The risk of the light or smoke being seen was too great. The tribe huddled together for warmth. Luke sat apart, wrapped in his thin coat, shivering. The altitude was higher here, and the cold was a physical weight crushing his chest. He rubbed his arms, his teeth chattering uncontrollably.
He closed his eyes, trying to sleep, but the shivering kept him awake. He heard soft footsteps. He didn't open his eyes, expecting a guard to check his bonds. Something heavy dropped onto the ground beside him. Then, the warmth of a small shielded fire flared to life.
Luke opened his eyes. Ayanna was kneeling there, arranging a small pile of dry wood in a hollow of the rocks where the glow wouldn't be seen from below. She struck a flint and blew on the tinder. "What are you doing?" Luke asked, his voice shaking. She didn't look at him.
"If you freeze to death, my father will say I failed my duty. And you are too heavy to carry back down the mountain." She fed the fire until it was a steady, warm presence. Then she sat back on her heels, wrapping her blanket tight around her. Luke held his hands out to the heat. It felt like salvation.
"Thank you." He said. She stared into the small flames. "Why did you really leave the army?" She asked suddenly. Luke hesitated. He looked at the fire, seeing the faces of the past in the embers.
"Because I was tired of being part of the lie." He said, "They told us we were bringing civilization, but I looked around and saw we were just bringing death. I couldn't wash the blood off my hands anymore." "You think leaving washes it off?" She asked, her voice hard. "You think because you do not wear the blue coat, you are innocent? My mother died because of men like you. My brother walks with a limp because of men like you." "I know." Luke said, "And I can't fix that.
I can't bring them back." "Then what good are you?" She whispered. "I don't know." Luke admitted. "But I'm here, and today I helped you run. I helped you hide." He looked at her across the fire. The flames illuminated the sharp angles of her face, the darkness of her eyes.
"I can't undo the past, Ayanna, but I can choose who I stand with now. And right now, I'm standing with you, whether you want me to or not." Ayanna looked at him for a long moment. The silence stretched between them, heavy with unspoken grief. She didn't offer forgiveness. She didn't smile, but she didn't leave.
She reached out and added another stick to the fire. "Keep the fire small." She said. "And do not let it die." She stood up and walked away into the darkness, leaving Luke alone with the warmth she had given him. Three days later, the winter arrived in earnest. It wasn't just a cold front.
It was a storm that buried the high country in 3 ft of white powder. The canyon became a prison. The wind howled for 2 days straight, piling drifts against the canyon walls. When the sky finally cleared, the world was blindingly white and deadly silent. The food stores, already low from the hasty retreat, began to run out.