Ice Blink

53: Heart

Nuna and Iki walked unsteadily towards the heart. Not even Keeonah's white quartz could dull the roaring in her ears.

"You're going to get the shard and pass it to us," a soldier ordered.

"Like hell they are," Maliq snarled.

They turned to see him, still trapped by ice, with an arrow nocked to a bow he had found discarded nearby. He fired straight at Niju.

Out of instinct, Niju dived for cover, and Aniu tore free. She half-jumped, half-fell from the ledge and sprinted towards Maliq as he fired again at the men running after her.

Nuna snatched up two icicles and began a deadly dance. She was hyperaware of every twitch her opponents made, every gust of air as bodies moved around her. She dodged and whirled, blocked and stabbed, her blade slipping between ribs and slicing tendons.

Iki stabbed her opponent in the throat before a soldier pulled him backwards, revealing Niju facing her across space which was suddenly empty.

Their eyes met.

"Why did you do it?" she screamed, lunging. "Why?"

"You wouldn't understand," Niju flung back, avoiding her wild, desperate attacks.

"Then tell me!"

"You know nothing about Mortu – nothing at all." There was a strength in his voice she had never heard before. She didn't know this man.

"Then explain! You can't, can you?" Nuna spoke between heaving breaths as sweat trickled down her brow.

Then orange flared to life, catching her attention, on an ice platform on the opposite side of the cavern. The Ikkuma dominated it, fighting with strange swords: fire licked the blades as if they'd coated them in oil. In their midst, looking worse for wear but still standing, was Amarok.

He's alive.

Nuna's knees went weak. As Niju, too, glanced towards the Commander, she seized her chance. Her fist smashed against his face, the blow reverberating through her bones, up her arm.

Nuna's grim satisfaction was short-lived. Stumbling backwards, Niju snatched up a spear, then advanced.

A spear, against fast-melting icicles. Iki had pulled Maliq free, and they were both shielding Aniu as they fought. Lumi, to Nuna's relief, was back on his feet. But they were all too far away to save her now.

"Nuna!" Amarok's shout sounded above the fighting and she turned to see him flinging a flaming sword off the ledge, leaving himself weaponless, still surrounded by Ikkuma.

The sword arced through the air, over a ravine, and despite the memory of Viggo almost melting her face with that torch, she dived for it. Incredibly, her fingers closed around the hilt. Thank you.

Nuna spun to face Niju with a snarl, holding the burning weapon in front of her with both hands. Everything was bathed in its orange light.

Niju halted, his eyes narrowing.

Before she could attack, Iki shoved past her and dived for him, brandishing an axe. Niju's spear lifted to deflect it. "Get to the heart, Nuna!"

She longed to help, but Iki was creating a distraction she couldn't afford to waste. She ran to the heart, to that fragile film of ice, and kicked it with all her strength.

It shattered – and the slivers blasted away from it, flying everywhere, peppering her face and hands with cuts. Ignoring the pain, Nuna stepped inside.

Cold energy thrilled through her and the shard in her pocket thrummed. Viggo and the others had missed it when they'd searched her. This shard sat upon a glistening block of ice, and she snatched it up.

Immediately, a long, low rumble ran through the glacier.

The fighting stopped as chunks of ice began raining down from the roof.

"We have to get out!" Amarok jumped down from the ledge and raced across the cavern, avoiding the ravine.

Iki ran to Lumi and Maliq's sides. Nuna stuffed the shard in a pocket and hesitated, tightening her grip on the sword when she realised Niju was only a few paces away.

"Nuna, come on!" Aniu screamed.

"No." She faced Niju again as bloodlust roared through her.

As cracks shot like lightning through the walls and the floor shook, Amarok appeared beside her and seized the sword. He grabbed her shoulder, hauling her away.

They sprinted to the tunnel together, breath bursting through her throat. Huge chunks of ice slammed into the ground around them and they leaped to avoid them, every sense on overdrive. The glacier's groaning grew louder, along with horrible creaks and crunches as the ice began to break apart. The glacier was crumbling, and they would be buried inside forever unless they got out now.

Nuna's heart dropped to her feet as they reached the main tunnel and the walls caved in front of them.

"There's another way," Iki shouted. "Come on!"

They ran back to the ledge, shocked to find the cavern seemed twice as small as before, jumping over collapsed pillars, clambering over mounds made of ice chunks. Nuna grabbed Aniu's hand and squeezed tight, trying to tell her without words that they would be all right, they would make it, the glacier was toppling but surely they would find a way...

No matter what, it was likely she would lose both hands. She had cast her gloves aside to get the shard.

They hauled themselves up the ledge and forced into the narrow fissure the soldiers had brought Aniu through. The other soldiers had disappeared ahead. Nuna hoped they wouldn't run into them.

This tunnel had already half-collapsed, forcing them to drop into a crawl, dragging themselves desperately along. Nuna peered over her shoulder in time to see Niju scrambling after them, his teeth bared and bloody, the tunnel collapsing just behind him, and fear jolted through her.

"Hurry!" Lumi gasped.

They clawed along the tunnel until it opened up again, and broke into a sprint once more. The tunnel spat them out on one of the glacier's blindingly white flanks, and they ran along a narrow edge. Nuna sucked in fresh air. Now they could see entire sections crumbling away in avalanches, smashing into the sea, creating waves.

The ice platform beneath them groaned and juddered, about to give way. They raced to the edge and paused.

Nuna peered down. The drop was huge, enough to kill them as soon as they hit the dark water.

Maliq forced a laugh. "So we've fought Mortu's people and stopped the glacier, and this is how the gods decide to repay us."

Nuna grabbed Amarok and Aniu's hands. "Let's go into it together. It's our only way out. We might survive."

Iki gave her a sad smile, reaching for Maliq as Aniu took his other hand. Maliq held on to Lumi.

Together, as the ice cracked and began to fall away, they leaped off the edge and plummeted towards the sea.

At first they were weightless – then they dropped like stones, wind blasting them. A scream stuck in Nuna's throat as fear overwhelmed her.

They slammed into the sea and water closed above her head.