Before Beasts, There Was Light--Book 9

Finite

It felt much longer than it took to get to shore. Despite the close proximity of two bodies, cold still seeped in around Kai, and the tiny boat tossed so much on the waves that by the time they had reached shore the only one who hadn't thrown up was Kai himself, and that was through sheer force of will. The moment they pulled him out of the hole, though, he was hung over the edge of the boat and tossing remains of rice flavored stomach acid into the sea.

Only then did they give him back his pants, just as wet and frozen as before.

"We need you to fly to shore to pull us in," said Ray as he handed them to him.

Kai looked out to the craggy, ice locked shore and grimaced. Why didn't that land look welcoming? Even after the puking?

"GPS says we're only ten miles north of our destination," said Tyson, as though that should cheer Kai up about slipping ice-burnt legs into frozen pants. "And look! The sun's come up! Sort of..."

The orange orb of the sun hunkered close to the horizon, as though shyly peeking in on them, while night still brimmed the other end of the sky. At least the ocean wasn't pitch black anymore.

Even as Kai braced himself, pants in hand, for the world of pain he was about to plunge into, Tala got up from his end of the boat and started stripping. The other four, exhausted boys could only stare as the newly minted wolf boy stepped up to the side of the boat with all his wrinkly bits exposed to the world and dived over into the gray, frozen waters.

Tyson gave a strangled sort of 'heh.'

Kai hugged his wings in tighter about him. "Guess I won't be needing these, then." He handed Ray the frozen pants.

Tala's head poked above the lapping waves a moment later. "Are you going to throw in the rope or what?"

His teeth weren't chattering in the least.

"Sure," squeaked Tyson. Though he seemed to shake himself out of his empathy freezing as he reached for the end of the rope and tossed it in.

Slowly, but surely, they made it to land. Kai managed to make himself some sort of pants by using a pocket knife from the survival bags to cut up the middle of the blanket they had thrown over him and was almost not completely in freezing agony when he fluttered down to shore to help Tala pull the rest of the boat with the others onto the rocks. Though without his coat, most of his effort went into squeezing the fire within him as hot as it would go and out into his bare limbs. The heaving involved with pulling the boat in helped. But once the little dingy got as beached as it could, the cold quickly plunged in, swiping away his breath and bringing his wings about himself so tight, several muscles pulled.

Ray threw his coat at him, yelling something, but Kai didn't make it out over the rustle of leather and the waves slapping against the stone and ice shore.

"At least there's land," said Tala next to him, kicking at a few pebbles, and looking horrendously comfortable despite not wearing a coat.

Though he did have a point. Ice shores meant they were still beyond the Arctic Circle.

Alas, once his frozen fingers closed up the coat as far as it would go and pulled the fur hood tight about his face, a snake-like, bitter cold still circled his warmth, numbing his skin and extremities.

Kai watched as his breath rose in a column of steam. His teeth chattered like maracas.

Then he was back to the boat to catch Ayah as Ray handed her out. Her brother watched on with jealous eyes, the only one of the group who looked just as cold as Kai felt. His starved limbs could hardly hold himself let alone his sister, and they all knew it.