The Icy Quest

Chapter 18

About an hour later, Pagoniá finished her book.

"It's hot in here. I want to go outside," Tilepátheia complained, looking very hot and bothered.

"We're supposed to be hiding, remember? If we go outside, we will get caught," Pagoniá told her. "This isn't a vacation." She hadn't noticed while she was caught up in the book, but Tilepátheia was right. It was hot. It would be a relief when they got closer to the colder climates on their way to Antarctica.

"We won't get caught, I'll make sure of that," Tilepátheia countered with her hands planted firmly on her hips.

"Well, aren't you the optimist," Pagoniá declared, shaking her head. "But the answer is still no."

"I'm not just hot, I'm bored, too. Come on, pleeease," Tilepátheia begged in a high whiny voice.

After a few minutes of arguing, Pagoniá gave in. "Fine," she relented. "But only five minutes. No longer."

"Yes! Come on!" Tilepátheia exclaimed gleefully, her eyes shining. She carefully pushed the door to the shipping container open and peeked her head outside. Making sure there was no one around to see them, they made their way to the railing of the ship just across from the shipping containers. They both took a deep breath of the fresh sea air. Thankfully, the containers hid them from the elevated view of the bridge and anyone who might be in it.

As had become her new habit, Pagoniá immediately found herself sensing the water with her mind. Strangely enough, in the process, she also found herself feeling the fish and all the other creatures moving around in the water as well.

"Whoa," she whispered. The feeling that was washing over her was overwhelming. She effortlessly created multiple cubes of ice and made them bob across the waves like miniature synchronized swimmers. In contrast to her earlier attempts at using her powers, she felt completely calm and in control.

"You're finally getting good at that," Tilepáthiea observed.

"I really want to learn more about ice, though," Pagoniá stated, her gaze falling. "I mean, in school, it was never even mentioned except for the constant reminder that if you saw any ice, you should report it to the fire people. I really wish there were books about it."

"There are, though," Tilepátheia pointed out. "Cryology is the study of snow and ice. There are tons of books written about it."

"Cryology? I've never even heard of that," Pagoniá replied wrinkling her nose.

"The fire people restrict all access to books that mention ice people and ice. It wasn't like you were ever going to come across a book about it while you were living among the fire people. I only know about it because they teach that stuff to all fire people as a way of knowing how to fight against ice people. I just happened to learn about it by reading the mind of a fire person," Tilepátheia explained with a shrug.

They were both silent for a moment.

"It's so empty out here," Pagoniá remarked, gazing into the vast nothingness of the ocean.

"You do remember we're headed to Antarctica, right? It's not exactly the land of large urban areas," Tilepátheia replied with her usual sarcasm.

Suddenly, Pagoniá heard footsteps. Instinctively, her body stiffened as she tried to discern where the sound was coming from. It was immediately clear that she and Tilepátheia were about to be discovered. Acting on instinct, she created an ice cube and slingshotted it in the opposite direction of their location. Then, she made it explode with a bang!

The noise was just enough to send the unwelcome intruder in the opposite direction toward where the ice cube had been flung. As the sound of the retreating footsteps faded, Pagoniá and Tilepátheia raced back to the shipping container and swiftly pulled the door shut behind them.

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Apparently, exploding ice cubes are a good diversion. Comment and vote to tell me what you think.