For a moment, everything stilled. Otho didn’t move, and the man didn’t either, then he moaned.
“Are you okay? Can you move?”
“It’s so warm up here. Burning.”
Otho narrowed his eyes. The man had stopped shivering. Not good. “Come on.” He tugged at the man’s wrist. “Crawl.”
The man made some clumsy attempts to follow the order and Otho pulled him along as fast as he could while he scrambled to get a grip on something, anything. The wet snow made the ice slippery, but, as soon as they reached an area that hadn’t soaked up any water, it was easier to move.
When they were closer to the shore, he stood and dragged the man onto his feet. The ice should hold, and, if it didn’t, it wouldn’t be more than waist-deep here.
He took the man’s arm and wrapped it around his neck while winding his le
