All That Divides

By J. M. Simmons

The War, The Resistance, The Supernatural

Under the shadows of the mountains, citizens live in constant fear. They suffer curfews, rations, and abuse under the thumb of an occupying, enemy force.

But, in the face of oppression, some have decided to fight back.

A small band of smugglers supply weapons to resistance forces, doing what they can to survive. But, when a deal goes wrong, they’ll end up getting more than they bargained for. After all, there is more hiding in the mountains than soldiers and rebels.

Things of legend and nightmare live in these forests...

• Language: English
• Publisher: J. M. Simmons
• Release date: Dec 31, 2020
• ISBN: 9781734532234

J. M. Simmons

J. M. Simmons is a cofounder of First Table on the Left Book Services, and is a self-published author. She has published a #1 New Release nonfiction title in Neopagan Literature on Amazon. She has published books in several genres, including epic fantasy and LGBTQ+. She enjoys spending time with her husband and two dogs, and enjoys working with other self-published authors.Follow for news, promotions, and upcoming works!

Book preview

The War, The Resistance, The Supernatural

Under the shadows of the mountains, citizens live in constant fear. They suffer curfews, rations, and abuse under the thumb of an occupying, enemy force.

But, in the face of oppression, some have decided to fight back.

A small band of smugglers supply weapons to resistance forces, doing what they can to survive. But, when a deal goes wrong, they’ll end up getting more than they bargained for. After all, there is more hiding in the mountains than soldiers and rebels.

Things of legend and nightmare live in these forests…

All That Divides

A Novel

J. M. Simmons

Copyright © 2020 by J. M. Simmons

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

IBSN: 978-1-7345322-3-4

Credits:

Cover Artist: First Table on the Left Book Services

Illustrations: Anike Kristen

Editor: First Table on the Left Book Services

Formatter: First Table on the Left Book Services

Prologue

A Deal Gone Wrong

The Crooked Path Forward

Enemy at the Door

The Longest Night

Consider the Cobwebs

The Die is Cast

The Enemy of My Friend

Cabin Fever

Buried Treasure

Building Bridges

Bad Moon Rising

Familiarity Breeds Contempt

Minutes to Midnight

Burning Bridges

No Man Left Behind

Cooking Lessons

No More Blue Skies

If I Never Told You

Until We Meet Again

All That Remains

Those Flowers

Acknowledgements

About the Author

This book is dedicated to:

My husband, to whom my heart belongs.

That which is sublime should be loved and feared, and never tamed.

According to legend, to return a werewolf to their human form, one must call their true name with no fear in their heart.

But who could face a monster without fear?

Prologue

The tall steeples framed the town below like sharpened teeth, jagged and jutting up from the earth. The unfriendly barrier was the only thing protecting the small village from the wild forest that waited just beyond. The pine forest was pitch black, even in the bright, moonlit night, and it hid many secrets within its shadowy depths.

Inside the boundaries of the town, a grove of ancient stone shown in the muted moonlight. The graveyard behind the church was littered with heavy gravestones that had begun sinking crookedly into the frozen earth. The snow that covered the ground with a blanket of white was pristine; no one came to visit the dead in this town.

No one dared.

A flashlight glinted between the stone megaliths that weighed down the dead, but the light was weak. If there were trespassers, the caretaker who patrolled this area preferred not to see them.

That was why he ignored the first noise he thought he heard. Probably just the wind. But then he heard it a second time, a definite scrapping sound of a worn metal shovel against the frozen ground. The light trembled as he approached the source, pausing after each break to see if it had stopped.

It wasn’t worth dying over, to protect the belongings of corpses. Let them take from the dead, if they wanted it that bad. That was his opinion.

Stories of bloodsuckers began to creep up into the forefront of his mind, but then the sound stopped, and didn’t start again. Unfortunately, he had already arrived at the scene.

Looking down, the caretaker saw where the snow had been scratched, not with a shovel, but by claws. Massive, bloody claw marks scarred the ground. They appeared to have been tearing at the dirt of a freshly dug grave.

Fear gripped the old man, and he swung his weak light as he looked in all directions, but the tracks vanished into the darkness beyond the gates. His only company was the stone angel weeping over the disturbed grave.

He let out a shuttering breath; he didn’t want to report this, it really just meant more work for him. But if the family of the deceased discovered it on their own, it would mean his job.

Glancing over the scene once more, he felt a shiver run down his spine before he blew his whistle and started jogging back towards the entrance. Dogs began barking when they heard the alarm and, as the sleepy town awoke, soldiers rather than police officers answered his call for help.

Bells in the church tower sounded, but no one saw the dark shape that disappeared into the forest that night.

A Deal Gone Wrong

There were footprints in the snow, but they were old. The once-crisp edges were rounded now, and Marius dropped his head on a curse. The warmth of his breath vaporized before his face, his heavy sigh the only sound in these godforsaken woods.

If he didn’t get the signal soon, before the sun was up, that would mean that something had gone wrong.

He hadn’t been the one who wanted to do this. He never believed this stupid deal had a chance. But Kristoff did. And Kristoff was their leader, so they followed him wherever he went.

The others had gone ahead a few hours ago to meet with their new contacts. Marius didn’t like it, not one bit, but Kristoff seemed strangely interested in this deal. They were a group of rebel fighters from a resistance effort in the south, and they were looking for weapons to fight against the occupation. It was a plight they all shared.

Marius and his group lived under occupation here, too, but Kristoff would be quick to say they played their part in a far more subtle way. They weren’t freedom fighters as much as illegal smugglers. They supplied resistances both at home and abroad. Still helping, Marius supposed, just in a smaller way.

If he’d been offered a place on the frontlines, he would have gone in a heartbeat. But Kristoff and their other partner, Gabriel, were older and much more cautious. They preferred to do their part by moving illegal contraband all the way from the free ports in Skalafell in the far north, to fighters as far southeast as Mjora. The war kept the invading Roheimians fighting on all fronts, and Marius was happy to do his part to supply anyone who would take up arms against them.

But his partners had been gone for too long now, and no one had signaled for him to come through with the package, which was the heavy bundle of rifles that were starting to dig into his back.

Marius fretted as he lifted his head and looked back and forth, seeing nothing but the boney, stretched shadows of bare trees around him. The footprints here were old; he could only hope that meant that the two of them had gotten out of there hours ago.

Maybe they were already back at the safe house.

The bag on his shoulder was heavy, but he willed himself up, remembering that he was their only backup if something went wrong, and that it was still very possible that they were in trouble. His own rifle burned against his back, but he didn’t bring it into his hands yet.

One man creeping through the woods with a rifle could be mistaken for a lot of things. No sense in getting shot before he was close enough to actually cause trouble.

The trees broke when he reached the crest of a small hill, and the land slopped suddenly and steeply. Below, on the edges of the port town, he could see the small fishing warehouse; the place where they were supposed to meet their new contacts and make the deal. The windows were dark, the thick glass frosted over, and there were no obvious signs of life.

Marius squinted into the darkness.

No lights. No sounds. No signal.

What did it mean?

He frowned, plotting his course down the vulnerable, open slope before he ventured closer. As he did, he caught a glimpse of more footprints. Prints which had come up the hill, some distance from where he stood, and were fresh enough to still be dark.

And there were a lot of them.

Changing his course, Marius marched towards them. Once he was close enough to see their indefinite shapes, he swung his rifle off his shoulder and into his hands.

Heavy boots, moving fast.

Glancing around at the dark frames of the bare trees, Marius decided to change course and follow them. These tracks came from the small warehouse where his friends were supposed to meet their new, shady contact. If something went wrong, and now he didn’t doubt it had gone very wrong, this was his direct line to trouble.

He could only hope he’d get there in time to be of actual help.

Marius crept quietly, unable to see very far ahead as he trekked into the denser body of the forest. There were more pines here to hide him, but they also obscured his vision. He had to be careful; this new contact that Kristoff had found had sounded unstable.

They were probably actual rebels, not just suppliers and middlemen like they had claimed. There was no trust among people whose lives depended so much on secrecy.

Marius gritted his teeth to keep them from chattering. But just when his jaw began to ache, he crept up on a scene that made it drop.

In the colorless moonlight, Marius could see dark streaks of red glistening against the snow. There was obvious evidence of a struggle here, and it had ended gruesomely. Heavy prints and gashes marred the white, pristine ground

There were five bodies. Or, at least, what was left of them.

There didn’t look to be a single corpse that was still intact. Marius didn’t recognize their shredded outfits, which meant they were probably the rebels from the south.

He froze where he was, however, unable to continue to investigate when he spotted the inhuman tracks and jagged marks on the remains.

Marius tilted his head back towards the sky, fearing what he immediately spied: a full moon.

His blood turned to ice in his veins.

Werewolf.

He clutched his gun closer, but he knew that it wouldn’t save him from the same, gory fate if he were found by the beast. This deal had been rotten from the start, but he hadn’t expected that it would be bad enough to attract real monsters.

Marius stayed where he was despite his instinct to back away and flee, his ears straining in the silence. He tried to recall what he had been told of werewolves when he was a child. Creatures that seemed human, until the full moon, who could only be killed with pure silver. Monsters, that killed without remorse once changed into their wolf form. He had thought they were just stories the village folk told, like how they still hammered cages over graves to protect the dead from vampires.

But these prints were definitely in the shape of a wolf’s paw, though they were closer to the size of a bear print.

His heart squeezed in his chest, his ears straining so hard they were ringing. Marius waited for any sign of life. Any sound. Any sign that he wasn’t alone.

Nothing.

No werewolf, and his friends were not among the corpses.

The wolf-prints went off deeper into the forest, so when he was certain he was alone, Marius spun around and began back the way he had come. Whatever the outcome of the deal had been, if his friends were alive, they would try to make their way back to the safehouse.

There was a secret place, in between the safe house and the forest, where they could stash their deliveries. It was on the way, so Marius decided he’d stop and hide the rifles; he’d be able to move faster without them, and if there had been trouble with the law, him showing up with a bundle of illegal rifles would probably make the situation worse.

He took a breath. Hopefully, his friends had made it back safe and sound, and were waiting for him with a warm fire and something to drink. Now, he just hoped that he’d be fortunate enough to make it back, too.

Kristoff’s heart was beating in his ears as he headed up the winding path, trying to walk over and disguise the tracks he was following. He had seen it, a vision intruding on his consciousness like a bolt of lightning; men with guns waiting in ambush in the forest.

It was a trap. Marius had been right.

His stomach soured, and he knew something far worse had happened. Those men who were waiting to ambush him and his partners could never have imagined how fast predator could become prey in the woods of the far north.

Next to what he feared had happened, being tricked out of the money from their deal meant nothing.

The humble house appeared, but it was hard to identify any part of it clearly. It was mostly hidden by the heavy snow, but even the blindest tracker couldn’t have missed the heavy prints that suddenly vanished within its border. Kristoff fumbled at the front door, aware that the animal prints he had been trying to hide with his own boot prints had suddenly changed just as they reached the threshold.

Once inside the simple, mundane cabin, Kristoff felt no comfort; only dread seizing his heart.

The scene was grim. There was no fire lit; the room was cold and dark. The old house creaked in the wind, each noise causing his hair to stand on end. His eyes flicked around the room, looking for any sign that he wasn’t alone. With the door shut behind him, he squinted in the dim, blue-grey light from the covered windows. He saw that the room looked mostly as they had left it, but as his eyes adjusted, he found that the rocking chair had been knocked over, the smooth wood jutting up into the shadowy darkness. And cooling on the floor beside the upturned chair, Kristoff saw bloody footprints.

He was clutching his handgun, the shining weapon trembling in his hand, as he pressed slowly into the darkness of the house. But it would be of no help if fears were confirmed, and he was now locked inside this small house with something that was more beast than man.

Once he reached the narrow hallway, he could see light. The light of a single, flickering candle sneaking under the door at the far end.

Surely, a werewolf couldn’t light a candle.

Kristoff felt some of the pressure in his chest release, and he un-cocked the gun before holstering it. But his way was still paved in droplets and smears of blood, and he had no idea how to prepare himself for what he was about to see.

Slowly, as not to startle the man hiding in the bathroom, Kristoff reached the end of the hallway and laid his palm flat against the cold, chipping paint of the old door.

…Gabriel?

His voice was hoarse from disuse, trying to whisper after breathing heavily in the dry, freezing air.

It wasn’t answered immediately, and he began pushing on the door, the flickering light spilling farther into the hallway as he did so.

Don’t come in, Kris. Don’t–

The voice was weak and broken, but it was too late; he had already opened the door.

Gabriel’s huge, naked frame was a huddled mass, bleeding and shivering. He covered his face when Kristoff’s eyes widened, but the shorter man didn’t care for his pride just then. He was making an absolute mess of the bandages he was struggling to open, but he was alive.

That was all that mattered, for the moment.

My gods, Kristoff hissed, coming to kneel beside him, even as the larger man flinched away. What happened?

He avoided looking directly at his face. Kristoff didn’t want to see those eyes. Those bright, blue eyes that somehow reflected the light incorrectly. Eyes that would shake and quiver, and seem to have a hard time focusing.

The eyes of a man who unwillingly shared his body with an ancient spirit.

It was an ambush, Gabriel told him when Kristoff yanked the bandages from his hands and began to try to patch the nasty, shredded flesh of his arm. They were waiting in the woods, to take back their payment,

Kristoff frowned in frustration, but it wasn’t even about the attack. It was because Marius had told them both that he thought something like that might happen and he hadn’t listened. Kristoff hadn’t sensed the danger and Marius had been right.

Well, we can probably move before they get back and tell the others. How many got away? Kristoff began trying to formulate a new plan.

They were weapons smugglers; moving often came with the territory. They were only one cell of a large operation that worked covertly throughout the valley, so there were other places they could move to.

None. Gabriel’s voice was dark and cold. I killed them all.

He couldn’t help the way his hands hitched. Gabriel couldn’t usually remember what happened when he lost control, but the finiteness in his voice left no room for doubt.

The words slipped out before he could stop himself.

You shouldn’t have,

I didn’t have a choice! Look at me! Gabriel’s sudden movement caused him to jerk backwards, and when he lifted his head into the reach of the candlelight, Kristoff felt the cold talon of fear grip his heart.

Gabriel’s face had been sliced by a bayonet; they had very nearly taken his eye. His chest was bleeding from a gunshot wound that would have killed an ordinary man, and Kristoff could see the bruises around his neck where it looked like someone had tried to strangle him, probably while he had still been in his human form.

He could control his transformation during the full moon if he kept his heartrate down, but anything that triggered adrenaline would trigger the transformation. Those men hadn’t had any idea of the danger; they thought they were just murdering their contacts so there was no evidence of their presence here.

Kristoff’s shoulders fell once the initial fear passed, and Gabriel’s eyes stopped shaking. His friend had carried this curse for so many years, but none of them could quit. They couldn’t retire and choose a life of calm and security. Their lifeblood, their hearts, everything they were, was tied up in the fate of their nation.

So, they suffered.

Gabriel reached out and squeezed his hand. I’m sorry, Kris. I’m so sorry.

They both looked at each other, knowing the same terrible truth, but not bothering to say anything else before Kristoff sighed and resumed trying to stop the bleeding. Words wouldn’t fix this situation, anyway.

The wounds looked worse than they were, but even someone like Gabriel could bleed to death if they were careless. And it was Kristoff’s job to keep them the alive. But he had certainly fucked it up tonight.

His head was heavy with exhaustion and guilt, but he needed to get Gabriel cleaned up, they needed to find Marius and then figure out a plan.

If there really were no survivors, maybe they could stay. But something in the back of his head was already pricking his subconscious, urging him to get them out of there. If they left, they wouldn’t be able to come back here. Not for a long time.

When Gabriel was patched up and breathing easier, they both stood. Kristoff wanted the taller man to go straight to bed. He could have used his help in going out to find Marius, but it wasn’t worth the risk. The three nights surrounding the full moon were just too dangerous; anything could trigger the transformation.

Besides, as fast as Gabriel healed, his affliction was still a secret. Neither of them had told Marius, and Kristoff preferred to keep it that way. The less people that knew, the better. The valley below was modernizing, but the fringes of society were still entrenched in the old ways. That included a very real fear of the supernatural. A man had been dragged from his home and killed in the churchyard because he was a suspected vampire less than a decade ago. Kristoff didn’t want to risk anything that would rouse their suspicions.

But when he looked up, Kristoff saw Gabriel just staring at him, with that stupid expression on his face. He was worried. Even though he was the one bleeding, the one who had just survived an ambush, Gabriel was worried about him.

It’s fine, Kristoff finally told him, irritated and wanting to get him into bed so he could go look for Marius.

Gabriel would need rest to heal faster, and they didn’t have that much time before the incoming storm hit and they would be stranded inside until it stopped.

These winter storms could be deadly to anyone caught outdoors, and Kristoff had a feeling Marius was still out there somewhere. Probably still waiting for his signal, despite all of the signs that something had gone wrong.

But the afflicted man beside him seemed less concerned with their missing companion. Instead, Gabriel reached out and grabbed him, forcefully pulling Kristoff into his chest in spite of his wounds.

Kristoff rigidly withstood the embrace, but pulled away as soon as he was released. This was no time for hugging; they could relax when everyone was safe.

Come on, Kristoff took the candle in its holder and began to head out the door. You’re unbelievable, you know that?

A deep hum emanated from Gabriel’s chest, but he didn’t respond. Kristoff led the way down the hall to the bedroom, then paused, hovering in the doorway while Gabriel disappeared inside the dark room.

They needed to find Marius, and then Kristoff would have to make a decision about the bodies Gabriel had left in the woods. If something like that was found, it would bring a lot of attention they didn’t need.

Gabriel emerged with fresh clothing to cover his wounds, but was dressed like he intended to go out again rather than go straight to bed like Kristoff wanted.

He frowned, and the taller man opened his mouth, but before he could speak, there was a terrifying noise. A loud knock sounded through the small cabin, and Kristoff froze in place.

Marius? Or someone else?

Gabriel took the candle from his frozen hand, blowing out the light and eclipsing them in darkness.

Then, they both held still and waited.

If the people at the door were hostile, they risked Gabriel losing control again.

And if they were lawmen, or soldiers…

Kristoff and his group wouldn’t be safe even if they killed them. There would be nowhere to hide the bodies when the ground was frozen. And people would certainly come looking for missing soldiers.

Kristoff began to take a mental tally of their companions and where they should be by now. Adreian and Inge would be down in the valley tonight, and that would hopefully be enough to keep them out of harm’s way. Inge would hear about what happened; he heard about everything, and he would keep everyone’s heads down. He was the leader of their sister cell, and he was even more paranoid and cautious than Kristoff was.

Kristoff had found Gabriel after they had been separated, but Marius hadn’t met up with them yet. He was supposed to go down into the town after his delivery, but after what happened, no one would have been there to signal him. Hopefully, he’d been smart enough not to go investigate and had just started back to the house.

If he had gone down to find out what went wrong, he might have found trouble. And that trouble might have been led right to their door.

But there was no shouted order to open the door. No rifle butt broke the lock, and no machinegun tore through the house without giving them the chance to surrender.

So, it wasn’t the military police.

Another knock rattled through the dark house, one that was just as soft as before, and Kristoff broke his frozen position and began towards the door.

Marius had once told him they should have secret knocks so they’d always know who was at the door. Kristoff had brushed it off as a waste of time, since if it was anyone with authority, they’d break the door down, anyway. Now, he was starting to see the benefit.

Gabriel stayed behind him, hiding in the darkness; he didn’t want to make the situation worse.

The moonlight, even as it was being overtaken by the incoming storm, outlined their poorly insulated door.

One man waiting in silence on either side.

Kristoff gathered his courage and grasped the cold metal, his chest squeezing as he thrust the door opened with too much force.

Marius! Kristoff hissed when he immediately recognized the lanky frame, pulling their companion inside.

A storm’s blowing in, Marius told him, shaking the fresh snow off of his clothing and hat. But we’ve got bigger problems,

What? Kristoff asked, feeling his stomach drop.

He unintentionally glanced back towards the hallway, where Gabriel’s large figure was lingering just out of reach of the dim light.

I saw a werewolf attack, Marius told them sinisterly, and Kristoff’s throat constricted.

He had to force himself not to look back again. Oh?

Yeah. It was some pretty nasty stuff. In fact, I think it was the guys you had been dealing with. The snow’s going to cover up the bodies, most likely. No one will find them again until spring, Marius continued rambling, heading over to the fireplace.

That was actually good news.

You think so? Kristoff was aware that his voice was strained, but Marius wasn’t the sharpest.

Maybe they could still manage to pull themselves out of this mess.

Just look. It’s turning into a blizzard out there, he confirmed and then gestured with exaggerated irritation at the fireplace. Why haven’t you started a fire? It’s freezing in here,

Kristoff opted to keep his mouth shut as Marius grumbled and stacked up some wood in the neglected hearth. The tale-tell sound of hissing and popping filled the silence, and Kristoff turned once more to look back at the shadow behind him.

The firelight shone on Gabriel’s eyes, but they reflected like an animal’s eyes.

More beast than man. At least, for the moment.

They had to tell Marius. Gabriel wasn’t leaving, and even if Marius was slow, he wasn’t blind; he would see the blood smeared all over the floor and he would see the wounds that should have been fatal. But Kristoff had no idea how he was going to take it.

If he panicked…

I said, why didn’t– Marius turned, but his childishly frustrated tone was doused instantly when he saw their third companion standing in the shadows, the firelight glinting off the sticky, dried blood on his pale skin.

…Gabe?

The fear in his voice was clearly detectable, and Kristoff felt helplessness fall over him like a heavy, suffocating blanket as the situation was wrenched from his control. Marius stood up, none too slowly, and moved to stand next to Kristoff, as if he intended to protect him.

Marius, we have something to tell you, Kristoff said quietly from behind his shoulder, lowering his head.

One wrong word, one misinterpreted gesture, and the bloody footprints on the floor would be the least of their concerns.

Gabriel, not a man of many words, simply took a single step forward, bringing himself fully into the reach of the light. The warm firelight shone on a dark scene; blood-streaked skin and hastily patched injuries. Even his stance, the way his wide shoulders hung so heavily, seemed to give it away.

Their friend.

A monster.

You? Marius choked out, and for that, Kristoff was grateful.

Marius wasn’t particularly observant, which was why they hadn’t been forced to explain this until now. Kristoff was glad they weren’t going to have to spell it out for him.

It was a sensitive subject.

Gabriel nodded, his head falling like he was ashamed. His long, dark-blond hair was unkempt, as was his beard, and it only reinforced the wild image. When he was in human form, there was no evidence of what he had been, other than the injuries that healed with superhuman speed and the way his eyes reflected the light incorrectly. And just the same, when he was in wolf form, there was no evidence of the man beneath. Only black fur and monstrous teeth.

Kristoff had only seen it once before, but he would die happy if he never had to see it again. As long as nothing happened, as long as he didn’t feel in danger, Gabriel could keep it under control. It had been Kristoff’s fault they had gone out tonight; he hadn’t expected so much trouble.

But now, it was all out in the open.

Since when? Marius finally asked, still gawking, but taking a daring step closer.

Gabriel was in control, for now. But they weren’t going to be safe here for long if anyone found out about the attack. A loud wind shook the house, reminding Kristoff of the terrible things that waited beyond.

A long time, Gabriel admitted, his eyes falling to the floor in memory. Since before the war started,

Gabriel came from even farther north. Up there, the wilderness ruled the tundra and scattered settlements, and men were at its mercy. Those dense forests and fjords were filled with the mysterious and the supernatural.

Is there a cure? Marius advanced until he was looking directly into Gabriel’s eyes, as if he was searching for something.

Proof, maybe.

As though he couldn’t believe that their gentle friend was a monster capable of such violence.

Gabriel just scoffed. A bath of vinegar and garlic? All it does is make you stink.

It would be too hard to explain to Marius that it wasn’t something that could be cured. It was an affliction, perhaps, but it was a part of him now. Kristoff didn’t understand it, but he didn’t have to. He could see it when he looked into Gabriel’s eyes. The wolf spirit inside of him was a part of him now, blended with his own soul until they were one.

No one can know, Kristoff said firmly, finding his voice.

The army would love an excuse like that. It’d be a witch hunt, Marius realized the full scale of their situation, and rubbed his face. Shit, Gabe,

Gabriel frowned, but Kristoff knew Marius wasn’t blaming him.

It wasn’t his fault, as far as they knew. It just complicated things.

Kristoff turned away and cautiously moved the curtain and peeked out the window. A heavy snowstorm was getting ready to assault the coast, but there was no telling how long it would last. If it kept up for more than the night, it might actually hide the bodies.

If not, they needed to have a plan.

The Crooked Path Forward

Can’t we wait until the storm’s over? Marius complained over the sound of the wind.

No! Kristoff barked back, all of them bundled up so only their eyes were showing.

It was dark, and the storm raged on, forcing snow up into their eyes as they walked. Kristoff’s body ached. He had been born and raised in the north, sure, but he wasn’t nearly as tall as Marius and Gabriel. The snow came up to his knees now, and his thighs were burning with the effort it took.

How much farther? Marius shouted again, somehow unable to understand that they were doing this during a storm because they were trying not to attract attention.

They didn’t even have a lantern lit. They were relying entirely on Gabriel’s ability to find his way in the dark.

Not much, Gabriel grunted, but it was so quiet that only Kristoff heard him.

What did he say? Marius yelled predictably, tugging the long sled along as he followed at the back.

Kristoff ground his teeth together before he turned, as best as he could in his thick clothing, and shouted back. "Soon! Now shut up!"

The man behind him groused as they followed the tall, dark figure in front. They were heading into the trees, but their snow-covered branches offered no protection. Kristoff sighed, blinded and exhausted.

But they had an even more grueling task ahead of them.