Chapter 15

We waited until dawn before we finally put out the fire and prepared to leave. We had managed to remain fairly dry thanks to its heat; that and the lack of new snowfall had allowed the fire to melt several feet of snow around us, providing a not-too soggy space to camp, albeit a tiny one. It helped as well that the temperature wasn’t too low, and I would have insisted that we head back before nightfall if that were the case, especially if we’d managed to bring down the elk.

As it was, we were both pretty hungry.

“I’m sorry I messed it up” Cillium said for the ninth time as we prepared to leave. “Next time I’ll rem… um, REMEMBER, to…”

He lapsed into a stream of incoherent muttering until I swatted him playfully on the head. One would think he was plotting how to cross an ocean without touching the water; it still didn’t feel right, somehow, tha