So, here we have Chapter 4, it was a long time coming, but it's one of the longest so far ...
Well, I wish you all a lot of fun with it!
Lg, Lod

When I woke up, to my own surprise, I was comfortably warm.
I was startled when I noticed that the floor I was lying on wasn't hard and opened my eyes.
I did not look at the sky as I should have actually done, but at a wooden ceiling.
I sat up abruptly and looked around in confusion. I was in a small wooden hut that was heated by an open fireplace.
Only now did I notice the man who was sitting at the window and looking out into the dusk.
"You are finally awake." he stated in his pleasant, soft voice. I looked at the man confused, it was without a doubt the man I had already met in the two villages. Why did he always help me?
"You were lying half frozen a little off the road, so I thought it would be better to bring you here in the warm." said the man. I was silent for a moment and looked past him outside, where it was noticeably darker.
I must have slept all last night and day because it was getting dark and by the time I fell asleep the sun had finally set.
"I thank you." I said and now looked at the man who still turned his back on me as he was looking outside.
"How often do you want to save my life before I find out your name?" I finally asked, and continued to look at the man. This laughed softly.
"How many times should I save the life of a stranger girl?" he asked without turning to me. I kept looking at the man.
"Claire" I answered hesitantly after a moment.
"Michael." Said the man after being silent for a moment.
He kept looking out the window, I thought he looked kind of thoughtful.
"Why did you run away from home?" he asked after a while, I looked at him confused.How did he know?
"How do you think I ran away?" I asked and continued to look at him, still he didn't turn to me.
"Why else would you have to travel alone, and also in winter through the area?" he asked, I was silent, I couldn't think of an explanation.
I sighed.
"I should get married ... but I didn't want to. I would have taken everyone, but of all people, not him. He's really disgusting. He enjoys torturing animals. His brother died a while ago, his parents said he was sick, but it was." is the rumor going around that he tortured him to death ... The guy is sick. "I said, and when I thought of Merten, it ran down my spine as cold as ice.
Michael got up and closed the shutters as it was slowly coming in really cold.
He went to the fire, added a little wood, then sat down and looked into the flames, turning his back to me again so that I couldn't see his face.
I wondered again why he kept hiding his face, I had just really tried to catch a glimpse of his face but he had just turned his back on me the whole time.
I thought he wouldn't say anything more to Merten, but finally he said: "I see ..." then he fell silent again.
“It's dangerous to travel alone, especially for a young girl like you.” He said then, his voice sounding almost a little worried.
I shrugged my shoulders.
"I have no other choice, somehow I have to get away from my parents, or rather my fiancé." I said.
Michael continued to look into the flames.
“You can come with me if you want.” He said, I looked at him in amazement, I didn't expect that he would offer me that.
I hesitated, how did I know if I could trust him? On the other hand, he had already helped me twice ...
Finally I nodded hesitantly, then realized that he didn't even see it.“Yes, I would really like to.” That is why I thought, then I also looked into the flames.
"Well ... let's leave right now, otherwise we might not get over the pass, it should be pretty snowy by now." He said and got up.
I looked at him confused.
He wasn't seriously planning to leave in the evening, did he? Whether we would wait these few hours until sunrise would not make a big difference.
However, when Michael took my bag and went outside without saying a word, I saw that he really intended to do it.
Well, if he said so. After all, I had slept enough for the time being. When I got outside, Michael was saddling his horse.
"What is it's name?" I asked, pointing to the black stallion.
"Nox." He replied, and tightened the saddle girth. Then he took my bag and attached it to the saddle. I watched him do it.
When we started I noticed quickly that Michael was a lot stronger than me, but that didn't really surprise me.
His steps were safe and firm, even as we got closer and closer to the mountains and the path became a lot steeper. There was a lot of rubble on the way, I often slipped and almost fell, and unlike me, Michael never slipped.
Nevertheless, we walked a little slower because Nox also had problems with the loose surface.
Once we had walked steeply uphill for about two hours, the path fortunately became level again. I already didn't like the mountains, it was incredibly exhausting to walk uphill all the time. At least that's what I thought. The area I came from was just pretty flat.
Michael, on the other hand, seemed used to it, his breathing was still pretty normal, but I was already panting.
The further we went, the higher the snow lay. After a while the snow was waist deep and we had serious problems getting ahead.Now I gradually understood why Michael had wanted to leave that night, because it was snowing again. We walked on in silence, time passed, but I had the feeling that we were barely making any headway.
I wondered how Michael was going to find his way in this deep snow, but I said nothing, just followed him in silence.
It was almost dawn when we suddenly stood in front of a steep rock face that blocked our way. I looked at Michael worried. Are we lost? Michael looked a little thoughtful, probably thinking about the best way to get around this rock face.
After a moment he walked on in silence again, he had turned to the right and was now walking along the rock wall.
I looked up at the sky, where a light streak could now be seen.
By now I was soaked to the waist and completely exhausted.
When I saw myself again, Michael and Nox were gone.
I looked around startled. Where did you go I looked at the ground in front of me. There were no more traces of the two of them. I turned around again and noticed shortly behind me the tracks of the two of them as they were walking straight towards the wall.
I blinked in confusion and struggled through the snow to get there. It wasn't until I was pretty close to the wall that I saw that there wasn't a wall at all. There was a crack in the rock, just wide enough for a horse with a saddle and bags to be led through.
Michael stuck his head out of the crack.
"Where are you staying?" he asked, then turned back, shaking his head, and went inside. Inside I was almost blind for the first moment.
I could just make out movement in front of me, apparently Michael. Otherwise I saw nothing at all.
After a moment, however, my eyes slowly got used to the light conditions and I saw a little more.
Michael went to Nox and took his reins again in his hand, then he went further into the cave and I hurried to follow the two of them.In here it was much more pleasant to walk, because there was no snow here.
Michael went to a corner of the cave, there he disappeared again behind a wall. I hadn't seen that it went any further there. The cave seemed bigger than it looked.
When I turned the corner it was suddenly quite light, and it was warmer here too.
The light and warmth came from a fire. Some men sat and lay around the fire, many of them were asleep, but some were also awake.
I looked at Michael, who was just taking off his saddle from Nox and also taking off his bridle. I felt a bad feeling. I had heard that men lived here in the mountains. Robbers, murderers, deserters and other rabble.
That Michael apparently knew these men worried me, maybe he was even one of them. That would also explain why he kept hiding his face, maybe he was wanted.
I didn't feel safe here.
Michael seemed to notice my discomfort, he waved me over. I nervously walked away from the fire to him, where he was putting a blanket on Nox.
"Are you afraid of these men?" he asked me straight out.
I looked at the fire. "Well ..." I started uncertainly. I didn't want to appear overly afraid, but I didn't really feel comfortable around these men.
Michael didn't wait for me to continue.
"You'd do well to distrust them, but you don't have to be afraid of them," he said. I nodded slowly and kept looking at him.
"Are you scared of me?" he suddenly asked after a moment. I shook my head violently.
"Of course not!" I meant. He had helped me so many times now, why should I be afraid of him?
Michael looked at me.
"Well ... you should get some sleep. We still have a long journey to go," he said. I nodded and sat down by the fire some distance away from the men.After a moment Michael came up to me and gave me a blanket.
"Thanks." I meant, and lay down.
I looked into the flames, I felt that I was getting really tired, but I felt uncomfortable around these men.
Michael noticed my discomfort because he stayed with me.
"You should really get some sleep. Tomorrow we go on and you should be rested there." He said and looked at me briefly before looking back into the flames.
"It's good ..." I said quietly, and closed my eyes. When I heard Michael move next to me after a while, I opened my eyes again.
I saw Michael walk up to one of the men and speak to him in a low voice, but I didn't hear what they were saying.
It didn't take long for my eyes to close again, the day had been exhausting, so I fell into a deep sleep almost immediately.

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[i]So that's it again with chapter 4.
As you surely suspect, Michael will be with us for a while, as we finally know ^^
I hope I made you happy with it,