The Curse of the Dark Heart

A short distance up the mountain road the wind builds, blowing in their faces, making every inch of progress hard won. Then the snow starts. Too late in the season for snow, and with the wind and biting cold, Ana knows there is more happening here than a simple storm. Powers are working to keep her away from Cain this night. Doubts begin to assail her. What if she is just worried for nothing? What if the clouds are just clouds? It would not be the first time she had seen them descend like this; why does she fear now? Why is she here on this cold night, on a pony racing up the mountain, to save a man like her Cain? A man, she is sure, who can take care of himself and his mother very well indeed as he has done for many years; why now, she asks herself. Her brother starts to slow, his tread uncertain and his head down, shoulders hunched. With a far distance to go she considers sending him home if for no other reason than his seeming pleasure in the darkness of the night. It again gives her that coldness in her heart, like there is more to her brother’s accompanying her than she knows. She could go on alone but something holds her back; some shadow or feeling won't let her place herself alone on this road. Though a good pony, Stony would not help if she ran into wolves but her brother’s stout bow and sure eye would. Hunching down over Stony’s neck as much for warmth as for assurance, she clucks softly to the little pony and they pick up speed again, even against the ever present wind.