Astrila is a normal girl in her Inuit tribe, but is left alone by her mother's death. She runs to the cliffs that overlook the sea and grieves, before she slips and falls off of the cliff into the icy sea. Something saves her, but what is it? Join h...
She walks down the slope, her footsteps sure. Behind Kyma, Astrila follows, only a few steps behind. Kyma slows slightly as she approaches the seal hole, taking a deep breath, but she doesn't stop. She stops a meter or two away from it and stretches out her hand. There is a thin layer of ice covering the seal hole, and it cracks beneath the force of the water that surges beneath it. The water bubbles and rises into the air at Kyma's command. At the edges of the seal hole, the ice is fracturing.
Water continues to pour through it without pause, forming a massive bubble held before her. Astrila can see the barest hints of frost trying to spread across the surface of the water, but Kyma keeps it moving, not allowing the ice to take purchase. From below, a dark shape surges up towards the ice sheet, staring through it at them with one glowing eye. The Ludeag moves to dive again, becoming aware of the trap. But Kyma is too fast.
Coming to the surface had been the Ludeag's downfall. She pulls it bit by bit from the lagoon through the seal hole, wrapped in water. It surges and swirls, trying to get away from her, but its body is still trapped within the water. At last, the Ludeag is no longer connected to the lagoon, and Kyma sends the excess water pouring back through the hole. She slowly backs away from the seal hole, not taking an eye off the creature. From behind her, Lyss carefully guides Kyma up the slope. When they reach the even ground of the flat tundra, Kyma speaks. Her voice is hoarse, exhausted. Her strength is draining with every second she has to hold the Ludeag.
"Are you ready, Astrila?"
Astrila nods, summoning her winds. They form a disk beneath the Ludeag, ready to catch it the moment Kyma releases her hold.
"I'm ready. Drop it."
The bottom of the bubble falls open and without the water to conceal it, the Ludeag succumbs to gravity. It slips out of the bubble and onto the disk, trying to claw its way through the air back to safety. It hisses; in pain, anger, or fear, Astrila can't tell. But when it turns it's glowing gaze to her and snarls, she knows it's all three. It speaks in the language of the old land, the words dripping with malice.
"You. Return me."
Astrila shakes her head, her eyes wide. "I will not. You would just harm the people of this island."
"I promise, I will not. Just release me, I beg of you. The air burns!"
The Ludeag's last words are a wail of agony and Astrila winces before setting her face into a stony expression. She can see the lies, if she releases the Ludeag it will devour everyone on the island, if only for spite. The Ludeag sees this in her face and snarls again, lunging for her. She can't react fast enough, all her attention on holding the Ludeag in the air. But Kyma can. In a heartbeat, she has a dagger whipping towards the Ludeag. It buries itself in one of the Ludeag's clawing arms and it hisses, gazing at the dagger in disbelief.
"How- No-." it spits in Kyma's direction. "I curse you, child. And you!" It turns to Astrila. "May the kelpies drag you down and devour you for your crimes against me."
It wails again, its skin shriveling and drying. Smoke starts to spiral up from the Ludeag's skin as it cracks apart. The Ludeag's skin continues to splinter into what looks like ash, piled on the ground as Astrila's winds try to flee. Astrila grimaces and summons a wind back to carry what's left of the creature away. The remains of the Ludeag spiral into the sky, Astrila sending them up to the heavens. The Ludeag may have not been a good creature, but it is still deserving of a final resting place. She looks back down at the snow to find a strange object lying in the snowy divet where the Ludeag had briefly lied.
It's a glowing blue orb, like the one the Nanuq had given her. It pulls at Astrila, coaxing her to come closer. She can hear screaming in the back of her mind, but she can't pull her thoughts together to understand it. All she can see, all she can think about is the glowing orb. She steps forward, reaching out a hand toward it. The screaming grows louder and Astrila can vaguely hear someone from beside her, their voice panicked.
"Astrila, no!"
Her gloved fingers touch the surface of the stone and she picks it up, cradling it in the palm of one hand. She strips off the glove stifling her free hand and stretches out a finger to touch the surface of the stone. It flares with light, so bright she has to close her eyes. Then she's gone, swept away by a flood of pain. She knows nothing else but that pain.
~~~
Astrila blinks, her body aching. Above her, she can see the muzzle of a wolf. Its dark eyes bore into her own, and it growls softly.
"Stupid child. Why'd you touch the Ludeag's heart?"
"What?"
"Mind to mind, child. Speak mind to mind."
Astrila grimaces but does as the wolf says, her thoughts returning to her. The wolf is the Akh'lut, Atka. "What happened?"
"You touched the heart of the Ludeag. The very remnants of its venom remained in your veins, making it that much easier for the heart to control you."
Astrila glances around for the orb. "That was its heart?"
"Yes. It's right here." Atka noses something towards her, and the orb slides onto her pelt, the pale blue of it stark against the black fur. "You should be dead, child."
"I don't understand."
"The heart was the Ludeag's final attempt to take you, but you survived. The heart is yours now. It will protect you from magical control, as that's what it used on you." Astrila doesn't move to touch the orb, the heart, and Atka huffs in both amusement and irritation. "Take it, child. It can't hurt you now. But don't let anyone else touch it. The protections do not extend to them."
Slowly, Astrila wraps her fingers around the heart. She tenses as it comes into contact with her bare skin, but then she frowns. She's outside, she'll give herself frostbite! Atka laughs.
"Don't worry, you are protected from the elements here. Put that heart away."
Astrila swiftly slides the orb into her pocket where it clinks against the one Nanuq gave her. Atka huffs again, her tail swishing back and forth.
"Now listen. You will go to the old land when snow begins to melt, and only then. I will find you as you leave and we will speak again then. You will take your sister of the soul with you."
Astrila gapes at her. "Sister of the Soul?"
"Yes. The blue flower as your prophecy states. Your souls are sisters, your bodies are cousins. Return to your village now. I will see you when the snow melts. And do not take your Siqiniq with you to the old land. Or the blue flower's guard."
With that, Atka turns and bounds away from Astrila. The cold returns swiftly and Astrila gasps, sliding her glove back onto her bare hand. Kyma frowns at her.
"What just happened?"
Astrila's voice is dull, shock still coursing through her body. "An Akh'lut just gave me orders and told me we are cousins."
"Did you say cousins?"
"Yes?" ________________________________________________________________________________ Haha! Who was expecting them to be cousins? Also, to help, I'll put a family tree in here. What do you think of Astrila's encounter with the Ludeag's heart? How did she survive? What will happen next? Tell me your thoughts!
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