Ice Blink

52: Into the Glacier

"Sleep well?" Maliq asked the next morning.

"What?" Nuna sat bolt upright, her mind churning. He knew – how did he know – had he been watching?

"I asked if you slept well."

They were packing up, and Niju wasn't meeting her eyes across the shelter.

"Yes. Fine," Nuna said distractedly.

"Are you still half asleep?"

"I won't be for long."

Kayaking in the sea felt like being in a dome. Every sound was altered and magnified, especially the crisp noise of surf lapping against floes. Ice floes surrounded them in thick groups now, so they paddled through them, eyeing them nervously as they towered above the Inua. If a wave sent one crashing into the other, they would be crushed. Nuna always breathed more freely when they exited a cluster and entered open space.

Ringed seals poked their heads out of the water every so often, and Nuna smiled at their bright, inquisitive eyes and twitching whiskers, the way their nostrils opened to let in air before shutting again to block out the water. Her parka was sealskin, and it shimmered, silver and grey, in the hazy sunlight. Bowhead whales spouted in the distance, throwing up plumes of white spray against the grey water.

In the kayaks, with only a thin layer separating them from everything else, they were truly a part of this watery world. It was the closest they could get to flying, and she loved it.

The morning was cloaked in mist which wreathed through ice, and Nuna had to keep reminding herself they weren't in the Drift. A huge chunk of broken ice sailed past them, and Nuna gasped as the mist parted beyond it.

The glacier towered into the sky like a monster, swallowing the world. A wall of blue-white so tall she couldn't see the top, it emanated cold and majesty, it dwarfed them. One twitch, and this creature could crush them with collapsing ice. To the west, it sailed on in an unbroken line, devouring the place where she knew she should be seeing the coast. To the east, it dominated the sea. Did it even have an end?

"Wow," Lumi whispered.

"Now we need to look for the pillars which should mark the entrance to its heart," Niju breathed.

We dared not raise their voices in case it heard them. They paddled into its shadow, already shivering, and even the water seemed afraid to lap against it too violently.

When they drew closer Nuna realised it wasn't as simple as a wall. The glacier was a myriad of intricate sculptures, and she gawked at a section of ice which looked for all the world like folds of fabric, deep, intensely blue. A piece of ice which curved over their heads, a cresting wave just waiting to fall and devour us. Meltwater dripped from its edge onto her face.

"There," Amarok said.

An imposing line of natural pillars towered above them, almost as tall as the glacier itself. Water had eroded gaps between each column, and if she had ever imagined what a hall of gods looked like, this would be it. Grand, larger than life, intimidating.

Nuna held her breath when they kayaked through the gap in the centre.

"Look, it's the entrance." Directly in front of them, a deep blue mouth yawned. Natural erosion? Or had the shard created this? Had the shard known it might need a way out?

Nuna led the way into the clutches of the glacier.

Her breath smoked in front of her face and the cold bit deep. The blue walls sparkled with moisture and every slight noise echoed, magnified until she could hear the others' breathing patterns. The light filtering in behind us shrank to a pinprick, before disappearing entirely, and the tunnel grew bluer. Darker. The walls narrowed until her paddle scraped them with every movement. The ceiling lowered until she had to duck.