Ice Blink

42: The Drift

The shadowed end of the hall had been tugging at Nuna ever since they arrived. She wanted to see what the darkness hid. Was following impulses a bad thing when spirits surrounded them like vultures?

"Where are you going?" Niju followed. She couldn't help but glance up at Anguta as they passed, and he noticed. "Do we look much alike?"

Nuna bit back a smile. "No."

"Thank the spirits."

"I don't think you want to thank them right now."

Nuna hesitated before stepping into the darkness. It devoured her whole, as if she'd just sunk into a bath of ink.

She realised something was wrong when the rushlight in her hand turned green. Then the floor pitched her forwards, throwing her into the unknown, and the statues, the other Inua – all disappeared.

She managed to land on her feet, breathing deeply, when the end of the hall finally materialised. It was a throne on a dais, and something about it was utterly wrong. Boulders and rocks hung suspended in the air around it.

"A rockfall," Niju said from beside her.

The roof was halfway through collapsing, yet every piece of stone hung suspended as if time had frozen.

"What's going on?" Nuna hissed.

What's going on? A spirit mocked.

She flinched. She'd heard the spirits whisper, but this voice rang loud and clear, a twisted version of her own – and it wasn't in her head, either. The spirit felt real.

Nuna fully intended on running back to the others when she realised they were far away, tiny pinpricks at the other end of the hall. A rippling, translucent sheet had descended between them.

"We're in the spirit world," Niju said. "We're in the Drift."

We're in the Drift, the spirit taunted.

In the spirit world...

Oh, very clever...

What's going on...?

Their words looped back around, repeated over and over.

"A time spirit," Nuna said. "Agliruk?"

"If this was Agliruk itself, I think the damage would extend to more than just the end of this hall. But yes, a time spirit. One of Agliruk's weaker underlings."

"Let's get back to the others."

Back to the others?

Back...?

... the others?

A lilting question which rose an octave, as if this spirit thought the others were a figment of Nuna's imagination. As if it found the whole situation hilarious.

They walked towards the veil, but the floor twisted their feet around until they found themselves heading into a corner. Somehow, they had dropped their rushlights.

A wall moved unexpectedly. Nuna bumped into it and fell onto her hands and knees.

"Nuna, are you all right?" Niju's arm snaked around her waist and he helped her up. For some reason, his touch was like fire, and her legs nearly gave way again. This time she stumbled against him.

Somehow they found themselves caught between the corner and each other. And Nuna didn't want to let go.

His face was still covered by the mask but suddenly she ached to see it, wondering what his expression was. Her breathing turned ragged as his hands tightened on her waist and she rested hers over his chest. His heart fluttered beneath his layers. The contact between them, although small, was enough to make her forget about the world around them as every sense narrowed to him.