2787 Cold Wind
“Die you, fucking bastards!” the two Grimms shouted and brought down their lance and mace down at us as we collapsed on the ground.
Seeing that, a smile couldn’t help but appear on my face; the giant bastards hadn’t noticed we had reached the safe zone. It is good; this will give them little punishment for the chase they have given us.
BANG BANG!
Their weapons came down and clashed against the invisible forcefield of the same zone, and feeling that, their eyes went wide with fear, but now there was no time to regret.
‘AHHHHHHH…’
Both of the Grimms let out a scream as they flew back from their places, with the blood coming out of their mouths and ears and eyes as they crashed down.
“You will pay it, humans,” said the Bullman, who did not attack and walked toward its friends while we just smiled and walked toward the fountain that we could now see.
“You are really good, Micheal. We have been able to reach the second mid-point before even the sun has gone down,” she said as she looked at the sun above, which had started to go down but would take another half an hour to reach to go completely down.
By the time we reached the fountain, the sun had completely gone down; people had arrived, mostly Grimms, setting up a camp and market.
I left Rachel in the market and went to set up a camp; it took me a few minutes with yesterday’s practice. I wish this safe zone would let us use the abode; it would have made so many things easier, but it is not, and now I have to do everything by hand.
After setting up the camp, I took out the small stow and cooked; there was not much skill involved in it. I put the thing in the required water, and it will cook itself in a few minutes.
I had just turned off the stow when Rachel had returned, “You have returned early,” I said before I noticed the thing above her head, “and not empty-handed,” I added, looking goggles above her head.
“These will help me aim better,” she informed, and I couldn’t help but feel happy for her. She already had a good aim, and with these goggles, it will become even greater.
She did not tell me much and nor did I ask her; we quickly ate, and like yesterday, I took the first turn to sleep. We have arrived quickly today and want to reach the next point even sooner. So, we are going to sleep as much as we slept yesterday and leave early as possible.
Which will help us not only cover more distance but will also save us from most of the Grimms.
“Micheal,”
Rachel woke me up four hours later; I opened my eyes and got up, only to notice something new on her feet. “I had to exchange two weapons with the Grimms for it,” she informed, and I could see she was looking for my reaction.
“You have got yourself a very good deal,” I said with a smile; I have those shoes myself and know how useful they are. While they might seem like that much useful to the archer, they are more useful than dead weapons we are carrying on our backs.
She slept while I kept the watch, and unlike yesterday, I saw no thief coming to steal our stuff, which is a relief as there is always a chance of them succeeding, and these energy artifacts are too precious for us to lose; it could be said our life depends on them.
“Rachel, wake up,” I said softly, and a few seconds later, she woke up.
Within five minutes, we are completely packed and now filling our water storage at the fountain. As we finished with that, we began to walk out of the safe zone on a dark, cold night.
Today, there was no moon, and the temperature was lower than yesterday, but with our clothes, we were able to bear it.
“Will you be able to find a way?” she asked softly as we walked out of the camp, “Don’t worry, the dark will not hinder us,” I replied; there was so much dark that we could not see more than few meters ahead of us, but that did not matter with my clones aid, we will always be on the right track.
We are the earliest in the whole camp to leave before any human or Grimm and have about three hours before the dawn comes.
While the Grimms have flashlights, I don’t think even they will leave such early on this dark night. Even with the flashlight, there is a big chance that they will lose the way. This dessert is quite confusing to travel at night, especially when one doesn’t have a magical aid like my clone.
An hour passed when things became slightly difficult; the wind began to blow. The small wind was manageable, but when it turned to a gale, things became difficult.
“Fuck, this cold!” cursed Rachel with her teeth chattering; she was not the only one feeling me too. It was very cold from the beginning, but the wind has made it worse, and now it feels like hundreds of icy needles clashing against my skin.
It was hard to even when we had completely covered ourselves from head to two, wearing gloves, shoes, and insulated clothes. We have even covered our faces with the ingenious cloth mask, leaving only our eyes open, and despite all that, the cold is still unbearable.
In the next hour, the wind became even harder, and I wanted to stop and set up a camp, but we did not; we continued moving through the cold wind.
Those who have started behind us might set up a camp, especially the Grimms, whose big bodies will be hit hard by the wind, as not all of them have fur to protect against such hard wind. Some Grimms will have an especially hard time against this wind, more than us little humans.
More than an hour passed, and the wind finally began to slow down; by the time it had completely calmed down, the first rays of dawn had appeared.
“Dawn finally,” whispered Racheal; it is still quite cold, and our teeth are chattering, but there is a smile on my face.
“Let’s pick up the pace; we will have about three hours before the sun becomes baking,” I said, and we began to walk fast. Every minute, the temperature would rise before finally, an hour later, the cold had finally disappeared, and the heat began to take over.
“This is quite comfortable that I want to strip naked and bath in it,” said Rachel, looking at me with eyes that made me slightly uncomfortable.
“It is only going to last for a few minutes before it turns uncomfortable,” I said while looking aside. “Good things do not last forever,” she said softly under her breath.
The next few hours were quite uncomfortable; for some reason, when the sudden attack from the Grimm came an hour later, I felt quite grateful for it.