Ice Blink

24: Temple of Shadows

The land turned rocky, with little cliffs rearing out of the snow, rubble and boulders from ancient rockslides strewn across their path, and shrubs growing high as they took advantage of any shelter the cliffs provided. Their progress slowed as they picked their way through it, and at first Nuna thought the land was all natural.

"Look," Niju murmured, and she followed his line of sight to see a faint carving etched in a rock. Now she was looking properly, she realised the rock was too square to have been dislodged by angry spirits, which was usually why landslides occurred.

More carvings jumped out at her as they walked, rimed with frost or weathered so badly they looked like mere scratches. But she spotted what could have once been the base of a pillar like those in Illulik's great hall, and the foundations of a wall or building. They passed one stack of stones which stood out, its carvings sharp.

"A landmark?" Toklo crunched up to it.

"Or a shrine," Niju said. "Or an altar."

Toklo, who'd been about to touch a stone, snatched his hand back.

"Do you feel anything?" Amarok asked Nuna.

She could hear a voice, barely indistinguishable, meant just for her.

"Yes," she and Niju replied at the same time. She darted a wary glance at him.

"So what was this place?" Amarok asked. His hands were curled into fists as if he hated relying on feeling rather than solidity – as if he longed for a corporeal opponent to fight. Temples and remnants of ancient things were not his forte.

"Built by the same hands that shaped the Temple of Shadows," Niju said, hopping neatly over another foundation marker and clasping his hands behind his back. Nuna followed the path he took but landed far less gracefully, hoping he hadn't noticed. "I wish we knew more about this ancient people. There's so much knowledge we've lost of our own history! This may sound selfish, with the glacier and the war looming, but I hope the temples will reveal a little more about the past that shaped this land."

"We have our traditions," Toklo pointed out, "passed down by word of mouth for generations. And we have stories that are the same across all the tribes, like those of the gods and Igney. Aren't they enough?"

"Not when we walk through the ruins of magnificent stone structures, not knowing how or why they were built. And not when we encounter ahkiyyini who were formed in a battlefield we have no record of. Something tells me the glacier is linked to our poor knowledge. Maybe we've forgotten something important, which should not have been allowed to slip into shadow."

A chill ran down her arms and legs, reminding me horribly of hypothermia. At first she thought it was because of Niju's ominous words, but then she saw the others' breath steaming in front of their faces, fogging the air.

They walked around a corner and halted. Deep shadow cut across the path in front of them. A cliff reared high above their heads, blocking out the sun and creating intense blue depths which were startling against the white snow behind. The cliff bristled with sharp rocks and icicles, warning them back. It didn't want them here. She could feel its negative energy in the Sila, darkening the air ty breathed.

"Look." Toklo pointed.

The cliff curved in, and at the centre of the hollow was a cave, perhaps carved beautifully once, but now half-collapsed. Still, they could see how the arch tapered gracefully to a point. Smooth stone steps ascended to the mouth, and here and there in the cliff face around it she spotted crumbling traces of what must once have been a grand temple: windows which now looked like cracks, and balconies like natural ledges.