Free Fate Defied: The Silent Tempest, Book 3 by E. J. Godwin

who had broken free before the avalanche. The dog licked her, whining with gratitude, but Telai slumped back in despair.
    Beggar struggled in the loosened snow, and Telai broke from her spell of grief to help. Sobs shook her as she yanked on his forelegs, fury at the cruelty of nature: she did not have the strength to pull him out.
    The animal yelped pitifully, and she collapsed against the side of the hole again. He kept turning his head toward his hindquarters, as though trying to chew or bite on something, so she struggled back to her knees and groped about.
    Her gloved hand found the last remnant of his harness, a leather strap drawn tight by his efforts to climb out. She dug her feet in the snow and hauled back with what strength she possessed, hoping to break it free from whatever it was caught on. But it was no use.
    Telai searched her clothes for a knife, keeping her grip in one hand … and three distinct tugs yanked the strap back into the snow.
    For an instant she hesitated, wondering if she imagined it. Then she dove in, abandoning the shovel, digging as if she had gone mad. She stopped only to pull twice on the strap, and cried out in joy as it tugged three more times in response.
    She worked at the snow like a frenzied rabbit, her lungs sawing air from the effort. Slink tried to help, but the other dog blocked his way. Beggar proved to be a hindrance to Telai as well, for his struggle to escape kept collapsing the walls of the hole.
    The snow turned sodden and less packed, easier to dig. Foot by foot she burrowed, until a hand shot out and groped in the air.
    She gripped it with newfound strength, tears freezing against her cheeks. An ashen, blue-lipped face emerged, a snow-soaked head of hair, a crooked smile more like a grimace. Then another hand broke free.
    It was still holding a laser.

6
    Bitter Mornings
    No greater pain exists for a commander
    than the necessity of leaving his friends behind in peril.
    - Bannlef, Master Raén of Enilií
    A TINY CAMPFIRE glimmered beneath the west wall of Crooked Pass, two huddled figures and the dogs curled beside them casting long shadows over the drifting slope behind. Telai knew there was little chance of any rescue out of Enilií before their strength gave out or they ran out of food.
    Tenlar was too exhausted to speak, other than of the need for warmth, food, and rest. These Telai provided for him. His sled, his sword, and all but one of his dogs, were gone. The fire soon reduced their short supply of wood to embers, and though the wind had dropped the relentless cold troubled his sleep. They both needed a long rest, preferably with shelter, but the tent was on Tenlar’s sled, buried deep.
    The top of the cliff blazed gold with the dawn. Telai roused herself to extract the remaining supply of food from her half-buried sled. She fed the dogs well and prepared a cold but large breakfast, for they all needed their strength to reach Enilií. Afterward Tenlar sat motionless, his red, swollen face barely recognizable as he stared at the dead fire.
    “Caleb Stenger’s weapon saved my life.” His hoarse voice was rife with bitterness.
    Having finished with her chores for now, Telai sat beside him to listen to his story. “I still can’t believe you’re alive. Your feet got caught in Beggar’s harness, didn’t it?”
    “Damned dog,” he muttered, but Telai smiled: he was rubbing the animal’s ears.
    “Well, I never would have found you if it hadn’t been for Slink.”
    He shook his head. “Telai, I’ve known fear in battle—but nothing like this. The snow was packed so hard it was like being encased in stone. I couldn’t even breathe properly. So there I was, not knowing whether you were dead or alive, or if anyone could save me. I almost went mad with it.”
    He swallowed thickly, winced at the resulting pain, then continued. “I don’t know how I managed to hold on to the laser when the avalanche hit. But I thought I might be able to use its heating