Icebound

Chapter 37

They set out across the tundra immediately. There was no time to nurse wounds or stop to rest- the deadline was fast approaching for Anyu's passage back home to disappear, and she refused to miss it.

They set out on foot, with Anyu riding astride Shesh's back and Tavra alternating back and forth between wolf and boy seemingly at random. All Anyu could think about as they made their way through the frigid landscape was home- that small village and the vast frozen wasteland that surrounded it. She saw it all in her mind's eye as if it was right in front of her. The series of small, frozen lakes to the east that were the best hunting ground for seals, and to the north the boreal forest where larger, more dangerous game roamed. Her grandmother, who was wise and caring even if half-crazy, her little brother Anik, too kind and naive for his own good. It all seemed so distant to her now, like a dream life. She wanted desperately for it to be real again.

Traveling at top speed, there was little time to talk amongst themselves, and Anyu was glad of it. She felt tongue-tied, uncertain of anything she would want to say, especially to Kano and Tavra. After all their adventures, after everything they'd been through, she'd be leaving them so quickly. Her heart sank at the thought, even as it longed to be home. She glanced at the two of them out of corner of her eye several times, but they didn't meet her gaze. Their thoughts must have been similar to hers.

Anyu clenched her hands tightly around Shesh's reins as they shot out over the ice. She didn't want to have to say goodbye.

Two days slipped past quickly, and suddenly Seqineq called out for them to halt.

"Stop!" she said, her powerful voice resonating out over the open ice. "We're here."

It was a small, circular pool cut out into the ice. It was alone in the middle of the flat, featureless tundra, the only disfiguration in the surface for miles and miles. Anyu jumped off of Shesh's back and walked towards it. She peered over the edge into the water. The water was opaque, the kind of blue so dark and heavy that it was almost black. A perfect reflection stared back up at her, without any ripples or waves to disturb her image.

Anyu squinted her eyes and leaned closer. Far beneath the surface she thought she saw something sparkling, almost like a sky of constellations submerged underwater. The image quickly faded out of view, however, as if she had imagined it.

She stood staring into the dark waters, suddenly frozen in place. She felt like she could't move.

"So this is it?" She asked. Her voice was quiet, so much so that she wondered if the others could even hear her. "The way back?"

"Yes," Seqineq replied. "This is the way back to the mortal world."

Anyu swallowed thickly, her hands clenched into fists at her side. This was the end then, truly the end. She would be home, with her brother and grandmother, her entire tribe. She would return to her routine. Hunting seals and polar bears, skinning the furs for clothing, drying the meat for food. A normal life, with no terrifying gods or magic to come after her.

She took a deep, even breath and let it go. Her exhale turned into a burst of steam before dissipating into thin air.

She stood staring at the water as she spoke. "Is there any way back?" It was the question she'd both been dying and dreading to ask. She was afraid of what the answer might be- afraid it would make her hesitate or even change her mind. "Once I'm back on the other side, I mean."

"There are always passageways leading to Adlivun, for those who know how to find them," Seqineq answered gently. "Sometimes a dozen appear all at once. Sometimes the doorways remain closed for centuries." She paused and inclined her head. "It's for the spirits to decide."