Ice Blink

25: Temple of Light

The wall shimmered with light reflecting from the pillar as if it had been crafted from :starlight. There were so many carvings that it was almost impossible to take it all in.

"Where do we start?" Pale light bathed Amarok's awestruck face, and for the first time he didn't look like a warrior. He looked like a young man dwarfed by the might and power of the mystical world. They all were.

The little chunk of crystal pulsed with warmth, and Nuna took care to keep it steady so the room would not be plunged into darkness.

Magnificent spirits glided across the wall, interspersed with strange symbols and runes which she had never seen before. She doubted even Qignaaq knew what they were. Her mentor had taught me a few rudimentary symbols which angakkuit sometimes carved in stone or bark to communicate with shamans from other tribes, but nothing as complicated as this. For the first time, she felt keenly aware of her inability to read letters. These symbols were jagged and varied, and a few jumped out at her: one looked like a lightning bolt, another like a three-pronged fork.

"Runescript," Niju whispered.

"What does it say?" Toklo backed away from the wall as if he thought a spirit would detach itself and attack. She couldn't blame him. Their eyes were haunting.

Niju began to speak. He looked slightly dazed, as if in a dream. "Once, there were six powerful spirits residing in the Sila. Imiq, a spirit of water..." He traced a rune beneath a spirit which seemed to ripple, the light bluish-green where it touched the carvings. This spirit looked like it belonged beneath the sea. "Amaak, a spirit of earth." The second spirit flowed with the contours of the cave wall, more embedded into the rock than the rest, as if it had been chipped out of the stone rather than carved into it. "Suluk, a spirit of air." This spirit was as insubstantial as a feather, floating high above the rest, stylized birds woven into the pattern of its design. "Ikkiyok, a spirit of rage." The rage spirit was monstrous and fiery, standing out among the rest as if it wished to dominate. "Kaaktuk, a spirit of desire." Its slanted eyes were half-closed, and it spiralled along the wall. "And Agliruk, the spirit of time." This spirit was disjointed, fragmented like a broken sheet of ice.

As his words filled the cave, something extraordinary happened. The light wavered and began to dance. Shadows shifted and changed. The carvings moved.

"What in the gods' names...?" Amarok breathed.

Toklo backed towards Amarok and Nuna, but Niju remained close to the wall, a solitary figure frozen amid the dancing spirits.

"These six, like all before them, were once part of the mortal world before their vessels died and their iñuusiq departed. They had grown strong in the Sila, stronger than the majority, and they craved nothing more than to return to the corporeal plane."

Suluk soared across the ceiling, shimmering like starlight made solid. Agliruk's fragments spun around its body, each one caught in a different time. Amaak sunk deeper into the wall while Imiq swam through ripples.

The sixth sense flowing beneath Nuna's skin stirred. She could feel the spirit trails tugging at her iḷitqusiq, echoes of the paths these spirits had once taken, imprinted into the Sila itself. They were like an invisible web, a thousand interwoven threads all pulling in different directions. She almost dropped the crystal in shock. She had never felt anything so strong before. Were her souls finally awakening to the spirits, as Qignaaq had always said they would? She wished the leader was with them.

"The spirits created silap putunga..." Niju's voice faltered as the Runescript itself began to move, letters locking together to form new meaning. The spirits swirled around the walls, circling us like eagles spiralling above helpless lemmings. Nuna's chest tightened. "An opening in the physical world that allowed them to cross a very large distance in a short time, in an effort to enter our world. As a result, the veil between the planes was weakened."

A shimmering rip in the cave wall grew brighter and the spirits converged around it. It fluttered like the edges of tattered fabric... but how could this be, when everything here was made of stone?

"The opening was too unstable and damaged the barrier between worlds permanently. This is the start of the Drift," Niju recited.

Goosebumps raced along Nuna's skin and every hair on her body prickled, a sign of the strongest trail yet, and this one felt as if a spirit had passed through her body, tugging at it like a wind only she could feel. A tremor rolled down her arm and she dropped the crystal.

The pillar was extinguished and the temple plunged into darkness once more. This time the darkness was worse, like the brief appearance of light had filled the shadows with vengeance.

Before any of them could speak, the rustling and clicking swelled to a crescendo, and the leathery sound of thousands of wings lifting filled the cave.

"The temple guardians," Amarok cried. "Run!"

They launched into a sprint, heading towards a faint glimmer of light in the distance which marked the entrance passageway. Nuna tried to shield her face from the claws as wings buffeted her on all sides, tiny bodies slamming into her before flapping away again. They flooded the cave, churning the air, making moving a constant battle.

A hand closed around hers. Amarok yanked her forwards. They stumbled into the tunnel. Most of the bats couldn't fit – the space was too narrow. Seizing their chance, they hurtled into daylight.

Cold air seared her windpipe and burned her lungs, but Nuna dragged in deep breaths.

"Let's get out of here," Amarok said.

"Wait. There might have been more to learn," Toklo said. "But Nuna dropped the crystal."

Nuna glowered at him.

"No, there was nothing more to read." Niju's brown eyes were dancing. "We must find the second temple if we are to continue this tale."

"What is the Drift? What did it all mean?" The power tied to the spectacle made her knees weak.

"We should get away from here and find shelter before we discuss anything," Amarok said. "Those bats were a defence mechanism."

They trudged through shrubs carpeted with snow and clambered over shattered rocks. They were all scratched, tired, hungry and thirsty, but didn't stop until they found a dilapidated wooden shack nestled in the murky white expanse, a good distance from the temple.

"Strange. I didn't think this area was inhabited," Niju said, but it was clear the shack had not been occupied for a long time. How had it remained standing through the blizzard?

This was no time to be picky, so they piled inside and built a fire, taking wood from a stack against the wall which looked like it hadn't been touched in years. Perhaps the last occupant of the place had meant to return to use it, but never made it back.

Nuna couldn't help but wonder if they had they fallen prey to the cold, or something more sinister.