled, and silence fell. Keila was intent on her food, when she realized there was a light sprinkling of black dots falling, melting just above her steaming meal; she frowned and glanced up at the sky; white and red dotted, she realized there were clouds above them, dropping black flurries on the people below. The others began noticing it, but Jethro was the only one who seemed to recognize it. He smiled at the youths’ confused faces.

“Clint, I have been to many biomes on Midrian, but I never showed you all of them. People call it snow. It occurs when it’s so cold in the clouds, the water freezes and falls as tiny flakes of ice. It’s black because of the odd water color here, but it’s usually white. I don’t understand why it’s falling here, though. I thought because it doesn’t rain, it wouldn’t snow.”

Clint’s mouth fell open as he stood, watching the snow as it fell faster and faster, collecting on the frozen sand. Keila wore an equally surprised expression as she extracted her hand from her coat and allowed the flakes to collect on her skin. Rune just stayed where he sat, head up-turned, watching the snow drift down; the sarsh stood, breaking the moment of reverie. “We’d better get moving,” He warned. “I don’t know if these conditions will continue.” He doused the fire with one stamp of his cybernetic foot, and his action galvanized the others to pick up camp. They collapsed the tents, Keila washed the dishes and said a few un-ladylike words as the frigid water stung her hand, they strapped their boot-spikes on, which would give them purchase in the slippery conditions, and they re-packed their backpacks.

The out-of-place group of four stood at the base of the mountain, each of them unwilling to take the first step. It was a new milestone in their journey and it was frightening. Things were about to get a lot harder.

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The frigid wind stole Rune’s breath. He was in the lead, trekking up the treeless mountain. He could look back and see the tip of the trees just past the blowing snow. First it was hot sand, now it’s cold snow. He thought. This is miserable already and we’ve just started. The sarsh brushed the snow off his thick glove, his cybernetic limbs were stiff with cold and his ankle ached painfully; he glanced behind him, checking on the humans’ progress. They were ten meters behind him, struggling through a snowbank; the mountains consisted entirely of rock, and covered in slick, wet snow, it was extremely hazardous. It wasn’t a steep mountain, but there was no visible path and many large icy boulders. Having traveled for a few hours now, the humans were already exhausted. They had covered the bottom halves of their faces to protect from the cold, one could see wet spots where their noses ran incessantly; their eyelashes were frosted white, as well as their eyebrows. Every few minutes, one of them whispered a curse, or sniffed their snotty noses.

“Is everyone alright?” Rune asked. There was a chorus of groans and complaints. The sarsh pursed his lips. He glanced at the white sky. “We can’t set up camp now, but we can rest for a moment or two.” With grateful groans, the humans collapsed onto the icy, hard ground beneath them; Rune stayed standing, moving his body to keep warm, his breath puffed from behind his mask like smoke. Everyone produced canteens and drank, Rune checked their provisions and frowned. “We have very little food left,” He informed them, shooting an icy arrow of fear into their hearts. If they ran out of food there, on the mountain, they could not replenish their strength and stamina, which would stunt or halt their progress entirely. Everyone in the group knew it would be disastrous, and their breath came even faster, their hearts beat faster. They were scared now.

“Why don’t we just ride Rune all the way?” Clint complained under his breath, thinking the sarsh couldn’t hear him. Keila gave him a stern stare.

“Well, that’s a little selfish, don’t you think?” She hissed. “He has carried us a lot already, he got us out of the ravine, and he’s led us this whole way. Without him we wouldn’t be where we are; nearly to our destination. We can’t just force him to carry us whenever our puny legs get tired, can we?”

Clint stared at his gloved hands, jaw clenched. “Did you have to say puny?” He whined softly. Keila smirked. “Compared to Rune, we are puny. Admit it.”

The young man rolled his eyes. “Fine, whatever. Let’s just go.”

Rune heard their whole conversation and considered their words. We could travel faster if I carried them, but.. He sighed silently, jaw clenched tightly. I guess there is no but, He realized; he turned to the humans, morphing as he moved. Instantly, the biting cold diminished, the sarsh’s thick fur protecting him. The three small figures below swore and jumped as they saw the large creature through the blowing snow, but they knew by now to expect his sudden change of appearance. Clint blushed as he realized the sarsh must have overheard their conversation, but in his heart he was glad. His legs burned, his arms were stiff with cold, his nose ran and his lips were chapped; everyone was exhausted, but Rune was less so. He would carry them for at least some of the final stretch. So, astride Rune’s furry back, they set out again, traveling head-long into the savage blowing wind.