Champion of Fire & Ice - Megan Derr Page 0,18

the way, and ridden in Lee's arms when she'd needed a break. He'd expected more difficulty with her regarding his shifted form, but Valor hadn't seemed to care.

Stretching out his muscles again, Cimar finally set to work on dinner, pulling out jerky and tack, and using the special powders he'd brought along to make a thin broth that would warm them up. He also got a kettle going, though that required going out to scoop piles of snow first, which ruined all his efforts at getting warm.

While the water and soup heated, they sat bundled in their cloaks gnawing at the jerky. "So what do you think we'll find, Lee? Violence or plague?"

"Plague. Let's just hope it's finished the job." Lee took an unenthusiastic bite of jerky. As jerky went, it wasn't bad—venison, and well-seasoned. But almost anything was better than jerky and tack.

Cimar chewed another strip of his own, casting a watchful eye on the pots over the fire. If it hadn't been clear from the start, it was brutally clear now that His Majesty was hoping they'd die up here, or at least get trapped long enough they lost the challenge by default.

If only the winds hadn't kept him from flying all the way to Castle Bone itself. But this high up, especially in this weather, the wind could practically toss around boulders. The only thing Cimar dreaded more than plague was an avalanche. They might survive the former; they definitely would not survive the latter.

Lee poured them tea as the water boiled, and a short time later the broth was done as well, which made eating the rock-hard tack a thousand times easier. It wasn't a terribly exciting meal, but it was warm and filling, which was all that mattered in the end.

When they'd finished eating, Cimar took care of cleaning up, leaving Lee to settle on his bedroll. Instead of lying down to sleep, however, Lee sat with his legs folded in front of him, elbows on his knees, hands close but not quite cupped. Every now and then something seemed to spark or shimmer within them, like glowbugs caught in the summer.

Training exercises, though not nearly as rigorous as he would normally do, since there wasn't space, and he probably didn't have the mental or physical strength at the moment, not after the long day they'd had.

Magic came in two forms: those born with the rare ability to shift, and those who could call upon their own life force and manifest it in various ways, most often light or fire, though in days long past it was said there were mages who could nigh on control the elements. The precise science behind it wasn't well known; most were content to call it the will of the gods and leave well enough alone.

Leonine was particularly adept with his magic, at a level Cimar hadn't seen outside of some of the oldest women in the abbey and a couple of knights long retired. Knights generally preferred to rely solely on their physical prowess, considering magic a sort of cheat. Most of that attitude seemed to stem from envy and resentment, but it was deeply ingrained in knightly culture. Lee, however, was no fool. He had an advantage and he used it, and Castle Bone was likely going to require every advantage they could muster.

"Don't overwork yourself," Cimar said around a yawn. "Get some rest."

Lee smiled faintly, a sign he would listen shortly, and Cimar left him to it. Settling on his bedroll, he wrapped his cloak snuggly around him and was asleep almost immediately.

*~*~*

The morning brought no relief from the snow, but the wind had died down, which made a world of difference as they traveled. Valor launched into the sky with a cry, clearly pleased to spread her wings again. Cimar could have flown them the rest of the way, but he didn't want to risk the wind kicking back up, and arriving on foot would give them a better chance at the element of surprise.

They traveled steadily, pausing occasionally for rest and slightly longer for lunch. Not long after they resumed the journey, the castle came into view. It was nestled in a valley, close to a pond with a churning waterfall. When the castle had been constructed, it looked as though they'd dug out a moat that used the pond to fill it, which would prove useful in a number of ways if they weren't stupid enough to let the water contaminate with sewage