And here I thought the abandoned mine filled with draugr Rapier had taken me too was bad. The Seven Thousand steps made that seem like nothing.

Our little group stood at the base of the steps looking up the steep mountainside. The steps carved into the stone looked old, uneven, and crumbling. Snow had drifted over some of the less traveled parts, based on what I could see from the bottom. Nobody in Ivarstead could tell us what lay beyond the fourth marker.

"Well," Archer said at last, breaking the silence that hung in the air. "That looks like it'll take a couple of days."

Shay shuddered. "If we're lucky and it doesn't start snowing."

Rapier growled quietly. "Let's hope not! I'm not suited to cold weather."

Shadowmere bobbed her head in agreement and Vigilant barked. Shadowmere was our packhorse, and Vigilant refused to be left behind.

"At least the Greybeards will have a fire waiting for us," Archer said hopefully. "I can't imagine them not having one."

The first hundred steps or so weren't bad, Shadowmere had problems and had to walk off to one side, but after that it got harder. We met three people between the bottom and the fourth marker. All of them told us that the storms and wind got worse the farther up we went.

By the time we reached the seventh marker we stopped for a rest. The wind howled around us. Archer had long since given up keeping his hood up and his face was red from the cold.

There was a sound like someone rattling a handful of sticks very loudly. Archer froze. "Please don't say that was what I think it was."

Shay tipped his head and set down the partly frozen apple he'd been attempting to eat. "I don't think so. A chaurus would have sounded more metallic unless it was muted somehow."

"Don't move!" someone behind us shouted.

I turned to see a man wearing thick furs standing behind us. He held a bow pointed at Rapier. Shay growled wolfishly and I stepped away nervously.

"What do you want?" Shay asked, moving just behind Rapier.

"I want your food. All of it," the man held himself in a cocky way. "If you don't I'll shoot you black pussy cat with this chaurus poisoned arrow." The clattering sound came again and I realized it was coming from a large sack slightly up the mountain from us.

Archer drew his bow and used Shay and Rapier as a wall to hide behind as he aimed at the sack. The silver arrow hissed almost silently through the air. There was a loud shriek and a crack from the sack. The man looked up quickly and his jaw dropped when he saw the silver arrow sticking out of the sack.

Archer drew another arrow and aimed it at the man. "I'd leave if I were you."

The man stared at Archer with a terrified look. "No." He let go of his bowstring.

The arrow whistled as it shot through the air. Shay shouted something and shoved Rapier out of the way. He tried to avoid the arrow himself, but it caught his shoulder. He gasped and fell.

Archer didn't fire instantly. His arrow started to glow brighter and brighter. When he finally released it the arrow looked like a star. It exploded it a flash of white light when it hit the man as he tried to run. When the snow settled back on the ground, he was gone.

Rapier knelt next to Shay, a surprised look on her face. "Shay, why did you do that?"

Shay smiled through the pain clear on his face. "I told you that under the Gildergreen. I meant every word." His body shuddered and he closed his eyes tightly and his smile vanished, his breathing slowing slightly.

Then Rapier did something I hadn't expected. She grabbed the shaft of the arrow and jerked it free. Shay howled in pain and Archer tried to stop her. Rapier snarled and pushed Archer away. "I know what I'm doing! Leave me alone!"

Blood dripped onto the snow and Archer retreated watching helplessly. Rapier pressed her hand over Shay's shoulder. Shay didn't respond, he was barely breathing now and his skin had gotten very pale. I saw Archer walk over to Shadowmere and start sorting through the sacks. Rapier's expression was more focused than I'd ever seen her as her hand started to glow with a golden light. Little ribbons of the same gold color wrapped around Shay's shoulder. After a second the light vanished and Rapier removed her hand. A look of worry crossed her face.

I walked over and knelt to see what she was worried about. The arrow wound hadn't healed. Blood still dripped slowly out of it. Rapier wrapped it as best she could and gave Shay a healing potion, but none of it seemed to help.

Archer came over with a blanket and handed it to Rapier. "We need to get him off the snow. Shadowmere can carry him and maybe the Graybeards could help."

Rapier nodded and tied the blanket tightly around Shay. She moved carefully, with a gentle touch. I frowned. This was not how I had expected her to act, especially since she didn't seem to care for Shay. Besides all that, she carried him over to Shadowmere and refused the help that both Archer and I offered. I wasn't sure how to feel.

Rapier started back up the steps without waiting for Archer, Vigilant, and I, Shadowmere at her side with Shay slumped in the saddle.