The Icy Quest

Chapter 28

"We may have entered at what looked like the base of the mountain on the other side, but we're obviously not exiting at the base on this side," Pagoniá observed, looking down the long downhill slope they still had to travel before reaching the base of the mountain and the flatlands beyond. "I can make another ice sled to transport us, but everyone is going to really have to hold on tight because it's going to take all my abilities to try to control the rapid descent that the sled is going to want to make.

"Best day ever!" Tilepátheia exclaimed, her eyes sparkling. "That's going to be an awesome ride!"

"If we don't die of exposure from the frigid air whipping past us, as if the regular gales of Antarctica aren't bad enough," Pozhar interjected, shaking his head.

Pagoniá quickly created a new sled. After they had all climbed on and settled in, she added three foot high walls around the outer edges of the sled so that Pozhar and Tilepátheia could safely sit, wedged in with all their bags, without fear of being knocked off the sled. The walls also served to protect them from the bitter wind that Pozhar was so concerned about.

Pagoniá stood while holding on to the front wall as she used her powers to gently nudge the sled onto the downward slope. Thankfully, it wasn't a steep slope, but it was still high enough and long enough for the sled to be in danger of picking up excessive speed. Hence, Pagoniá had to apply all her concentration to the task of slowing the sled as it raced wildly toward the flatland below. Fifteen minutes later as the land finally started to level out, Pagoniá ceased her efforts to slow the sled and allowed it to continue its momentum over the flat land at the base of the mountain until it finally slowed to a stop. For a moment no one spoke. Pagoniá slumped onto the floor of the sled with Tilepátheia and Pozhar, squishing them even further in their already cramped positions.

"That was so awesome that I'm not even going to complain about the fact that you are practically laying on me right now!" Tilepátheia declared shoving Pagoniá away from her and getting to her feet. "How do we get out of this thing?"

"Just launch yourself over the side. There will probably be some snow to break your fall," Pozhar suggested, rolling his eyes. Much to his amusement, Tilepátheia did just that, landing in a heap on the ground outside the sled.

"Is it just me, or is it warmer down here? Is that even possible in Antarctica?" Tilepátheia inquired, tilting her head. "It doesn't feel horribly miserable anymore. Just mostly miserable."

"Look!" Pozhar shouted, pointing in the direction of what looked like a cloud billowing up from the ground about two hundred yards away. Unlike Tilepátheia, he carefully climbed over the wall of the sled, leaving Pagonia curled up on the floor still looking completely whipped.

"We should go check it out!" Tilepátheia declared.

"We can push the sled ourselves and give Pagoniá a ride for a change." Pozhar agreed. They each took turns pushing the sled toward the cloud. Luckily, the sled moved easily on the surface of the snow and frozen ice.

"It's a hot spring!" Pozhar observed as they finally got close enough to see that the cloud was actually steam rising from a sparkling blue pool of water that fed into a good sized lake. Around the pool and the lake, the ground was thawed and there was surprisingly lush vegetation and trees growing around the edges and up to a good 30 yards away from the waterline.

"I would never have expected to come across a sight like this in Antarctica of all places. This is crazy!" Tilepátheia exclaimed, looking around in wonder.

With a moan, Pagoniá pulled herself to a sitting position and then got to her feet inside the sled. She took a quick glance around at their surroundings.

"What is this place?" she asked, her eyes widening. She climbed out of the sled to take a closer look at the strange sight of lush plant growth and even trees in the middle of the frozen land of Antarctica.

"If I had to guess, I would say that this place is how the ice people who originated in Antarctica managed to grow and provide food for their civilization. There are tons of fish visible in the lake, and I see evidence of plants that produce some of our favorite carbohydrates, like potatoes and carrots, growing in the soil around the lake," Pozhar offered. "There are even the remains of some kind of small, stone structure nearby that appear to be the work of anonymous human builders, probably ice people."

"What are penguins doing this far inland?" Pagoniá inquired, pointing to a noticeable group further down the side of the lake.

"There's a river that leads out of the other side of the lake. It probably flows into the ocean. The colder side of the lake could be prime breeding ground for penguins because of the abundance of food. That would explain why a lot of those penguins still have the pin feathers that are characteristic of pretty young birds," Pozhar explained.

"We should set up camp here and stay for at least a day. We've got a good lead on the adult team, and we really need to restock our food supplies. Who knows how long it will be before we get another chance like this," Tilepátheia pointed out.

"That sounds like a good plan to me," Pagoniá agreed, nodding her head.

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Interesting hot spring. Just 2 more chapters, you don't have much time to vote and comment.