My heart goes into overdrive. I'm deathly afraid of him, too. Because I've felt physical pain. I've hacked at my own ankle and felt a stab wound. But none of those compare to emotional wounds. And Killian left a large one of those across my heart. And yet, the feel of his hand on mine, the way he looks at me...

I take a step back from him. His hand drops away, the cold engulfing me. I force a smile.

"Good," I say, clearing my throat awkwardly. "You should be scared of me."

He watches me closely, eyes dark and serious. A beat of silence passes between us, then another.

Clearing my throat, I gesture over my shoulder. "I should check on Casimir."

He doesn't say anything, simply nods, and turns back around. I shake my head and force myself to move away, trying and failing to shove Killian from my thoughts. The farther I walk, the more frustration rages through my body. I wish more than anything that I could read his mind, hear his true thoughts. Because since the day I met him, Killian was a master manipulator.

I won't allow myself to fall for a trap again. I can't. Because if these are our final days, I can't afford to spend them thinking of somebody who I'm not entirely sure will think of me.

***

The first sight of Torinne arrives as Aren predicted, by mid-afternoon. It looms in the distance, a mound of land undulating for miles across the line of the horizon. The sky, brightened by the mid-afternoon sun, shines a deep blue, not a cloud in sight.

This eases the anxiety in my stomach as we sail closer, even though I know it shouldn't. The cloud has nothing to do with the weather and everything to do with something we can't predict.

It could pass through at any moment, only the immediate shifting of the weather an urgent clue. Unpredictable and unforgiving. A chill crawls down my spine.

When Torinne first appeared on the horizon line, Casimir and I had been the only ones above board to witness it. But slowly, as the shape grew bigger, the crew filtered up the stairs and onto the deck, staring out wordlessly at the country. I wonder how many of them are seeing Torinne for the first time.

It takes less than thirty minutes for the land mass to turn into something more concrete. I can't take my eyes off it. In comparison to the coast of Elel, Torinne has no flattened land that I can see. Only rolling hills that tower high into the sky.

Juem appears beside us at the wooden railing. I drag my eyes from Torinne to glance sideways at him, examining his expression. A conflict of emotions rise to his face. Fear, relief, pain--I can't quite pull them apart. Behind him, Lei and Killian stand on the bow of the ship, backs to me and eyes cast towards the land ahead.

"This is Torinne?" Casimir asks from the other side of me.

"This is Torinne." Juem's tone is as even as I've heard it, his lips pulling into a tight line. He raises a finger, pointing towards the mouth of opening inland. It appears to blend into land right around the corner, blocked by the hill. "Right there, that's Catel fjord."

"What is a fjord?" I ask.

"A long and narrow body of water that leads far inland."

Casimir's eyes glaze over the opening. "Like a river?" He sounds doubtful.

Juem shakes his head. "A river is shallow and freshwater. A fjord is deep, part of the ocean, surrounded by cliffs. The Catol fjord was particularly famous across all of Torinne for its rugged beauty, but now..." he trails off. "Now it sits alone, nobody to gaze upon its beauty."

A shadow passes across his face, the sail of the ship momentarily blocking the sun. I direct my gaze back to Torinne as the opening grows wider. What appeared to be small before presents as a gaping hole now. The boat enters its mouth.

The crew watches as we do, standing against the railing, a mixture of awe and trepidation on their faces. Only the gentle flapping of the sail and the rippling of the water breaks the silence. And my awe only surges as the cliffs close in around us, the fjord opening to a winding pathway.

The water glistens a sparkling deep blue beneath the descending sun, signalling its great depth. Mountains stand guard either side of the water, clothed richly in emerald green. My great feelings of insgnificance cannot be ignored as we sail further into its depths. So small in comparison, the hills stand stoically.

It's hard to believe a place that could look so beautiful could be so deadly.

Casimir slips his hand in mine and squeezes. I gaze upon his face at the golden light reflected in his bright eyes. The tips of his hair burn in the sun.

"Whatever happens," he says, voice low, "we stay together. Promise me, Freya."

"I promise."

And I mean it. Despite its beauty, there's something about the fjord that makes the reality of our mission considerably more bleak. We are mere bodies in this expanse of land, victims to its curse. I'm not letting Casimir out of my sight just as he intends to keep me in his.

Minutes turn to hours as we travel further inland, stuck to our spots, gazing upon the mountainous valley. I can hardly believe it's been more than a couple of minutes when Lei ushers us below deck. She shoves a pile of clothes at my chest.

"Change and get ready," she says to both Casimir and me. "We'll reach jobert cove in less than a half hour. We have no time to waste waiting around."

I take the clothes from her eagerly and head below deck, the pit in my stomach growing deeper than the ocean beneath me.

***

Jobert cove stands as the first signal that the terrain is flattening. A small, sandy bay rests in a half moon shape curved into the conjoining of two hills coming together. Stretching out into the water, a wooden pier welcomes us in, similar to the pier stationed on the water in Portson, only this pier stands entirely alone.

I try not to let the stillness shake me as Aron shouts orders at the crew, a couple jumping overboard onto the pier to dock the ship. Lei and Killian stand at the hull of the ship, both the image of dangerous elegance in their all-black, well-fitting clothing. Juem stands an inch behind, just ahead of Casimir and I, his healer back slung over his right shoulder. I don't know him well enough to tell how he feels from his stance, or his expression.

I try not to let the fear seep into my own as I readjust my bag on my shoulders, tugging at the ill-fitting clothing Lei managed to find for me below deck. It's miles better than the ragged dress I'd been left with from our mission in Portson.

The boat lulls to a stop, Aren jumping from the railing to turn towards us, nodding his head.

"This is where we part," he says. "Remember, if you ain't here when I return--"

"You won't wait," Lei finishes. "We'll be here."

I wish I could feel the confidence in her voice.

"Thank you, Aren," Killian says, stepping over the railing and onto the pier.

When it's my turn to cross, I take the hand Juem offers me, clambering over the railing and trying not to think about the depth of the ocean below. As soon as my feet land on the pier, the steadiness hits me. The absence of the slight rock of the boat disorientates me for a moment.

As soon as Casimir has both feet planted on the pier, the crew jump back overboard and push themselves from the pier, the boat swinging around at a slow pace. Aren stands atop the deck, his hand raised to block his eyes from the setting sun as he grows farther and farther in the distance.

Casimir nudges my arm. I turn to look at him. Over his shoulder, Lei, Casimir and Killian have already started the path along the pier to the beach. I take a shaky breath and follow.

It takes an entire five minutes of walking to reach the beach, the sand a welcome reprieve from the wood. Lei and Killian wait for us on the sand, talking in hushed voices. When we get closer, they stop talking, Lei nodding her head forward.

"Remnants of the village should be less than two miles inland. We should stop at the first sign of shelter to make a plan and find resources before travelling during the night."

I glance to the sky, the sun has started its descent, dipping behind the towering mountains of the fjord. We start our walk through the dip in the hills inland.

We walk for about 40 minutes before the veins of the village become apparent. Small paths are carved from the land, leading towards a wooden building sitting alone in the forest. Lei kicks the door down. It's a simple fishing cabin, nets and poles attached to the wall.

Spider webs line the roof and corners. I try to ignore them as Lei spreads her map across the table we all crowd around. Killian pulls Myers' map from his bag and places it beside, even though it's blank to most of them.

"We're here right now," Lei says, pointing to a spot just before the cluster of villages on the map.

"Where's the nearest stream?" Casimir asks.

"There are streams all throughout Torinne," Juem says. "Water should not be a concern."

"That should be our first priority, water."

"Our first priority is shelter," Killian says. "Everything you know about survival from being a deserter doesn't sit in the same hierarchy here. If we don't have shelter when the cloud hits, then food, water, warmth--none of that matters."

Casimir nods, slowly understanding. I don't blame him. Water would've been my first thought, too.

"So if we're sheltered when the cloud passes through, it can't hurt us?" I ask.

"It reduces the threat, but does not eliminate it completely," Killian says. "Some claim they still hear the voices in the cloud, feel its call, even when sheltered. But somehow, the barrier between them helps in remembering that that's all the voices are--a hallucination."

"We can look for a carriage," I suggest. "There must be some abandoned in the village. If we manage to get horses like we planned, they can transport it."

"A carriage won't easily make our journey. Maybe some of the way, but definitely not when we reach the foot of the mountains."

"Tents?" Casimir asks. "Or even old fabric, something that can be pitched as a shelter. Easy to carry."

"That's probably our best bet," Juem says.

"We can look for those," I say, nudging Casimir's arm. "In the village."

"Lei, go with them in case they get lost," Killian says. She nods. "Juem and I will try to round up some horses from the fields. We'll meet back here in an hour. And remember, if you see an infected--"

"Don't let it see you," Lei finishes for him.

"And if it sees us?" Casimir asks. "Run? Don't run?"

"Run," Killian says. "Definitely run."

The pit in my stomach grows as we rise to our feet, heading out of the small shack. Killian grabs my upper arm on the way out. "Don't go into any of the cabins before Lei or Casimir scope them out," he says. "The infected don't like a lot of exposure to daylight. They will hide in dark places when the sun is out. If I were infected, a village is the first place I'd go for shelter during the day."

I gulp, nodding. "Okay.

"See you in an hour," he says. "Not a minute later."

"An hour."

He releases my arm, nods, and turns around. I move towards Casimir.

"Ready?" he asks.

I hike my backpack further on my shoulder. No. "Let's go."

And following Lei, we head deeper along the path and away from the shelter and pray to whoever is out there that we don't encounter the cloud in our short journey.