A Fire Within

Part 2

Chapter 11

Nima climbed to the top of the iceberg, laughing at the wind blowing her hair, sweeping across her seal fur shirt. Black smoke gushed from the exhaust pipe of their great coal engine, but Nima stayed up wind, watching the column rise. Before long it would freeze into black snow and fall back to the ocean. She breathed deep up here, the brief solitude was a special kind of freedom. A seabird squawked at her, a taunt. She squawked back. From this high some of the birds were beneath her. How would it be to swim the air like them?

The sun was a little low, which made most of the adults cranky, but Nima knew they would make up the difference. They were well within their borders.

From up here she could see above the ice cliffs and glaciers to the towering peaks of the continent. In the distance, she could see the green tint of the oasis that was their next stop. It was a perfect day for some excitement.

Her friends, Hitty and Kallik, finally arrived, struggling with the sled they'd made from bone and leather straps. "Why don't you have to help?" asked Hitty, glumily. He was always gloomy.

"Because you two are stronger and it was my idea."

"It's a bad idea," said Kallik. He was always frightened.

"Come on, you had fun building it!" said Nima, helping them tug it the final distance to the top.

"We're going to get in trouble," said Kallik. "We're not supposed to be up here."

Nima put a hand on each of their bare shoulders so she could get a better idea of their emotions. Hitty pulled away almost immediately. "You're supposed to ask first, Nima," he said.

"Sorry," she said. People loved to tell her what she was supposed to do. There were so many rules that didn't make sense. Why wouldn't you want someone else to know how you were feeling? Facial expressions and tone of voice already revealed a lot. But Nima had learned that some people used emotions like a mask, covering up uglier emotions that they didn't want others to see. Kallik didn't mind, in fact it seemed to calm his nerves to be able to feel someone else's emotions. "Anyway, let's go!" she said, adjusting the sled toward the steepest side of the glacier and hoping in front.

Kallik got on next while Hitty held the back. "I think we should tighten all the straps," he said.

"No more waiting, get on!" said Nima, bursting with anticipation. She started scooting the sled forward.

"Wait!" said Hitty.

"Hurry!" said Nima as it slid forward.

Hitty frowned and sat down on the ice.

"Hitty jump on!" said Nima.

"I changed my mind," he said, folding his arms.

"Hitty?" Kallik said.

"All right," shrugged Nima, throwing her weight forward. The sled tipped nearly straight down and Nima's eyes opened wide. Kallik ducked his head, clinking to Nima as the sled dropped. It bounced on the uneven ice, picking up tremendous speed. Nima laughed with delight while Kallik shrieked and squoze Nima even harder. The sled wobbled, some of the straps coming lose, but it didn't need to hold much longer. They shot off the edge over the water, an impressive drop. Nima let go of the sled, spreading her arms wide, like the wings of a bird.

Too soon they splashed into the salty water. Nima swam to the surface still laughing and spitting salty water from her mouth. "Kallik!" she called. "That was amazing!" Instinctively she drew from the Koar to adjust for being in the water, something that was second nature to her now. "Kallik!" she called, swimming in a circle. Where was he? She stopped laughing. "Kallik?"