The Ash Road

They waked round in the night till the cold started stinging their hands. The moon was floating above them, thin and white as a broken currency coin. The snow on the ground was as gray and ashes now, in spots, and fallen like land itself burned and cooled.

Ezra led the way. He moved in a firm manner, but his gaze was wandering over the darkness. And all the sounds were more distinct here-the stirring of the dry grass, the splashing of frost, the slight cracking of the trees in ...