White. Everything was white as she fell through the driving snow. She was about to cry out when the darkness of the ground came rushing at her. It slammed into her with a force that she had never felt before and never would again. First, there was only darkness. Sera wasn't sure if she was dead or alive. Then the pain came. Mind shattering pain. Sera sobbed through the blood and spit bubbles that oozed from her dislocated jaw. Her nose, once petite and perky was smashed against her left cheek. Every sob crackled and ground its way through her broken ribs. Her legs were either missing or she couldn't feel them.
Death would have been better. Just let me die. Please let me die.
A large object plummeted to the ground beside her. Sera could hear bones breaking like dry sticks over the roaring of the wind and her own shuddering, gasping breaths. A body. Her vision was so blurry that she could barely make out that it was a man.
Something clicked in her brain. The noise stopped, the pain faded as her clearing vision showed her The Bard's face. He had fallen too.
Help him. Help him. Help him. The chant echoed in her mind. She reached for his face with the only arm that would listen to her. Her ribs ground together as she stretched out her arm causing her to drop her arm and scream with pain. The scream deepened and increased as her ribcage shifted in pieces to accommodate her lungs expanding and deflating. Adrenaline ripped though her nervous system. She clawed at the snow with her good arm and began dragging her shattered body toward him. Again and again she screamed in pain as she pulled herself to his side.
Finally she was able to stop at his side. He was breathing. Barely. Blood trickled from his mouth and nose. His legs were twisted at un-natural angles and his eyes were shut like he was sleeping.
At least he doesn't feel it.
Sera took a slow deep breath, then threw her cloak over herself and him to shield them from the wind and snow. Agony wrenched its song from her again as the motion tore ripped tendons and sinew.
I'm going to pass out. I'm so tired and this hurts so much... NO! I need to stay awake!
Sera paused and held her breath, listening. For just a moment she would have sworn that she heard... A large dark shape lumbered on all fours out of the woods. It stopped when it was downwind of them and hoisted itself onto two legs. It was a fucking bear.
Fear coiled its way around her heart, No, not like this!
It sniffed the air deeply and let out a deep growl. Dropping back onto all fours it stalked its way toward them following the scent of their blood. All she could do was lie there and watch. The bear approached them and snuffed at the back of The Bard's bloody head. Don't you fucking touch him. Sera made eye contact with it.
It reared up on two legs and roared powerfully at her. It turned away from her to face the forest and cocked its head to one side, listening.
Suddenly there was the baying of hounds and the shouts of men. The bear dropped back onto all fours and charged the sound disappearing into the tree line. Sera heard the whine of a dog that got too close and the men calling out to each other. Growling and snarling sounds emanated back to her. Then with a choking final roar everything went quiet.
Sera realized this was her chance, hope flooded through her as she took a deep slow grinding breath. "Help us!" Her choking whisper was barely loud enough to be heard. I can't scream! Her lungs had slowly been filling with blood she realized. Darkness beckoned in the back of her mind.
Time to go. Just close your eyes and it will all be over.
Sera struggled mentally against the tendrils of the dark as they pulled her away from the light. They wrapped around her, taking away the pain, giving her oxygen. She started to relax, when she heard the voices.
"Now why did that bear have bloody footprints before we got him?"
"That's why I'm following them. Shut up! Let me concentrate! The wind has almost erased all of his... Oh SHIT!"
Sera clawed at the darkness that was enveloping her, desperately trying to claw her way back to the light.
"I think they're dead."
"Should we leave 'em?"
"Do you want to carry a dead body?? We can just send the North Watch. These two will keep in the snow until then."
Reaching out with a leather boot, one of the men lightly kicked one of Sera's broken legs. The pain hit her with the force of a bomb, blasting away the darkness and shoving Sera back into her shattered body.
She moaned.
The man jumped back. "She's alive?" He turned to the other man, "Go! Call the healer and send some more men over here to help me!"
The man took off running at full speed while the speaker knelt next to Sera's head. "If you can hear me, I'm Sven. We are going to help you."
Sera felt a wave of relief, maybe they would be able to save him after all. Two men came running up with a stretcher.
"This is going to hurt." Sven leaned into her vision. His eyes were a calming grey and his face was covered with a scarf. She could see little gold ringlets of hair poking out from under his hood. The three men slowly slid their hands under her body.
"On the count of three. One. Two. Three!"
Sera found the strength and air to scream once more as the pain ripped apart her hold on consciousness.
❧
The guide burst through the doors into the North King's longhouse. The mythical beasts carved into the doors seemed to glower at him as if annoyed for being disturbed. He rushed down the length of the hall, past the woven tapestries telling the tales of Kings and Lords of The North from long ago. He dropped to one knee in front of a massive carved wooden throne dark with age and soot. The man who sat in it wore a woven crown of pine boughs with diamonds the size of grapes fastened to them with strands of silver wire. He was a large man who stood six and half feet tall. His golden curly locks fell over his shoulder accentuating the dark fur bearskin cloak he had haphazardly draped around his neck as his shirt fell open to reveal a strong chest that was built by labor and the silver seal of authority hung on a gold chain.
"They are both dead King Brandulf."
"Who is dead?" The King in the North sat straight up in his chair.
"The envoys from the girl who claims to be the Ash King's line. Princess Kailynn."
"Lets not use a title that we are unsure of," the King Brandulf corrected the guide. "What happened?"
"The woman, the wind pushed her off the edge of the road in the Chasm Pass." The guide paused, shaken by what he had witnessed. "The man fell after her."
"So they both fell?"
"N-no Sire, after she fell, he kneeled for a moment, then walked to the edge and let himself fall in."
"Was he mad???"
"No Sire, I think he loved her."
"Well then," King Brandulf leaned back into his throne, "That is exactly why love is a fool's game. Call the scribe, we need to send a letter to the supposed Ash Princess."