Page 174 of The Heart of Winter

No hesitation, he untied my pants and jacket from the makeshift rope and put them back on me. Then he wrapped me in blankets.

It was incredible to have someone else handling things for once, someone else putting in the effort.

A second later, he reached into his makeshift pack.

"Open your mouth, Winter. I fell off that damn cliff for these eggs. A few broke, but some are still intact. They’d better be worth it."

I opened my mouth.

And Sariel poured life into me.

That was the only way to describe it.

Life.

First, he fed me two eggs, one after the other. Then he opened a clam and gave me the meat. After that, he handed me some kind of crushed root, I had no idea what it was.

"I have more," he said, "but you shouldn’t eat too much all at once. Your stomach’s probably shrunk, you’ll be in agony. I know because I went through it all night. I gorged on clams and eggs, and it was hell. The only thing that helped even a little was this, cattail root."

I just listened, lying in his arms now, staring up at his face. His delicate blue freckles stood out against his skin, lit by the sunlight behind him.

He almost looked like an angel.

"You came back for me, Winter. You saved me!" His voice was thick with emotion. "I don’t even know how you managed to get here, how you dragged yourself up that cliff in your condition, but you’re the strongest person I’ve ever met. By far! I’m not kidding when I say you’re my hero, Winter."

"It wasn’t me," I whispered. "It was my heart. It had to see you again, no matter how, no matter where."

Silence settled over us.

Then, I saw them, two clear crystal tears slipping from Sariel’s eyes, falling onto my cheeks.

"I’m so-so-so… happy you came," he murmured. "And on top of that, Winter, we’re saved! There’s so much food here, these lakes are brimming with clams, shrimp, even fish! And there are eggs! There’s enough to last us for weeks!"

He kept rambling, but I only half-heard him. Finally, I let out a quiet laugh. The food in my stomach… I could feel it there. Like some foreign object that didn’t belong. My insides twisted around it. Even though it wasn’t much, it felt like I had swallowed stones.

Sariel watched me closely.

"My God, you’re so thin, Winter…" His voice was tight. "But we’ll fix that soon. We’ll get back to how we used to be. This volcano… it might be a curse, but in a way, it’s also a blessing." He looked around. "It brought life to this valley."

"My stomach," I groaned, pressing a hand to my belly. "It’s… a shock."

"I know. But trust me, it won’t be that bad. I ate way more than you, and I spent the whole night dealing with bloating and nausea. But weirdly… it probably saved me. It kept me awake. If I’d fallen asleep, I might’ve slipped off the ledge entirely. So… I guess it worked out for the best."

I let out a tired murmur. "What now?" I had no desire to leave his arms.

Sariel looked around.

"To be honest… I don’t have a solid plan yet." He exhaled. "I was kind of hoping you’d figure it out, you’re good at that. There’s plenty of food here, but no caves to shelter in."

I turned my face toward the valley with effort.

"I say we stay here until nightfall," I suggested. "Once we regain some strength, we’ll head back to the cave. If the food gives us even a little energy, we should be able to make it in about an hour and a half. We’ll take enough supplies to last two days, and once we’re stronger, we’ll come back for more."

Sariel’s face lit up. "That’s a great plan, Winter."

He grinned wide, then leaned in and pressed the softest kisses to my cheek.

I could get used to this. Maybe… I could even like it.

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