CHAPTER 296: NO TIME TO DWELL

Survival wouldn’t be possible if she continued to dwell on what she was beginning to deem a life-or-death situation. Yet, as her search for shelter began to drag later and later into the day, she couldn’t help an occasional, nervous glance towards the east where she had just come from. Ever since that morning, her heart hadn’t been calm.

Had she really been so close to dying and killing Sammy as well? What would have happened then? Her father would eventually come to find her, as would the Knights of Chemois. She couldn’t help dwelling on the fact that her mistake of overlooking the village she was in led to those she cared for most dying.

She tried to shake off those thoughts. It didn’t happen, so she should simply move on so that she and her loyal steed could both have someplace comfortable to rest during the night when it got too cold.

Since the village’s buildings were fixed in a pattern of circles with a larger building in the center—a detail she should have noticed the previous village lacked—she began to travel from the outside to the middle.

Her path of travel wasn’t because she was searching for any building that would open. Rather, she was clearing off each door to find the symbols that indicated the Litharion clan. No matter what, she told herself she would open that door. Her father had been there in more recent years, and they would hopefully be in decent shape compared to the others that wouldn’t budge before.

At least, that’s what she convinced herself of so she could keep moving forward with purpose.

The village map was in worse shape than the others in terms of the markers that would indicate the specifics of the house. There was an arrow that indicated the correct one, but it pointed to a group more than it pointed to a single house.

Irene had a feeling that this was due to her family owning a few homes rather than one. Her father told her that she would know the one that was her grandmother’s because all the artifacts she used as a Volna filled the space much like the place she lived in right now.

Only a couple more times did Irene glance towards the horizon, making sure she didn’t see the wyrm following her. That was as long as it took to find a door that said what she knew to be Litharion.

That was when she realized the significance of the situation. She was able to appreciate her surroundings a bit more. It occurred to her that the very places she was walking were places her father and uncle once roamed. Even if their memories of them were very little, the fact that they came from that very place was so significant.

How strange it was to be part of a group of warriors, slightly misplaced, who traveled even further south to save themselves. Her grandmother told her that those who thought they could face the monsters became human sacrifices if they weren’t able to run off somewhere else.

More dwelling on the past, Irene realized.

The first building marked with Litharion was disappointingly empty when she finally pushed through the door. All that remained inside were the remnants of a bed and the hearth that stood at the center of every building she had come across that far north.

She painted a picture in her mind of who might have been there at one point. She imagined specific decorations she had seen in her grandmother’s place. The art from the north was less refined and more wild than that there was in the south. Considering most of the artwork she experienced in the Duke’s Tower was important from even further south than that, she knew that it lacked Sunstoian influence entirely.

Her search continued, hoping to find something more useful. If she had no other choice, she could return to that first one, but she was hoping there would be another, more furnished and interesting to search through. Once she closed herself in for the night, she didn’t want to venture too much further unless it was absolutely necessary.

There were only a couple of houses left in the area, and Irene was getting closer and closer to giving up and turning around for the first one she went inside of. They all had much of the same result and had been entirely cleared out in one way or another.

Since her family couldn’t take their items with them, she had to imagine the reason for them being so empty was because they had been looted either by people from the surrounding villages or travelers over time.

Irene used her shoulder to force the thick, wooden door open and nearly fell when it gave way easier than she was expecting.

There were no windows in this building and she had to squint to adjust her eyes going from the stark whiteness of the plains around her to the dark building.

"One minute," she told Sammy as she ducked into the house. As usual, her sword was ready as she wandered into an unknown space, but, also as usual, there was no need.

She had to duck inside because the snow was piled high enough that she was having to step down to get inside of the building despite it being probably a foot higher than the very lowest point of the ground. It showed her just how high the snow had gotten in this area.

A smile spread across Irene’s face. It was just as her father said when he warned her that there would be recegnizable artifacts all around. Not only that, but the wall hangings and books stacked high on shelves contained her grandmother’s surprisingly careful handwriting. She was rough in all aspects other than her writing.

At this, Irene finally felt settled and she went for Sammy so she could pull him into the building and put him in the pen along the back wall. Just as what could be expected from her family, they made sure to take care of their animals during the cold winter months.

She found it somewhat funny that, when some of the villages she experienced throughout the duchy brought animals inside for winter, she thought it was strange. Yet there were her people doing the exact same thing

Just like the township she experienced, there was another entrance for the horse’s pen, but she knew that it was going to be a nightmare to dig it out like she had the front door. All she could do was hope that Sammy remained calm and walked the straight path that led to the back.

One he was inside of the wooden pen, Irene was able to relax a bit more. Her body slumepd and she heaved a sigh of relief.

For only a moment, she was allowed pause as she motivated herself for the next step of the journey.

With saddlebags as well as saddle off of the horse, she was ready to start the fire and warm up. It was the best part of her nights when she was allowed to stay inside.

No matter how deep her lees were or how good she had dug a hole to sleep for the night, it was never going to be as warm as being indoors.

At minimum, the fire was started and things were going to start heating up. The snow she had gathered in a pot before coming inside would takea a while to thaw down so she could place a bit of jerky inside of it and hope the broth got the salty flavor.

At this rate, she had nearly the same meals every day but they were extremely easy, so she didn’t mind it.

"We’re going to have to hunt tomorrow," she mentioned to Sammy. "Or you’ll stay here so that the grouse aren’t scared away."

He didn’t care what she was saying at that moment because he was focused on the food that had been laid out for him.

While she waited for the water to boil, she went towards the lined shelves and couldn’t help looking through each item with great care. It was so very interesting to see her grandmother’s handwriting all over eerything.

A book caught her interest and she reached for it first. "Marriage" was all it said in Sunstoian. She cracked open the book immediately, wondering if there was anything she could possibly apply to herself.

It wasn’t that she found it impossible to ever picture herself marrying, but they would have to be someone explempary because she hadn’t met someone she found worth more than a glance. Perhaps the book would give her insight into thoughts she kept having. Was she a lost cause or otherwise?

As she always did when she read Sunstoian, the words fell from her lips slowly and out loud. Since it wasn’t the most straight forward language she could master, she thought that this was the best method.

To her horror, she saw that it said something about how all Sunstoian marriages needed to have proof of a girl losing her virginity by having a group of men close to the family observing the sealing of their vows.

On the other hand, to Irene’s relief, her grandmother had made a note that this shouldn’t be an upheld standard. She talked about how archaic the practice was.

It caused a sad smile to appear on the girl’s face. She missed her grandmother. It felt like she needed to get out of there quickly to ensure she would ever see her again.

This book was just the beginning of things she was there to retrieve in the north. She also had a grave she wanted to pay a visit to.