"Where do we go from here?" Kris spoke hardly above a whisper, the fire still crackling behind him. It had been dark for over an hour now and it was almost time to start moving again. They had been moving only at night for almost a weeks time now and Kris thought felt as though he had forgotten all about what day looked like.
"I'm still trying to figure that out. No matter how much I look at this map in the dark it never gets any easier." Steven said.
"Are we still staying off the roads? We would make such better time if we could just use the road. Going the way of the crow has it's advantages and disadvantages." Kris uttered half to himself as he kicked some more snow over the fire.
"No. We're still staying off the roads" Erik said as he returned from relieving himself. "If we work hard we've only got two more days before we're there. The more north we get from here on out the longer it stays dark." It was only the three of them traveling anymore. They had lost the two others on bloodfoot crossing. They plummeted to their deaths after some spotty foot placement. It still lived on in Kris's head. Watching their bodies bounce lifelessly off the out cropping of rock as they rolled over and over towards the blood hoof river bed.
Kris was the youngest of the group. It was his first time away from home and he felt a bit out of sorts being the only one of them that wasn't human. He was however, the only one that could traverse the terrain, no matter what it put against him, completely in the dark. His bread had been built for living in the wild and he felt bad for the poor humans wrapped in all their garbs to stay warm in the harsh biting wind. His large Ox body was covered in a heavy fur that kept his body warm. He didn't require boots because of his hooves and his mighty hands were made from tough thick skin. The only parts of him that did get cold from time to time was the area right around the base of his horns, where the skin was bear.
"Alright Kris, it's time to go. You lead the way." Steven said as he looked into the dark unknown.
"Right. Lets be off then." Kris said as he began to walk in the direction Erik pointed. Kris, wasn't in a hurry to get anywhere, he only felt bad for the humans who had such a tuff time moving through the wooded areas in the dark. He kept hoping, for their sake that they would be able to take the roads, but it didn't seem like it was going to happen.
Erik was the leader of the group. He had traveled through more countryside's, in more places than almost anyone known, dead or alive. He was upwards of 100 years of age now and just coming out of his prime, but not very willingly. He stood well over six feet tall and hard strong broad shoulders. His head was build strong, with a very impressively chiseled jaw. He had short black hair and piercing light blue/ ivory eyes. He was the type of man that stories would be written about.
Steven was the opposite of Erik, although the two of them got along very well. Erik was quiet and kept mostly to himself and when Erik did speak it was usually an order or directive that came forcefully out of his lower abdomen. Steven was more light hearted and loved conversation, especially when they ate. He was by trade a tracker and was able to guide his way through the countryside even without the aid of a map. Steven, unlike Erik, was no great warrior either. He could hold men at bay with the use of his bow, but when it came to close quartered combat he wasn't very able bodied. Steven was just under six feet and had a very slender shape, which wasn't ideal for the cold situations they currently found themselves in. He had long dark hair, a well kept red beard and dark brown eyes. Unlike the rest of the group, he didn't seem to stick out in a crowd.
Both Erik and Steven came out of the east. The north east to be a bit more specific, which made both of them quite apt at dealing with the cold weather. Neither of them had been commissioned to do the work that lay behind or ahead of them. They had each been chosen, just like the other two men who had perished at bloodfoot canyon. The task at hand was very important; they had been the only four men to be expelled from The Keep.
Expelled is a bit of a harsh word. They had been the only four who were asked to leave, because of their good merit. They were chosen to leave, the last hopes of the McKreatee Empire lay with these four men. Two had already perished and they weren't long into their journey.
McKreatee laid in the North East, not three hundred yards from the
"Hold." Erik's voice shot out in a whisper. Still, the command halted the group at once. They sat in a dark dead silence, waiting for the ok to once again move. Nothing came and yet they held. None of them faltered. Still as statutes they stood and waited out the bitter ugly silence. This deep into the woods, this far north, there was no sound for long spells. It was a silence so pure it rang out in your head with a high pitched squeal. Kris began to wonder what they were waiting for. He wanted so badly to break the silence. His mind started to race as he strained to listen over the black noise of nothing. And then he heard it. They all heard it. On shrill movement in the snow that rang louder than all the bells in all the land. A single foot step crunched as it compacted the snow below it.
Thank you very much,
Adam Osterkamp
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