Ice Blink

22: Sila

Toklo and Niju pulled Amarok out of the gap, and they kept running. They had no idea how far they'd travelled under the crust, but they were going to put as much distance as possible between themselves and the ahkiyyini's lair. To Nuna's unutterable relief, they didn't follow. Maybe one victim was enough for them for now.

Toklo whooped and overtook her. Her legs itched with that old urge to try and beat him, but she was far too tired and the memory of being paralysed, with the ahkiyyini pinning her down, was still raw. She shuddered.

"Amarok!" Toklo pulled an object out of the snow: a hilt, closely followed by a long, elegant blade... the Commander's sword. Toklo grinned and tossed it to Amarok, who caught it and threw Toklo's knife back at him in one fluid movement.

"Thank the spirits!" Both young men were beaming at each other, and Nuna felt it too: sheer delight to just be alive. It made every small thing seem precious. Niju paused beside her and she had to fight down the urge to hug him.

"A god must be on our side after all," Niju said. "All our gear is here, look."

Their elation didn't last. They walked until Niju judged they'd put enough distance between themselves and the battlefield, although Nuna had no idea how he could tell where it ended, before making camp in a concealed hollow surrounded by sharp-edged rocks.

They were silent as they woke a fire with the branches of nearby dead shrubs and heated some of the dried meat Amarok had found at the Outpost. It was tough and flavourless, but Nuna felt like she hadn't eaten in days so forced it down without complaint.

"You would have killed that man," Toklo said to her, finally breaking the silence. She recoiled at the sharp accusation.

"Yes. I would." For the first time in her life, she had wanted to end another's.

"He was only a scout, he knew nothing."

"He would have killed us. He was working for Mortu!"

"Even so, to kill in cold blood is a terrible thing," Amarok said gravely. "It harms your iñuusiq. If we are to be Inua, it's not how we should act."

Nuna lowered her eyes to the embers. Of course they were all against her. "I want justice. I want –" A ball of grief blocked her throat. I want to see Aneguin, Meriwa and Kenai again.

"Iñuusiq," Niju murmured, stirring the fire with a stick. The flames leaped higher. "The life force and one of the three souls." He reached for his waterproof sealskin bag and pulled a scroll out. "I think it's time I explained why Sedna wanted me to come with you – before some new horror attacks us."

Gratitude welled inside her. Was he distracting the others on purpose, to spare her their wrath? But no, he wasn't looking at her, his attention instead glued to the scroll.

"Everything has three souls, this is common knowledge. No one knows this better than you, Nuna. The iñuusiq is the life force, the iḷitqusiq is the personal spirit, and the atiq is the name soul. After death, the iñuusiq departs for the east to join the Sila, but the other components can be reborn."

"What is the Sila?" Toklo asked.

"What have your parents told you?"

"Just that it connects us all – human and animal, tree and rock, river and glacier. It's part of everything. I know some call it the spirit world, others call it the Beyond or the underworld. But what is it?"

"It is all of those things. It is the air around us in the atmosphere. It is our breath. It means all our souls are the same, and in that sense, killing an animal has the same consequences as killing a man."