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ITHRAWe trekked all night long. My feet hurt. My body was sore, but I refused to give up. My pride refused me to retract my words and demand us to rest. Zadok was agile. He brimmed with energy as he made way for us in the dark forest. He didn’t look back even once. Everywhere was hot, and Zadok created a torch made out of firewood in the shortest possible time. We continued the journey that suddenly felt like it had no end. Zadok suddenly stopped in his tracks. I bumped into him, lost in thought. It felt like I walked into a steel door. “What?” I asked, too tired to be anything but soft. “We rest here.” He stated and dropped the torch on the floor. I couldn’t accept defeat, “No. I told you we must get to the Cold Valley before resting. If we stop now, all our efforts will go to waste. We must continue.” I picked up the torch, determined to continue. Zadok grabbed the torch out of my hand. I could see his clenched jaw through the glow of the light. He was pissed. “I wasn’t as
ITHRAWe woke up to a freezing atmosphere. Zadok and I journeyed through the Valley of Thorns. In our journey so far, this has got to be the longest walk yet. Thankfully, we were close to leaving the Cold Valley, and we could tell by the coldness that increased as we went further. “Finally.” Zadok said, stopping in his tracks, “We are here.” He faced me with a smile. “Welcome to the cold valley.” I searched for signs that told me we were in the cold valley but saw none. “Where does it say so?” I voiced my concerns, and he smiled. “Surely, you don’t expect a signpost in the dark forest, Ithra,” he said sarcastically. I rolled my eyes, “No shit, Sherlock.” I gestured to our surroundings, “Forgive me for looking for something that suggests we are out of the Valley of Thorns.” I opined, “Other than the increased coldness, there’s nothing out of the ordinary.”“That’s because we are yet to cross its thresholds,” Zadok said, studying the map. “From my analysis, it should be right her
ZADOK “She’s right, you stubborn human! Are you trying to kill yourself?” My wolf, Kir, said in my head. I mentally rolled my eyes at his ridiculousness. “Stay out of this, Kir. I have no time for your side talks.” I replied to him through my mind, and he snickered. Rude. “I don’t know, okay?!” Ithra threw her hands in the air. “All I know is that I am cold, and you are in no position to get us through this Valley.” “Why don’t you let me be the judge of that?” I asked, tired of the arguments. “We don’t have time to waste. Let’s get going.” I walked through the snow and felt my bones shake from their marrow. I clenched my teeth, feeling partially numb in my feet. Shit. The map depicts the journey through the Cold Valley as a short one. I’d heard a lot of people died in this particular valley, and for a while, I wondered why and what monster lived in this part of the forest to warrant such a high death rate. There was no monster at all. The monster that killed many travellers
ZADOK I felt my body weaken, and I felt at the brink of death. “What are you doing?” I asked Kir, panicking within me. “Since you have refused to submit to me, I will show you how weak you are without my help.” My body felt like chards of ice were pricking my skin. It felt like the cold increased - so much that I fell to my knees. My legs couldn’t carry me anymore. “What is wrong with you?!” I heard Ithra’s panicked voice from afar off. I could barely keep my eyes open. My insides were freezing, and every single organ was failing. It felt like I was in a cold room. Every single fluid in my body was dried, dead. My heartbeat slowed, and I could taste death. “Can you see how weak you are against me?” Kir asked. I heard the anger in his tone. I didn’t answer. I didn’t speak. It hurt too much. Was this what Ithra was going through all this while? How was she surviving? “Remember this the next time you choose to disregard me,” He growled. “You are as weak as a human without
ZADOKThe ride with Ithra was joyous and filled with hearty laughter. Despite being relegated to the back of the fun, I derived joy seeing her lay freely in Kir’s fur as he took us through the cold Valley. At some point, I felt stupid for not allowing Kir to take the reins earlier. He was more suited to take us through the Cold Valley than I will ever be. “I see you are getting wiser, human.” Kir’s voice intruded my thoughts, and I tried not to be offended. “I didn’t realise you were paying attention.” I said bitterly, “Last I checked, you shut me off without a care.” “Jealous?”I near damned coughed blood at the audacity of this wolf. “Jealous?!” I said incredulously, “What in the world am I supposed to be jealous about, Kir?” “Me.” He said it so casually that I felt like smacking his head. “We are the same person, so it’s not feasible,” I said before Kir, feeling a sense of accomplishment afterwards. “Good to know you’re learning.” He said, and once again, put up the mental
ZADOKThe ghoul threshed till it was a few feet away from me. Ithra’s face was red from holding her breath for so long. I couldn’t describe how I felt the more it came close to me with its deathly cold aura. Just when I thought it was all over, the other ghoul exclaimed. “I hear it! It certainly came from this way.” It said, sniffing the air. “It’s a bear!”The ghoul stood away from me and said, “Who cares about a bear when you can find something more profitable.” It sneered, “I’m close to finding what it is. I can feel it right underneath my nose.” My heart seized at its comment because we were right under his nose. “If you are not interested in partnering with me, just say so. Enough of your stupid acts. Are you trying to get on my nerves?” The other one said, sounding offended. I heard a tired sigh, “But I feel there is something here. Please give me a few minutes before we go after the bear?” It asked, shocking me with the sincerity in its tone. “I will not give up another k
ITHRAI couldn’t believe my eyes. Golden coins, sparkling jewels, mirrors, and other priced artefacts simmered in their millions. A hidden treasure cave! “Calm down,” Zadok said, “Remember, we don’t touch anything.” He swallowed, “We will be fine if we don’t touch anything.” He repeated, but my jaws were on the floor, and I didn’t think they were coming up soon. “How did this get here?” I asked the question that plagued my mind. “Just how many years has it been hidden here?” “I don’t know. Perhaps a thousand years?” He suggested, sounding perplexed. “Who knew there was something good in this forest? No wonder people risked their lives to come here.” Zadok took a step forward, and I followed him. “I don’t think there are any records of this place in the dark forest. There would be more people seeking to try their luck at wealth assuming there was such information.” I stopped by a treasure chest sitting on a rock, “It feels so unreal.” I said, eyeing the glittering contents. “Wha
ZADOKI watched in horror as the dragon took Ithra farther and farther away from me. “Wait! Please! Don’t kill her!” I screamed with all my might. Praying that the dragon heard and reconsidered its decision - All to no avail. Instead, the dragon took her up to the roof of the cave and threw her into what seemed like a reef at the top of the rocks. “Not yet.” I heard the cackle of the dragon. “Sometimes, it gets lonely over here. I mean, it’s once in a thousand years before I can meet visitors in the dark forest.” he snickered, “And that’s not because there haven’t been a lot of them, but because they weren’t lucky enough to get here.” The dragon descended and sat proudly on the mountain of treasures. “So you can imagine my surprise when I saw two suspecting individuals threading my territory with every plan of crossing over without saying hi.” “Let her go,” I growled, not in the mood for his story time. The dragon hissed, “I’ll be careful if I were you. Because even if you haven’