Tammy's door was jammed. She climbed over to the other side, jumped out but twisted her ankle when she slid on a rock. Naoto and Danian carried her towards the head of the glacier in front of them. A wall of ice that loomed about twenty meters high. Henry waited at a massive ice cave and ushered them in, moments before the rocky ground behind them exploded in flames. They kept running deeper into the cave.
A harrowing scream echoed back from the cold, smooth walls of ice around them. Danian turned around and had to shield his eyes; the cave entrance was suddenly ablaze. His hair seemed to smoulder from the heatwave that rolled past them. But they'd put just enough distance between them and the dragon not to be roasted alive.
When it turned dark again, everyone fumbled with shaking hands for their smartphones, apart from Tammy, who leaned onto Naoto's shoulder. Flashlights illuminated the cave, and two foreboding tunnels became visible in front of them. Henry turned towards the larger one on the left.
"Why not the smaller one?" Tammy asked through her teeth, clenched in pain from the ankle injury.
"Yeah, that thing won't be able to follow us," Danian agreed.
But Henry shook his head vehemently. "It'll smoke us out. This way. And watch your step."
Slowly the rumbling behind them got intertwined with the mellow sound of water running down a stream. Indira accidentally slipped, her left leg dangling in the air on the edge of a small cliff.
Danian lurched forward and grabbed her arm.
He pulled her up, briefly pointed his light into the deep precipice and bristled. At the bottom of the pitch-black void, a subterranean river had carved its way through the glacier.
"Careful now," Henry urged.
A fireball smashed into the wall on their right, followed by an excruciating sound of cracking ice. The bridge groaned under their feet. Disheartening fractured sounds in concert with Naoto's lyrics.
"Here we stand, or here we fall. History won't care at all."
Once they'd carefully passed over the glacial meltwater, the small group trooped further into the tunnel that opened up into another cavern.
Naoto was still singing. Louder now with regained confidence, or hysterics, Danian couldn't tell for the life of him. By the time his friend reached the final verse, he was full-on screaming.
"We're just waiting for the hammer to fall."
The song reverberated from the walls around them.
Suddenly, there was another sound. That of crushing ice. A dastardly, distorted scream. The splashing noise of something ginormous tumbling into the meltwater.
A glistening, cold-white flash of light shot past them.
Danian's pulse was racing. Nobody said a word. They just stood there, frozen in place like stalagmites. Danian counted to a random number then carefully ventured back into the tunnel—one freezing hand running along the wall.
The natural bridge they'd crossed over moments ago was gone. Only a small ledge on the side of the tunnel remained intact. Probably about wide enough for them to balance back, Danian judged. But more importantly, there was no sign of their hellish tormentor.
Back out of the cave, Henry nearly broke the Rover's winch when they pulled the car with combined strength out of the ice and further down the moraine to where the bank wasn't as steep and high. Once back on the R1, the ride was finally smooth.
Danian turned around. His three friends, Naoto in between the two girls, were fast asleep. He lay his hand on Henry's shoulder.
"Your Viking ancestors would surely be proud of their dragon-slaying offspring."
YOU ARE READING
Soul Heist - The Missing Mentor
Fantasía"I thought yetis were... hogwash." Happy-go-lucky Danian is surfing in Bali during term break when he finds himself smitten with Indira, a fervent climate activist. Eager to impress her and learn the true purpose of his life, he agrees to help find...
