Page 101 of Warrior of the Wild
“I’ve never lied to you,” he says. “And I’m not about to start. Even if it means I have to tell you, you smell.” His lips brush the back of my neck.
Oddly, it’s one of the most romantic things he’s ever said to me.
TRAVELING DOWN THE MOUNTAINis so much quicker than the trip up. Unfortunately, it’s also much easier to stumble. We’ll be covered in bruises by the time we reach the bottom.
The otti feather is so long that it won’t fit in Soren’s pack all the way. The tip pokes out of the leather drawstring by at least five inches, following Soren down the mountain. His salvation.
Rocks skitter out of our way as we travel, some without us evenkicking them. Curious, but I don’t think much of it as I put most of my focus into not falling down.
It doesn’t take long to find the stream (once we manage to navigate back around the invisible walls of the god’s power), and we start to follow it downhill, looking for a broader opening where we might fully bathe.
“Yesterday,” I say, “with the otti bird. I noticed you weren’t trying to kill it. You only injured it enough to make it flee.”
“That’s right.”
“I’m glad, even if it did take a swipe at me.” My hand ghosts over the bandaged wound.
“My mattugr was to steal a feather, not kill the bird. The otti wouldn’t have bothered us if we hadn’t come into her territory. She minds her own business. Only hunts when she needs to. Much less evil than the hyggja.”
I shudder. “That thing would eat anything that came close to its resting place, hungry or not. It was enough to makemewary of deep water.”
“And Peruxolo—he is evil incarnate,” Soren says. “He deserves to die for what he’s done to our people. You shouldn’t even hesitate to take his life when the time comes.”
“He may bear the face of a man,” I say, “but he is no man. He is something else, and I won’t hesitate to end him.”
“Good.” Soren’s gaze flicks past me. “We’re in luck. The stream’s opening up.”
The stream widens and deepens into a slow-moving pool. The water is clear—I can see down to the bottom where the rocks gather. They shimmer at the bottom as the sun filters through the water. They must be filled with metal fragments. This mountainhas never been mined. It must be rich with ore and other deposits.
“Ladies first,” Soren says. “Let me know how cold it is.”
“It’s runoff from the mountain. It’s going to be freezing.”
“Would you rather be clean or warm?”
I take another sniff at my clothing. “Clean.”
“I’ll keep watch. I promise not to look.”
“So noble.”
He gives me a wicked grin before walking away, his back to me. I pull the armor sheets from out of my clothes and discard them by a tree. Then I shuck my boots and ax. I grab a bar of soap and clean set of clothes from my pack and walk to the pool’s edge. Once there, I take off my clothes and place them within reach of the water.
I dip a single toe into the stream.Freezingis too gentle of a term for what it is. I can’t fathom why there isn’t ice floating along the surface. There’s no easy way to do this. I take a deep breath and jump.
The cold is so intense it feels like needles are scraping my skin. I just stand there for a moment, waiting for my body to adjust.
“All good?” Soren shouts, his body facing firmly away.
“Th-the w-water is g-great. Just wait until i-it’s your turn.”
He laughs lightly. I pretend not to notice.
I soap down every inch of skin on my body twice. I lather the soap in my hair until bubbles stream down my arms. I take a deep breath and go down. A headache starts to form from the cold.
Once done, I heft myself out of the water and don my fresh set of clothing. I pull my hair out of my face, wrapping it into a braid. Then I let Soren know it’s safe to look, but he stays where he is, keeping guard while I’m still vulnerable without my armor.
I grab my dirty clothes and plunge them into the water. I only have the one extra set with me for this climb, so I’d better clean these now.
