Chapter 28

The wind was blunted to a chill breeze as it seeped between the great trunks of the forest's depths. Torch light glinted off icicles that hung from the leafless branches arching over the procession of cloaked figures. Evergreen boughs bent beneath the weight of snow that nearly glowed as the trail of people marched into the heart of the forest, mistletoe wreathed around their heads.

The first among them, a middle aged woman, beat down the path through the snow with sturdy determination. With each footfall, the trek was that much easier for those that followed, and easier still for those behind them. At the rear, an aging woman holding herself up with a stick was able to follow without difficult save what pain the years and five children had brought to her knees and hips.

Those few creatures still awake during this time watched with curiosity as the humans trekked deeper, leaving behind the comfort and warmth of their homes. Young Riona though coul