Laugavegur, A Hinterland Journey

Chapter 31 - Beneath the Ice

The refugee army pressed forward, climbing towards the summit of Miredale Mountain. Katla fled before them casting bombs of molten rock onto the pass behind her as she retreated. Most of the remaining garms fled over the pass and down into the grassy valleys beyond the snow. Those that stayed to fight were quickly overwhelmed by warrior spears and dragon's breath. Skari had secured himself a reindeer mount and was outpacing the rest of the warriors as he closed in on Katla.

The Jokull Dragons, however had already caught up with her. Like bees about the honeycomb, they swarmed Katla. The witch defended herself from the icy onslaught by sending up gouts of fire from nearby craters and deep fissures in the land. Fire and ice clashed, crackled, and burst in explosions of steam. It made for a thrilling, but deadly pyrotechnic display. It was evident though, that Katla was weakening, overwhelmed by the sheer number of Jokull Dragons.

As Skari closed on Katla, he saw a Jokull Dragon bear down on her. The witch's head hung low, her shoulders heaving. Her gauldur is shattered, he thought. Skari jumped from his mount and with a quick flash of his staff, he raised a shield of rock above her. The Jokull Dragon's breath blasted down on Katla from above but was blocked by the stone. As the dragon flew off, Katla collapsed in the snow beneath the rock shelter.

Skari ran the last few meters to where the witch had fallen.

"Skari..." Katla was hunched over, completely spent. The fire had gone from her eyes.

"We meet again," the seer said softly.

"And again, and again," replied the witch.

The seer laughed ruefully. "Indeed. Is there no way that this can stop?"

"You know better than to ask that. I could no more ask you to stop being wrinkled and overbearing. This is just the way of things."

Skari shook his head. "You haven't always been like this. I knew you before..."

Katla weakly waved him off. "I know, Skari. But this is what I am now. I meant what I said. I do not wish the folk ill, really. It is just that a fox will never be a hare no matter how much she may try." Katla groaned as she tried to sit up, but she lacked the energy to even do that. Skari shifted around and cradled her head in his lap.

"It still hurts to see you like this. You are my kin and I always want to protect you."

Katla tried to smile.

Skari looked over his shoulder and saw several of the refugee warriors clearing the rise. He turned back to Katla. "Our time is short."

"It always is." Katla sighed, her eyes distant.

"We will see each other again, sister. Maybe next time it will be different."

"You are an optimistic fool. Still, I am grateful when it can be you who puts me back under ice," said Katla as she closed her eyes. "For as many times as it has happened, I still fear the ice like the puffin fears the seal."

Overhead, the blue dragons circled.

"I am sorry," said Skari grimly.

"Then be on with it."

Skari nodded and placed the palm of his hand against her cheek. Her skin paled and her lips frosted over, her mouth frozen slightly agape from when she pulled her last breath. Skari looked on her once more, tears welling in the corners of his ancient eyes. He backed away from her. The stone shelter he had conjured receded back into the ground. He signaled to the circling dragons and they flew down and coated the entire summit in a thick rind of snow and ice. Katla disappeared beneath blankets of white; the fires of Miredale Mountain, quenched once again.