Page 170 of The Heart of Winter

By the time I reached the next beach, at least another half hour had passed. I drank two-thirds of my water bottle, hoping it would give me some energy, but of course, it didn’t. At this point, it just flowed through me like air, leaving no trace behind.

But then, one thing gave me a shred of hope.

Footprints in the sand reappeared. Human footprints.

They had to be Sariel’s.

Head down, I followed them step by step, placing my feet in the depressions he had left behind.

Funny… It was almost as if we were connected somehow.

I tried to smile at the thought, but my face felt like a mask, conserving energy.

And then another realization began creeping into my mind. Sariel hadn’t come back. So something must have happened.

Was I walking toward his body? The thought struck me like a whip, I shuddered and froze in place.

Should I keep going? To find his lifeless body, whatever had happened to him? Maybe he had tried to wade into the water for a large clam, slipped, and been taken by the waves. Or maybe he tripped, broke his leg, and froze to death. Then a thought crossed my mind, if I found him, I would lie down beside him and die there too. We would die together. I would just fall asleep next to his body.

With that decision made, I pressed forward, a part of my mind instructing me not to dwell on grim scenarios, not to weaken my resolve. Because I couldn’t stop.

And my heart, beating faintly but still beating, kept trying, step by step, step by step, just one more, then twenty more, then forty more…

I passed the second cove, staggering as I neared the third. Walking was no longer just walking, it felt like moving through a foggy trance.

I imagined I was playing a video game, controlling a tiny skeletal figure as it trudged across an empty beach. I called it ‘Rescue Mission’. I set waypoints—first one rock, then another a little farther, then another step, then another.

The little figure kept moving, but its energy bar was steadily draining. I knew it was only a matter of time before the game logged me out. Except this time, there were no respawn points.

At last, the little figure reached a pile of gravel separating it from the third cove. Its gaze drifted over the unfamiliar landscape, staring blankly.

And then the game froze.

Because I saw something. Something strange. Immediately, my mind snapped back into awareness.

In front of me was a shallow coastal lagoon, likely fed by the tide from time to time, but mainly created by a small stream flowing down into the valley.

The footprints in the sand were unmistakable: Sariel had been here.

I followed them, but as the sand gave way to gravel and then to a stretch of grass, the tracks became harder to trace. I halted, scanning my surroundings again.

The valley seemed to create a kind of microclimate, warmed by the presence of multiple thermal pools. The volcanic nature of the island shaped its environment in fascinating ways.

I might have taken more time to reflect on the uniqueness of this place, if not for the one thought consuming me: finding Minty.

Could something have happened to him here? The pools were shallow. And as far as I knew, Sariel could swim.

The valley sloped gently upward, enclosed by grassy hills. I kept looking around. There wasn’t much snow, just a few patches higher up the slopes. Interesting.

Aside from one cliff to my left, there weren’t any obvious dangers.

My gaze slowly swept across it. It was about eighty feet tall, accessible from a sloping hillside that merged into its rock face.

And then, my eyes caught something.

Something gray.

Huddled.

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