18. The Frost Climb
An hour passed and the final second to decide his fate sounded. The carriage slowly came to a stop and for the first time in a long time, Eryndor hopped out of the carriage and immediately regretted it.
The moment his boots touched the ground that had been half frozen he slipped and fell on his butt. A moment later a deep chill shot overwhelmed him causing him to jump to his feet and barely stabilizing his small frame.
He looked past the number of holy thunder horses and saw that they were on a road path by the side of a mountain, he could see the path still going down a couple of zigs and zags leading into the frozen forest. But the path looked to be too frozen and the curves too sharp for the horses or the carriage to transverse. The cold wind billowed while singing it's howling tune.
["Shit don't tell me we're walking all the way from here"]
The eye sounded displeased.
Hearing it speak for the first time in a long while reminded Eryndor that he had a close companion and not just that a master at that. "I guess you don't do well with the cold either." He said in a low tone, each words releasing visible puffs of hot air that dispersed after being hit by the strong winds of the mountain.
The eye responded:
["No, I don't. If it was my old body this would not be a problem but your feeble frame..."]
This time it was Eryndor's turn to be the mature one, he was surprised by how much he sounded out of character, even for him. "Quit whining and let's get this over with. The sooner we meet the weirdo the sooner we get hot cocoa."
He turned around and found Thalor looking at him with wide eyes. Thalor had gotten used to Eryndor talking to himself to some extent. To him he believed that Eryndor had suffered a psychological trauma due to having been cast away by the king but he did not bring up the matter not wanting to bruise the young prince's ego or worse, worsen the condition.
"What are you looking at? I'm freezing my ass off, literally." Eryndor hissed and he meant it.
Thalor snapped out of his trance and nodded. He went back into the carriage and came back with a long cape and hood he handed to his young lord. Next he carried all the luggages Eryndor had brought from his room on in both arms. The number of suitcases both huge and small hanging awkwardly in his arms gave him a brief moment of discomfort but he managed to carry it.
After leaving the driver behind to tend to the horses and fend off any monster that could appear they continued down the frost bitten path, their enemy being the weather itself. The cold, the wind, the trees, the snow, the elements were against them. After a few minutes of transversing up the treacherous mountain path Eryndor was starting to grumble in a low tone, the discomfort etching into his voice.
"Uncle my ass. He's going to have to be an animal for him to live here. My ass is practically frozen, I can't even feel my breath on my face. My face it half dead. Shit, I hate my life. Why did I have to be such a stupid child."
Wanting to know if he was the only one under such a predicament he shifted his focus to his left eye and asked. "You okay, master."
The response he got was very hostile.
["Shut the hell up you cursed disciple. Our contract has not officially begun yet and look at the state I'm in. I'm freezing!"]
Eryndor did not overreact and instead responded in a hostile manner. "We're in the same boat pal. You don't see me complaining."
["Says the nitwit that had been mumbling curses for thirty minutes straight"]
Eryndor sighed. "Let's not make this about me please."
They were now walking though thick patches of snow that made it hard to move, not to mention making the path barely visible. If things persisted Eryndor feared that he would soon be dead or worse frozen. He thought which would be more worse.
Thalor who had been taking the lead was now slowly getting weighed down by all of Eryndor's luggages, his arms ached from holding them up for so long and battling the elements while transversing the dangerous terrain. All while listening to his young lord's ranting.
"How much farther is it Thalor?" Eryndor complained again.
Thalor simply smiled, his lips had almost frozen over and he had to warm them by licking it constantly. Unlike his young lord that had the luxury of thick fur coats that were warm and cozy, all he had for heat was a simple cloak that did not offer much under these rather serious weather conditions but he did not show this to the young lord.
"It should be a little bit further young lord." He spoke, his voice shaking and betraying his confidence.
Eryndor immediately deduced that something was wrong, after a moment's thought he noticed that his luggages was slowing down the guard. He walked forward and took two of the suitcases from the guard.
The guard put up a futile resistance, he could not hide the sigh of relief he felt as his arms received a moment of rest, his sore muscles stretching out under his armour. "Thank you young lord, but can you really carry them."
Eryndor scoffed and said in a cocky tone. "Don't think I did this for you, I just don't want you slowing us down." Eryndor truly had no other reason to help the guard besides his own selfish reason.
Thalor nodded as if understanding and led them at a much faster pace. The next few minutes were easy at least but shortly after it was hell. The wall of snow they were transversing now was so much that it was practically covering Eryndor from the chest down, Thalor who had more than half his leg covered was in a much worse state.
He had to use his huge frame to create a small path, prolonged direct contact with the snow caused his bones to freeze under his armour and after a few minutes his legs gave out and he fell forward. His body went immobilised as he fell unconscious.
Eryndor frozen in fear and panicked. "No! You can't be dead you. Get up Thalor! Get up! You can't die and leave me here." His eyes darted in every direction and he looked back trying to sight the way back to the carriage but it had been swallowed by the new downpour of snow. He was a sitting duck and just when he thought things could not get worse, they actually got much, much worse.
His left eye beamed with a golden glow as it spoke:
["Kid, we've got company"]