Ice Blink

21: Buried Alive

Blue light filtered through Nuna's eyelids. Soft coldness pressed on her from all sides. Was this death?

"Wake up," Toklo said, and his voice rebounded against snow.

She opened her eyes and struggled to focus. Blue blinded her. At first she wondered if she'd fallen into a pool of crystal-clear meltwater, or into the sky itself, perhaps, but practicality gradually returned. Her head felt muzzy. When light shone through snow, the snow filtered out every colour but blue. The deeper or more compact the snow was, the darker the shade of blue. That meant they were under the snow. But... alive?

She struggled to sit up, her arms like water, and her head bumped against a low roof. "What is this?"

"It looks like a passage." Toklo felt the ceiling and Nuna lifted a hand. The snow was as hard as ice. She pushed experimentally, but it didn't give.

"Do we dig our way up?" Amarok asked. He and Niju were on their hands and knees further along the passage. They looked bedraggled: furs torn, hair tangled, and covered in white flakes.

"No," Niju said. "We don't know what's above us, and digging might collapse the tunnel, burying us alive."

"Then we go on," Amarok said. Even though he was on his knees he reached for his belt, but his scabbard was empty.

Toklo wordlessly handed him a knife and he inclined his head in thanks.

"Why haven't they killed us yet?" Nuna asked.

"I doubt they've given up on us or grown bored," Niju said. "They're toying with us. I suppose we'll soon find out."

The blue light made their skin look eerie, drained of colour, the pallor of corpses. As if the ahkiyyini had already claimed them.

They shuffled awkwardly through the tunnel, which was so low that Amarok had to duck his head. Wet seeped through the tears in her clothes and chilled her skin. The effect of the ahkiyyini's touch was ebbing, but not fast enough. She didn't feel ready to face any more of them – not now, not ever. Sheer will kept her moving forwards at the rear of the group. She focused hard on Toklo, trying to remind herself that if she stopped now, they'd leave her. She would be alone.

Amarok hissed in a breath. A scraping, sliding sound filled the small space.

"Amarok?"

"What's happening?"

"There's a steep drop," he called.

Nuna crawled after Toklo apprehensively. Without warning, he disappeared, and she hobbled forwards.

The compact ground vanished.

Her heart lurched as she toppled into cold air, but her knees hit snow again and she skidded painfully down a sharp incline. Chunks of ice battered her legs and tore the skin. She crashed into Toklo and put a hand on his shoulder, struggling to right herself.

At the bottom of this slope, darkness pressed in on them.

Toklo swore.

Nuna looked up, using Toklo for support as she stood. The tunnel was a blue hole above them, and she sensed they were in a cavern of snow, but the darkness was almost absolute.

"Is everyone here?" Amarok murmured. "I can't tell. This is disorientating."

"Yes," Niju replied.

Nuna put a hand on the slope. "Could we climb back up?" Every fibre of her three souls hated this place.

"And end up where we started? I don't think we should," Niju said. She cast a frustrated look in his direction even though she knew he couldn't see it. She had no idea how much Niju knew about the spirits, but he didn't seem to be an angakkuq, and the certainty with which he said things was sometimes irritating. How did he know? Why was he so sure of himself?