Ice-Bound Promise [Wattys 2023 Shortlister]

10

10

She could not stop shaking. Even as Shihiri nudged the massive head of the dire wolf with her leather booted foot, Únik imagined the creature would rise to its paws as big as her head and attack them once again. Looking at her whale hook, blood dripping from the curved tip, she saw it fall from her fingers and she stepped away, rubbing her slick palms against her furs.

Barsa lay to the side, licking the three stripes upon his fur where the beast had clawed at him. He seemed unperturbed by his injuries and, in truth, the dog appeared to have avoided worse. As Únik stumbled towards her hound, she saw the claw marks were only skin deep and Barsa's ears pricked up as she neared him. Grabbing him by the fur on his neck, she bent almost double to bury her face atop his head, holding him tight.

"We cannot stay here." Shihiri moved towards the other, normal sized, wolf that she had killed, ripping the arrow from its eye and wiping the blood on the wolf's fur before returning the arrow to her quiver. "The other wolves will want to feast upon their dead leader."

In a daze, Únik rubbed Barsa's neck once more, nodding, even though she didn't know if Shihiri saw the nod or not. She didn't want to stay here anyway. The place had taken on a dark, miasmic tinge to her eyes. It had become a place of death. Standing, she felt the discomfort of her wet clothing beneath her furs and felt her ruddy face flush. She, a grown woman, losing her composure in such a way! She didn't doubt Hatyara would have something to say about that.

Thinking of the Ice-Kin, she looked around for her and saw the girl still with her back against one of the boulders. Her eyes remained wide, the now extinguished branch still held away from her body, shaking as her arms shook. As her entire body shook. Shihiri moved to Hatyara, taking the branch from her hands and tossing it upon the scattered remnants of the fire.

Hatyara blinked several times and looked at her now empty hands. If Únik didn't know any better, she could imagine the Ūtharan beginning to cry. That is, until the girl pushed herself away from the face of the boulder, brushing down the furs tied about her and then running thin, delicate fingers through her hair. Her face became composed and calm, but, behind those almost white eyes, Únik still saw the fear.

"Is anyone injured?" Lifting her chin in the air, Hatyara looked around before setting eyes upon Barsa. "Oh, no!"

"He's fine. He'll live. Don't fuss over him or he'll start to expect it." Únik said the words, but she had only this second stopped hugging Barsa, herself. "Shihiri says we should move."

"We still need rest, but we'll find none here." The Fae's head inclined as the sound of howls erupted from beyond the boulders once more. "They won't bother us now. They have feasting on their minds."

"They will eat ... this?" Wrinkling her nose, circling away from the dead dire wolf, Hatyara moved towards Únik and Barsa.

"They'll eat anything, especially if its still warm." Laughing, Shihiri bent over, sticking fingers into the blood dribbling from the beast, rubbing the liquid between finger and thumb. "Still warm. It'll keep them from starving for a week or so."

Hatyara made a visible swallow, her hand reaching out to grip the fur sleeve of Únik's coat. Únik didn't tear her arm away, as she would have in the days before. She understood how the Ice-Kin felt. The presence of the dire wolf, even dead, gave her goosebumps. Moving away, allowing Hatyara's fingers to slip from her sleeve, she began to gather their belongings.

She saw the whale hook, discarded on the ground, and realised she had come along on this journey without any preparation. Events had forced her to react without thinking, without pause. Now, she stood beside a dead monster, with two people she hardly knew and her hound, her favourite creature in the world, lay injured at her feet.