There were no caves within the narrow rift, but there was an overhang and the ground beneath it was dry. It had to be close to 50 degrees within this cleft of the Earth, while I doubted it was much above zero outside of it. The answer to the warmth could be found in the steam rising off the water of several pools throughout the cleft. Geothermal heat rising off some underground body of magma close to the surface. This place was a godsend!
Trent was sitting on a rock by one of the pools, with his feet in the pool of warm water. Deshavi was doing likewise farther away from him. I was too lazy and worn out to crawl over to the water's edge or I would have been doing the same. I saw Deshavi cup some of the water in her hands.
"I wouldn't drink it Deshavi. I'm not sure what the chemical makeup of it might be. We'll melt snow for drinking water later."
She nodded and let the warm water slip through her hands back into the pool. She looked lonely sitting there all by herself and she looked the part as well. I saw her glance at Trent, when he wasn't looking. She wanted to be over there with him, but some internal wall kept her where she was. Trent glanced over at her and she quickly looked elsewhere.
As I watched the two I began to plot how it would be best to go about breaking up this divide between them. I was certainly going to need a large portion of Divine intervention to achieve a reunion of the warring factions at play within this setting. I just hoped I'd recognize the opportunity to do so when it appeared. One thing was for sure, we were going to be here for a while, at least for as long as the storm continued to rage outside. My eyelids descended, as restful sleep took over my consciousness.
We didn't attempt much the second day, but to eat and sleep in the warmth of the hidden vale. Trent and I were exchanging outrageous war stories that had little basis in reality, while Deshavi continued to sleep on her bed role for long periods of time.
Deshavi abruptly began to twist and moan in her sleep and then she screamed. Both I and Trent rushed toward her, but Trent beat me there. As he reached down to awaken her from the nightmare her eyes opened and she screamed again.
It happened too fast for Trent to avoid it. Her hand came up with a rock in it and she smashed it into his temple repeatedly. Trent fell and she still whacked at him with the rock. I grabbed the hand with the rock and knocked it away, before backhanding her across the face splitting her lip in the process.