CH 17 — Eisbaer

“I can’t believe it even needs to be said, but please stop licking yourself.”

Grunting, Saffron lowered its arm, the fur matted with its own saliva. If ve hadn’t said it, Eisbaer would’ve. “It’s just a flesh wound,” it started, but she wasn’t having it.

“Come here, you stubborn wolf.”

Saffron waddled over now, eyes on everything but her. “It’s really not that bad. And wolves are great at self-care!”

“Do you know that for a fact, or are you assuming?”

Its silence spoke volumes.

“Just hurry it up, will you?” Vallens stood at the edge of the clearing. Just beyond was the open road, eerily devoid of life. Not even a bird sang… “I want to be as far as possible before night falls.”

“Alright, alright! It’ll only take a second.” Eisbaer worked her healing magic on Saffron, relieved to see the exposed flesh beneath seal up. Washing the blood away was a simple feat, leaving its arm as good as new. “Any other injuries I should know about?”

“No, it was just the one.” Saffron extended its arms, flexing those curious digits.

“Guess you’re lucky your fur is thick, huh?”

“Yeah yeah, but did you see how I put those two men down!?”

She had not, in fact. Eisbaer was too busy trying to stay alive. “What about you, Val?”

“They didn’t land so much as a scratch on me.” To demonstrate ver point, Vallens rolled up ver sleeves. And proved that the marks on ver face didn’t extend to other extremities. Kind of a shame, really.

“That’s good, but I’d feel better if I knew where we’re actually going.” Her personal map only showed where they’d been, but the road ahead remained obscured by fog and fanciful question marks.

“We’re all going through the same thing, Eisbaer. I can only see what’s directly in front of me.”

She folded her arms, holding back a sigh. No, she did not have cold feet. She was still eager to break free of Wolefin’s restraints and dive into the great unknown. All she asked for was a concrete destination. A name would go a long way. “Do you really think this road will carry us?”

It was Vallens’ turn to frown and cross ver arms. “That remains to be seen, though it wouldn’t surprise me if the road peters out into a branching dirt path. I know it’s virtual, but real roads are rarely singular. Most lead to smaller paths for roadside stores or cabins hidden in the woods.” Vallens threw up a screen, doodling on it as ve spoke. It was a very simple sketch of a winding road, flanked by smaller, rougher diversions into sprawling tree lines. On the road were several large cars and the occasional bike.

Saffron stopped fussing with its fur to watch in awe. “Is that us in the back?” Much like the real Saffron, the doodle was too big for its bike, but chugging along at an enviable speed.

“Indeed. And you may fare better, should we come across any obstacles.” Ve grimaced, having just drawn a barrier. “Shit...”

“What’s wrong?” Eisbaer asked.

“We may have to leave the safety of the road—a minor diversion. There may be a fallen tree up ahead.”

Eisbaer’s eyes widened. “Is that why you’re so determined to push on?”

“Not before, but I am now.” Vallens jerked ver thumb at the awaiting motorcycle. “We can rest after we clear the tree.” If there truly was one.

But standing around would do them no favors, especially if reinforcements were on the way. She climbed on after Vallens, a little less shy about holding onto vem. If she was going to ride for most of the journey, she’d have to get over any discomfort. Better than walking for miles on end and wearing out her poor feet.

“Maybe we’ll find a river,” an all too eager Saffron said.

“Good to see one of us is having fun,” Vallens said, and started the engine.

And for the next half hour, things seemed to be in their favor. The forest cleared out to reveal open planes, and Eisbaer marveled at the wild horses traveling a similar path. Beautiful horses, ranging from a handsome shade of brown to fur dark as night. And among them, straggling in the back, was a small white pony. How quaint!

“Just like a movie,” she whispered into Vallens’ back.

But that good mood soon wound down when ve slowed to a crawl. “Shit. It’s worse than I thought.”

Foreshadowed by ver drawing was a great tree, as tall as a three-story apartment, and stretching as far as the eye could see. Eisbaer turned her head this way and that, but it was impossible! Wood! Wood everywhere, and much too tall to climb, though Saffron tried anyway.

“Shit is right. Oh, what are we to do?”

“Give me a moment to think, please.” “Thinking” for Vallens included biting onto ver thumbnail and rocking in place. “I have an idea, but you won’t like it,” ve said, dropping ver hand.

“What? It can’t be worse than being sitting ducks, waiting for slaughter.”

Vallens ran ver hands over the wood. “It’s too big to destroy. That could take days, and only works if it’s meant to be torn down.”

Oh no. She did not like where this was going…

“And even if we could climb this behemoth—which I doubt—we’d have to leave our only means of transportation behind.”

“Maybe we could tame some horses? There’s enough for three of us, and we could use the pony for cargo. Of course, we’d need a cart first…”

“Breaking in a horse is not something you can simply do in a day, Eisbaer. And Saffron’s presence alone would scare them off.”

Well, she was fresh out of ideas.

“What do you propose, then?”

Vallens smiled, a grim thing. “We have to go around.”

“But the tree is…oh dear. You can’t be serious!”

Ve rolled ver eyes. “There’s a small path nearby. The tree can’t be that large. It has to end at some point, maybe even be low enough to the ground for us to climb over.”

Eisbaer’s shoulders sagged. So this was it, then. “Do I have to walk?”

“‘Fraid so, darling. It’s too risky, barreling into unknown territory.”

She peered back at the seemingly innocuous path, one side marred by the tree and the husks of those crushed beneath it. The other offered less coverage, with scraggly little trees and bushes laden with potentially edible berries.

“Can we rest once we cross over?”

“Only if it’s safe.”

Fair. “Saffron, you’re the expert here. Are these safe to eat?” The berries were dark purple, almost black, and looked oh so tempting!

To her horror, the wolf plucked a handful and shoved them into its mouth. But it didn’t die. It gave her a big thumbs up, licking blueish juice from its mouth. “Blackberries! Let’s stock up while we can!”

That was easier said than done, and resulted in stained hands and mouths, but they cleared four whole bushes in record time. “At least we won’t starve,” Vallens said. “These can be our snacks or breakfast.”

“Or both.” She wiped her hands clean, refreshed and ready to push on. “Normally I’d have my treant in tow, but there’s enough of us to not need a fourth. Ah! Scratch that.”

Her peers watched from their respective bikes as Eisbaer summoned her latest familiar: the cyan fox, Forsythe. A man of peace. He gave her a friendly yip, long tail swishing and leaving faint traces of that vibrant color. She almost wanted to scoop him up and boop that precious little nose! But not in front of Vallens. Ve wouldn’t understand.

“Forsythe here can heal us while I provide support! He’ll also alert us of any unseen danger.”

Vallens sniffed. “A good friend to have, indeed. I’ll send my cat to patrol ahead of us. You never know what you’ll find in the wilderness.”