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𝐀 𝐂𝐎𝐋𝐃 𝐆𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐃 𝐒𝐖𝐈𝐑𝐋𝐄𝐃 through the opening as Caspian, Edmund and Peter pushed the massive rock away. The layer of snow reached almost till their heads but it collapsed without the support and the snow tumbled into the How like a small yet fierce avalanche.

Edmund jumped aside to avoid the freezing wave, abandoning his spot by the rock and nearly colliding with Peter as he did so.

The High King smiled in amusement but still grabbed his brother's wrist to pull him further into safety as the snow skimmed with only a few inches distance rapidly past his heels.

The others fled to the sides of the cave as well and when the snow slid to a halt, Darkan walked a few steps through it and stared up the slanted path leading outside.

The sun had disappeared below the horizon and in the deep purple sky, hundreds of tiny stars twinkled as the moon lit up the snow in a silver glow. At the other edge of the meadow, the branches of the trees moved gently in the wind and though it all looked peaceful, it was going to be quite the challenge to get the horses out of the How.

'Are we sure we want to do this right now?' Noelle asked Caspian when they had both made their way over to Darkan and had followed his gaze up the path.

'Maybe it would be best to wait till tomorrow morning?' she continued, but Caspian shook his head.

'I don't want to lose any more time,' he said. 'We could reach Cair Paravel by morning, and who knows what the weather will do in a few hours.'

Darkan felt the exhaustion of not getting enough sleep last night tugging at the edge of his mind, but he still grinned excitedly and sprinted towards his horse Sunfire. The dappled grey stallion whinnied softly and Darkan stroked his velvety muzzle before leading him by the reins to the opening.

'I'll go first,' Darkan volunteered, shaking some dark hairs out of his face before making his way towards the top of the path.

The snow reached till over his knees and engulfed around the horse's legs. Soothing words left his lips as Darkan encouraged Sunfire to follow him and occasionally he had to use his body weight to push the stallion by his flank further up the path.

After a few struggling minutes, they had reached the snow-covered meadow and the chests of both man and animal heaved after the effort.

'Not a problem,' Darkan said with a loud voice after he had caught his breath. The sound of his voice carried far through the still air and he tried to push his nerves away as he felt too exposed here without the shelter of the walls.

Caolán and his horse were next to come out of the How and Darkan helped with the last few meters when the horse threatened to slip all the way back.

The man made path through the snow became deeper, better and more solid every time someone reached the other end, until the last ones could practically run upwards.

The group set course towards the tree line, still leading the horses by the reins since they had no idea what rubble could be hidden below the knee-deep snow.

The storm had ripped several trees out of the ground and they lay scattered across the meadow, almost fully covered in heaps of snow while the branches pointed in crooked directions like broken bones.

'I'm really glad we did not get stuck in the middle of the snow storm,' Ella said with a small voice while her brown eyes traveled over the damaged and fallen tree next to her. She took a deep breath to drive back the ominous thoughts that swam through her mind, and focussed on Elodie ─ walking at her other side ─ instead.

'So,' Ella began, and not even the descending darkness around them could cover the cheeky smile decorating her face.

Elodie turned her attention away from Peter who walked several feet ahead, and she gave Ella a curious look.

'Please tell me,' Ella continued, 'that dreamy glow in your eyes means you and Peter kissed when the two of you were skipping around through the How.'

Elodie almost lost her footing and sought support by her horse's neck before she could trip and fall.

'W─what?' she stuttered, and her eyes widened when Mina sprinted towards them, her half long hair bouncing excitedly around her shoulders. She had caught only a few keywords, but those were enough for her to jump to conclusions.

'Wait for me,' Mina shrieked as she spurted through the knee-deep snow by pulling up her legs almost till her stomach. 'I want to hear the details too! You kissed?!'

'No, we didn't,' Elodie said quickly, her gaze shooting anxiously over their surroundings, but no one else had noticed the commotion between the three of them.

Ella prolonged an exasperated sigh. 'Why not?' she asked while they finally reached the tree line, and the group set course towards the frozen Fords of Beruna.

Ella pushed some low hanging branches away, not realizing in time the movement would cause a shift in the snowfall on it. The snow rained down on her and this time, her sigh sounded sincere.

'Eh, maybe because we barely know each other?' Elodie answered, stepping over a protruding root since the layer of snow wasn't as deep under the foliage as in the meadow.

Mina shook her head in disbelief. 'That is just a tiny detail. You can't deny the chemistry between the two of you, El. You should have grabbed the opportunity, it would have been the perfect time.'

Elodie blushed, the crimson colour spreading over her cheeks and she stuttered something incoherently before she managed to pronounce whole words again. 'That is rich coming from you, Mina.'

'Excusez-moi?' Mina asked with the only French sentence she remembered from Elodie's many attempts to teach her friend some foreign words.

Elodie smiled. She realized how silly it actually was to talk about boys at a time like this ─ when they were, quite literally, thrown into a strange and otherworldly adventure ─ but it did release the tension.

'Others always called you the braver Hufflepuff,' Elodie explained, 'but I have not seen you make one move yet on Darkan, even though you clearly fancy him.'

Mina faltered in her pace for a moment. 'You hit Bludgers away with a tiny bat as a sport,' she retorted. 'You're as brave as I am. But I see your point. . .' She pulled a thoughtful face. 'Watch and learn, my young apprentice.'

Both Elodie's and Ella's jaws dropped when Mina pressed the reins of her horse in Ella's hand. She picked up her pace again and ran towards Darkan in the distance.

'Is she going to. . ?' Ella wondered, crossing eyes with Elodie who shrugged, too perplexed to say anything.

'Dark! Darkan!' Mina called his name when she had almost reached him. Her voice, though, ended in a sharp breath as one of her leather boots lost its grip and she fell, till her embarrassment, forward.

Darkan saw the flash of her shadow in the corner of his eyes before he could even respond to her calling. His tired mind still reacted in an instinct and he jumped towards her, grabbing her waist to break her fall.

'Careful,' he said with a smirk while he pulled her back onto her feet. 'It's slippery there.'

Mina moved her own hands to his under arms, turning a quarter way around in his grasp until she could fully face him.

'You may not believe me,' she said, slightly looking up to meet his gaze, 'but I kind of noticed that.'

Darkan's smirk grew even wider, but he froze when he realized how small the distance between them was, how his hands still rested on her waist.

The moonlight fell in a speckled pattern on her eyelashes, nose and lips, and whatever sassy comment had been floating through his mind, had now completely disappeared. A shiver rolled down his spine as Mina slowly ran her hands farther upwards until she reached his chest.

'I need your help to prove a point,' she whispered, grabbing some of the fabric of his black clothing and pulling him ever so slightly closer.

'I, eh─,' Darkan said, still feeling speechless as her sparkling eyes shot between his own and his lips.

They inched closer and closer, but both of their heads snapped in the direction of the Fords of Beruna just beyond the trees when Caspian's distressed voice rang through the night sky.

'Oh no. . .'

The moment between Mina and Darkan broke abruptly, and he withdrew his hands, taking a small step back while clearing his throat. Mina avoided looking at him, and though he wanted to say something, anything really, he grabbed Sunfire's reins and jogged towards Caspian instead.

With the first step Darkan set foot on the shore of the Fords, he knew what was wrong.

A minuscule layer of snow covered the pebbles, and whereas they had carefully crossed the frozen river last night, the water now rushed tirelessly between the pointed rocks.

The others gathered on the coastline as well, staring at their undisturbed surroundings as far as their eyes could see. Slowly but surely, they started to understand the underlying horror of it.

The snow storm had been unnatural, strangely local, and ─ they dared to bet ─ meant to keep them trapped in the How for the last few hours. . .

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𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓:

𝑫𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒂𝒏 𝑬𝒗𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒚 @ 𝒎𝒆
𝑵𝒐𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒆 𝑶𝒓𝒄𝒉𝒓𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒃𝒚 Detective_Pevensie
𝑪𝒂𝒐𝒍𝒂𝒏 (𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚) 𝒃𝒚 zukkkas
𝑬𝒍𝒊𝒛𝒂𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒉 𝑹𝒐𝒔𝒃𝒆𝒓𝒈 𝒃𝒚 -MoonlightRose-
𝑬𝒍𝒐𝒅𝒊𝒆 𝑩𝒆𝒍𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒕 𝒃𝒚 @ 𝒎𝒆
𝒂𝒏𝒅
𝑴𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒌𝒔𝒉𝒊 𝑩𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒂𝒍𝒆 𝒃𝒚 RockingGirl06

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