Free Song of Blood & Stone (Earthsinger Chronicles Book 1) by L. Penelope Page A

churning out snow at higher elevations. He silently prayed to the Queen Who Sleeps for protection on the journey.
    “Will the goats fare well?” he asked.
    “They’re quick. And too stubborn to die.” Her voice cracked, belying her stony countenance. Earlier tears had dried, streaking her cheeks—her red-rimmed eyes had turned cold and determined. A bruise marred the side of her face, but it looked like war paint, further accentuating her competence.
    She held a shotgun in one hand and a lantern in the other, with the sack containing the items saved from the house draped across her back. Though he’d protested, she would not let him carry anything, giving a pointed look to his limping legs when he had tried to insist.
    “I’m not an invalid.”
    Her arched eyebrow contradicted him. “Focus on staying upright, and I’ll do the rest.”
    She winced a bit from some injury she wouldn’t acknowledge, but overall, she was in far better shape than he. Common sense told him she was right to insist, but his pride stung.
    “Are we going through the tunnels?” he asked as they neared the path that would take them into the maelstrom.
    “We’ll see.” She pursed her lips, avoiding his gaze. She was hiding something, some additional anxiety she refused to let him in on. He received only silence in answer to his questions, so he saved his breath for the moment.
    As they walked, the moon peeked out from the overhead clouds, brightening the way out of the valley and up the path leading into the mountains. Though the valley was calm, the storm still raging ahead worried him. As the path rose, the temperature fell drastically and the ground changed from grassy, to dirt covered, to snow covered. Each torturous step brought not only a deepening of the snow but an increase in his pain.
    Jasminda led the way, the light from her lantern reflecting off the snow, now knee-deep but swallowed up by the surrounding darkness. He leaned heavily on the walking stick as each step became more difficult than the last. Pausing to catch his breath, a coughing fit struck him, leaving red splatters on the pristine white.
    When he straightened, he found her staring at the blood on the ground. Almost immediately, the warm hum of Earthsong rippled through him.
    “Save it,” he advised. “I’m all right.”
    She scowled. “You are not all right. You are worse than when you arrived. Stop being such a fool.” The buzz of Earthsong continued for a few moments before she turned and stomped away.
    For hours, they battled the storm, their progress arduous. Strong gusts of wind blew against them, sometimes knocking them on their backs and forcing them to stop until the gale calmed some. Icy blasts whipped through Jack’s coat, freezing his fingers until he could no longer grip the walking stick and had to leave it behind.
    “Let’s stop here for a moment,” Jasminda shouted, pointing to a notch in the rock wall just big enough for two people. Underneath the rocky overhang, the snow stood only ankle high, and the sidewalls protected them from the worst of the wind. They crouched down together, shaking from the cold. She took his hands in hers and rubbed, bringing some feeling back into them. In the flickering lantern light, worry etched a frown on her face.
    Jack rallied, drawing whatever inner strength he could into his depleted limbs. A small hum of Earthsong tickled at his wounds, but he could sense her weakening. He cracked his knuckles and tried to fashion his frozen face into a grin.
    “Now’s not the time to grow lazy.” He wasn’t sure she could understand him over the chattering of his teeth, but she nodded and they stood. At a groaning rumble overhead, they looked up. Something large shifted and slid. He moved forward to see what was happening, but she grabbed him by his coat and pulled him back. Her eyes were huge circles of fear as everything around them started to shake.
    With a violent boom , an avalanche of snow slid down the