Chapter 46: Miracle Ice Bridge
The next morning, the sky was dark and heavy, thick iron-like clouds pressing down.
There was no sun today. It had started snowing yesterday, and after a night of buildup, the light snow turned into heavy snow. The cold wind howled fiercely, chillingly slapping against everyone.
The children’s faces were flushed red from the cold. They wore ear-covering wool felt hats and huddled closely to the adults, warming themselves by the fire.
The stew pot steamed hot, and the cook had prepared a hearty meat broth—tender beef and lamb—served in the Tanians’ bowls.
Before dawn, some had already started preparing food.
This was their last hot soup before crossing the Creek Forest.
When they left, they would abandon all these heavy stew pots here, each person carrying only the minimum amount of food and clothing to keep their load manageable—just enough to endure a three-day long trek.
“Don’t eat too much!” Lucas called out.
Eating too much would slow them down and make them drowsy.
Eating until half-full to warm the body was enough. Lucas hoped they could reach a place where they could see the Prague River today. There was a long way to go.
This was a war of attrition; they couldn’t fall behind from the start.
The longer they delayed, the higher the chance of accidents.
Ideally, if they moved quickly for two days, they could cross the forest.
To travel as light as possible, their food was dried meat roasted over the fire last night and black bread found in the boxes—ready to eat whenever hungry.
About half an hour later, everyone finished their tasks. They checked their water skins, slung on their leather bags and cloth sacks, picked suitable pine branches as walking sticks, and finally looked back at the abandoned boxes and the livestock killed the day before.
Some bid farewell to their cattle and sheep, closing their eyes and making praying gestures.
Some cows and sheep were not raised for food; they were originally for providing milk and springtime labor, like oxen used for pulling carts and plowing fields, and sheep regularly sheared for wool and milked.
Their owners treated these animals as friends, giving them names like “Dolly” and “Sam.”
In peaceful times, humans and animals lived and worked together for many years.
But now, they had to send them away. Without care, even abandoned in this icy wilderness, the animals couldn’t find food.
Domesticated animals cannot survive alone in the wild; they would freeze to death or be torn apart by winter wolves and other carnivores.
So the only mercy was to kill them swiftly.
Wade saw a young child crying over a motionless sheep.
The sheep’s horns were tied with straw in a knot; perhaps the child once rode it like a knight, wielding a wooden sword.
The child cried unwillingly, burying his head in his mother’s arms.
But there was no time to grieve.
“Let’s go, head southwest!” Lucas exhaled deeply, grabbed his spear, and slung his sheepskin pack over his shoulders.
The women and children walked in the middle of the group, with Lucas, Wade, and some sharp-eyed young men guarding the front. The experienced elders and middle-aged men stayed at the rear.
Those who survived must keep moving forward.
The group pressed on through the heavy snow, passing the mountain path beside Bronte Village.
From the high ground, they glimpsed the village’s tragic scene from afar—some saw deformed rotten meat in the square, large piles of burnt and rotting corpses, which steeled their resolve.
By noon, they entered the Creek Forest.
Tall Tania mountain pines were covered in snow. The slender pine needles remained evergreen even in winter. Light-footed squirrels jumped among the branches.
Walking under the shade, the people in front took out machetes to chop away dead branches blocking the path, clearing the way for those behind.
Wade looked up and saw crystal-clear icicles hanging from the cliff—long and sharp. Suddenly, he raised his iron sword and swung it over a young man’s head beside him.
The young man dodged in fright, closed his eyes and covered his head. After reacting, he heard a crisp sound and opened his eyes to see a broken icicle fallen beside him.
If Wade hadn’t swung his sword, that sharp icicle might have fallen on his head.
With a bit of luck, he would have been smashed bloody; worse luck, it would have pierced him through.
“Th-thank you,” the young man bowed fearfully to Wade.
Wade, like a dependable elder, patted his shoulder and moved forward.
The young man patted his chest, kicked the icicle away, and hurried to catch up with the group.
They tried to walk where the conifers were thick. The sky was dark, and the dense forest made it even darker—almost pitch black.
Everyone walked cautiously, as if monsters lurked in that darkness.
When crossing a clearing, Wade signaled ahead for Lucas to avoid the seemingly easy path.
Lucas understood and crouched down, picking up a tuft of muddy hair beside him to show the others.
It was ice bear fur. Further ahead, they saw claw marks on tree bark.
Under a hollow tree in that clearing, an ice bear was hibernating.
Lucas raised his index finger, signaling everyone to stay silent.
They tiptoed carefully through the ice bear’s territory.
The group moved steadily. When someone grew tired, others helped.
Strong men carried especially young children, helping each other forward.
In the forest, they also encountered wild deer. The deer only glanced at them from afar and quickly fled, avoiding any entanglement.
After a full day of climbing mountains and crossing ridges, many began to gasp for breath, having drunk all the water from their skins.
They no longer made fires to melt snow, instead filling their water skins with snow, holding them close to melt it with body heat.
Everyone marched on resolutely. Lucas used his spear as a walking stick, climbing the slope ahead.
Their progress was faster than Lucas expected. Originally, he hoped only to reach a point where they could see the Prague River, but unexpectedly, before nightfall, this group—with many women and children—actually reached the riverbank.
Strong willpower carried them this far.
Lucas should have been happy, but looking at the Prague River before him, he couldn’t feel joy.
“How could this be… how could this be…” he murmured.
The rushing river sound filled his ears. The clear river water washed through the rocky channel, white foam bubbling over stones blocking the current.
The Prague River had not frozen.
He leaned against a nearby pine tree, clenching his fists.
Everyone stood dumbfounded before this rapid, icy-cold river.
In Tania’s deep winter, when even the sea surface freezes, a tributary of the Prague River remained unfrozen.
They couldn’t understand why. They didn’t know the reason. A painful, unbearable emotion welled up from their noses.
“Find a way to make rafts,” Lucas said quietly. “There’s no turning back now.”
At this point, only forward was possible.
But the wandering knight shook his head and stepped to the front of the group.
Lucas didn’t know what this knight intended. Everyone silently watched his back.
They saw the shabby knight take a murky crystal from his pocket.
It was the necromantic core. Lucas recognized the stone.
The knight from afar knelt silently on one knee, stretched out his hand, and touched the rushing river water.
Everyone froze, staring in disbelief at the knight’s gloved hand.
Frosty coldness spread from his palm.
The water surface began to freeze, crackling sounds filling the air. The ice spread like a tide.
A miraculous ice bridge extended from this riverbank all the way to the other side.
The knight stood up and beckoned, leading the way forward.
He stepped onto the bridge, and everyone, gazing at his back, followed his footsteps onward once again.