When Soren hoisted himself out of the water, he was freezing. His whole body shivered so badly it was almost hard to stand up. He braced himself with one hand on the wall beside him. It was completely dark, and almost completely silent. He took a deep breath and forced himself forward.

He kept one hand on the wall, and one hovering in front of his face, in case the tunnel ceiling dropped suddenly. He just focused on finding Tanden, and putting one foot in front of the other. The boy hadn't said anything about how long the tunnel was, but that didn't matter. Soren was going to keep walking until he found the end.

Walking helped warm him up a bit. After some time, the wall beside him started to feel drier. He hoped that meant he was getting closer to the end. He could have called out. Certainly, his voice would echo down to the end of the tunnel, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He was too afraid of getting nothing but silence in reply.

He had no idea how long he had been walking when he saw a light up ahead. Such a small light he was half afraid that he was imagining it. Could being cold make him see things that weren't really there? He wasn't sure. He also wasn't sure why he felt so tired. He hadn't been walking that long.

Tanden was waiting in front of him, Jale was waiting behind. Soren forced himself to keep moving. One step at a time. It was a good thing Jale was staying with the boy. She was right, they would never find their way out without him. It wouldn't do any good to find Tanden just to get stuck in the huge maze of caves and mineshafts.

The light was getting bigger, so it must have been real. Soren kept walking, but he felt like he couldn't get any closer to it. Like his arms and legs weren't working properly.

Then he tripped over something and didn't quite catch himself in time. With a groan he tried to push himself back up, but it was too hard. Suddenly it seemed like it would be a very good idea to take a quick nap. There was no way he would be able to carry Tanden out of the caves if he was this tired.

He closed his eyes.

When Tanden heard the thud, he decided that the noises he had been hearing must have been real. An animal, maybe? He didn't want to investigate, but the thud had sounded closer than the shuffling he had been quietly listening to. If it was an animal he wanted to know what it was.

He snugly wrapped one of the bags around an axe handle to create a makeshift torch, and held it to the fire so it would light. He shivered as he kicked aside the pile of bags he had been using as blankets, and stiffly got to his feet. He didn't like using his only free hand to hold a torch when there might have been a dangerous animal nearby, but there really wasn't another option.

Cautiously, he started walking down the tunnel. At any moment, he expected the light to catch something furry. Hopefully something small, if he was lucky. As long as it wasn't a bear he could probably handle himself.

Then he started thinking about wolves. With a weapon, maybe he could defend himself against one wolf. But what if it was a whole pack? Why would a wolf be alone down a dark tunnel? For possibly the first time in his life, Tanden regretted not carrying around a sword.

When the light finally outlined a shape in the darkness, it was decidedly less furry than a bear or wolf. The torch nearly slipped from his hands.

Tanden threw himself to his knees beside Soren. His skin was pale and his lips were almost blue. His tunic clung to his chest wetly, and his hair was plastered to his forehead. Tanden carefully put the torch down and lay his hand on Soren's cold cheek. If it hadn't been for the gentle rising and falling of Soren's chest, Tanden might have thought he was dead.

"Soren? What are you doing here?" He brushed Soren's hair away from his eyes and leaned down to kiss his forehead, then his lips. "Soren. Wake up, mate."

Soren blinked and mumbled something.

Relief flooded through Tanden and he gave Soren another quick kiss. "What are you doing? How did you get here?"

"'m rescuin' you."

"Are you? Looks more like you're freezing to death. Here, mate, get up." Tanden grabbed Soren's hand and struggled to pull him to his feet. Soren moved sluggishly, but eventually he got onto his knees and then shakily onto his feet. "There you go. We'll warm up by my fire." Tanden leaned down to pick up the torch. When he stood back up, he saw that Soren's gaze had locked onto his loose sleeve. "Oh, my arm's fine. Strapped it up under my jacket. Something wrong with my elbow. Come on."

Soren followed him slowly. "We need to go back. Jale's waiting," he muttered drowsily.

Tanden glanced back down the dark tunnel, as if Jale would suddenly be standing there. "Where is she?"

"On the other... the water. The other side. She's with the boy."

"Well, we'll figure that out later. First, you need to warm up."

The air was distinctly warmer when they reached the fire. Tanden helped Soren sit down, and added more planks of wood to the fire. "All right, mate. You've got to take off your clothes."

Soren looked at him blankly. "What? I'm rescuin' you."

"Yes, you are," Tanden agreed. "But your clothes are wet and freezing. Take them off." He started to unbutton his jacket. Taking it off would be chilly, but he knew he would be fine. What was important was getting Soren warm and dry.

After Soren had slowly undressed, Tanden shrugged off his jacket and draped it over Soren's shoulders. He also piled the bags he had been using like blankets around Soren's legs. When Soren was as bundled up as possible, Tanden sat down and added more wood to the fire. He shivered but tried to ignore it.

Soren had come. Of course he had. But in Tanden's imagination Soren had triumphantly broken through the icy wall. He hadn't been half-frozen, stumbling out of the dark. Tanden felt like he was the one during the rescuing. He shuffled a little closer to Soren.

Time passed quietly. Tanden added wood to the fire and tried to pretend he wasn't cold. Soren's colour came back and he seemed a little more alert. Tanden thought about Jale somewhere in the darkness. He almost decided to go find her, but he couldn't leave Soren's side. He also didn't want to leave the fire. He was tired and hungry and his arm hurt. Not to mention the cold. He pulled more of the bags around his shoulders.

Some time later, Soren broke the silence. "We need to go. Jale's waiting."

Tanden shook away the exhaustion that had been creeping up on him. "Where is she?"

"She's with the boy who led us here. From Rald Caro. When we reached the flooded section she stayed behind to make sure he wouldn't abandon us. She probably thinks something's happened to me." He laughed weakly. "I imagined finding you, picking you up and carrying you out of these tunnels. But now I barely have the energy to move myself. Not really the impressive rescue I planned."

"Nearly freezing to death didn't help," Tanden said. Even though the trek they would have to make to get out of the caves sounded draining, he was cheered up by the improvement in Soren's behaviour. "If I hadn't been here, you probably would have died."

"If you hadn't been here, you would have already been dead," Soren said quietly.

"Well..." Tanden didn't know what to say to that, or even how to think about it. Them both lying dead in an icy tunnel. Close but not together. Never together. He shook his head and stood, doing his best to ignore how his whole body was aching. "Let's go tell Jale the good news, shall we?"

With no other options, Soren had to put his wet clothes back on. He let himself think of his warm jacket, safe and dry with Jale. Being cold was really taking a toll on his energy. He pulled on his clothes slowly, already exhausted by the effort. It was hard to imagine walking all the way back out of the mines, then riding back to Morie Caro. He just wanted to sleep.

Tanden hoisted Soren to his feet, and then relit his torch. He was moving so quickly. He always moved quickly, but Soren could usually keep up. As they moved down the tunnel, Tanden had to keep pausing and waiting for him to catch up. The warmth of the fire disappeared behind them, and Soren started to shiver.

When he thought about it, he knew what was happening to him. Jale had once warned them about what could happen if they got too cold. Knowing the cause of his exhaustion helped Soren fight through it. The water, the mines, the ride to Morie Caro. He imagined holding Tanden near the fire in their room. Falling asleep with Tanden in his arms. They just had to get back.

A flicker of light appeared ahead of them, and it took Soren too long to realize it was Tanden's torch being reflected by the water. At the edge of the water, they paused. It looked darker and colder than it had the first time. Soren didn't want to get in. But he thought of standing on the Wanderlust, with the sun beating down on him. Standing at the helm and just watching Tanden being Tanden. Beautiful and charming and...

Bruised and nervous. Soren blinked away the daydream. "It isn't a far swim."

"Not exactly my concern."

Soren's thoughts weren't moving quickly enough to see through Tanden's vague answer. So he just asked. "What is?"

"My arm. Partially. I don't know how quickly I'll be able to swim with one arm. You getting wet again. My jacket getting wet—it won't be any use when it's wet. This isn't going to be easy."

"Oh. Aye. But..." Soren forced himself to think. "I'll pull you through. We can take turns with my jacket on the other side. We just have to get to Rald Caro. It's... it's an interesting place."

Tanden flashed him a smile. "Are you trying to bribe me with a new town? Staying alive is motivation enough at this point. I can't marry you if I'm dead."

Soren was almost certain he had misheard. "What?"

"I said, I can't marry you if I'm dead. Or if you're dead." Tanden stepped into the water and swore in a language Soren didn't have the energy to recognize.

Soren took a deep breath and followed him in. Immediately his shivering intensified, but he forced himself to join Tanden in the deeper water.

Tanden was going to marry him. The thought alone helped Soren focus on what had to happen next. There was no use delaying it. He took the torch from Tanden and grasped his hand. Then he dropped the torch into the water.

The darkness was absolute.

"All right," Tanden whispered. "I'm ready."

Soren took a deep breath and dove under the water, pulling Tanden along with him. Tanden's hand in his felt warm at first, but then it was hard to feel anything but cold. Soren kicked and used his other arm to move forward. He was rescuing Tanden. Maybe not in the grand way he had imagined, but he was still doing it.

Towing Tanden in his heavy jacket slowed Soren down. His lungs were starting to ache when he realized that light was cutting through the water just ahead of them. A few more kicks, and he broke the surface of the water, gasping. Tanden popped up beside him and immediately starting coughing.

Jale was on her feet immediately. The language pouring out of her was either Tallenese or Morcean, Soren couldn't tell. He crawled forward and pulled himself out of the water with his free hand. He still hadn't let go of Tanden. He wasn't sure if he could. Tanden was shivering in his arms. Soren wanted to wrap himself around Tanden to warm him up, but he was just as cold.

Jale knelt beside them, switching to Teltish mid-sentence. "—found him! Quick, quick, get out of the water." She switched back into Tallenese and starting saying something that had the rhythm of a prayer. She caught Soren entirely off guard by grabbing his face and turning it so she could plant a kiss on his forehead. Then she did the same to Tanden, before her hands flew to the buttons of his jacket. "Get this off of him."

Being back with her was such a relief. Soren let go of Tanden's hand somewhat reluctantly, and let Jale take over. She spoke as she helped Tanden take off his jacket. "Soren, put your jacket on before you freeze. Give me your hat and scarf."

Soren tried to hurry. He stumbled over to the heap of his outdoor clothing, and tossed the smaller items towards Jale. He managed to pull on his jacket, but he was shivering too badly to do up the buttons himself. So he left it open, and went to sit beside Jale and Tanden.

Jale had stripped Tanden of his jacket, hat and gloves. She replaced them with Soren's dry hat and scarf. When Soren sat down, she gave him a quick glance and said something in Tallenese. Soren thought she was talking to him until the boy joined them, and started to do up Soren's buttons for him.

Jale's jacket was too small for Tanden, but she slipped it off anyway and tied it around his shoulders so it acted a little like a cloak.

"I know it isn't perfect," she said, as she got to her feet. "But it's something. At least you're both somewhat protected."

Tanden spoke for the first time since coming out of the water. "What about you?"

She shrugged. "I'm fine. I'm dry, and I'm used to the cold. I'll make it. Now get up. We need to move. It's a long walk. Tanden, how are you alive?" She took his hand and helped him stand. "I thought..."

Soren saw her glance his way. "You thought he was dead."

"Well... yes. Truthfully."

Tanden's smile wasn't quite his usual grin, which went to show just how tired he was, even as he tried to disguise it. "And yet, you came looking for me."

"Because there was a chance that you were alive," Jale said. "So we needed to come look for you."

"Thank you."

"Well, you're not safe yet." Jale stepped closer to Soren and dragged him to his feet. "Just keep walking. I don't care how tired you feel, or how much your legs hurt. Keep walking. Understand?" She said it so firmly, it seemed impossible to argue.

Tanden spoke for both of them. "Keep walking," he repeated. "We understand."

Jale picked up one of the lanterns, and the boy took the second. Then finally they started the long journey out of the mines.