Icebound

Chapter 16

I'm pleased to announce that Icebound will be on the Wattpad Fantasy Featured list starting May 5th! Thank you so, so much to everyone who's read, voted and commented. Enjoy the chapter!

XXX

The wolves led them deeper into the maze like forest. They never actually showed themselves, but Anyu knew they were there. Somewhere hidden among the trees, on the edge of her vision, paws padded softly in the freshly fallen snow and grizzled maws snarled menacingly, howling now and then to keep them on course. Shesh neighed uneasily. Anyu tightened her grip on her spear and petted Shesh's flank, her eyes shifting around in paranoia. The fact that they were unseen only made them more frightening in her mind.

Kano didn't seem afraid, only begrudgingly resigned. He trudged forward solemnly, his feet dragging in the snow as if he wanted to prevent them from reaching their destination.

Soon enough, however, they arrived. A large outcropping of ice and rock rose up from among the crowd of trees, disturbing the otherwise monotonous landscape. The hunk of ice was large, with the circumference of a small lake and the height of the tallest surrounding trees, but Anyu knew that this was only a miniscule shadow of what it had once been. They were looking upon the bedraggled remains of some long forgotten glacier.

A gaping hole indicated the entrance to a cave leading into the heart of the glacier. One of the wolves finally emerged from the shadows. Despite her fear, Anyu couldn't deny its beauty. It was large, perhaps half as tall as Shesh, with a glistening coat of black fur that made it stand out like a star in the darkness among the pure white snow. It's eyes were a mesmerizing yellow orange, exactly the color of tree sap.

The creature bared its teeth and growled at them, a deep, rumbling sound, and crouched low, its ears flattening against its skull. A spike of fear went down Anyu's spine. She pointed her spear at it in warning, her heart beating fast. It would hardly do any good against an entire pack of the beasts, but Anyu couldn't fight the instinct to defend herself before the wolf lunged.

But the wolf didn't attack. With a flick of its tail, it turned and ran into the glacier.

Kano stepped forward to follow the animal into its fortress of ice.

"Wait!" Anyu hissed. "This doesn't seem like a very friendly welcome to me." At their backs, the other wolves growled low in their throats, warning them to get a move on. "Are you sure it's safe?"

Kano waved her off with a shrug and continued forward. "We'll be fine," He said. "Most likely."

'Most likely' did not exactly reassure Anyu's agitation, but there wasn't really any choice in the matter. With one wistful glance back at the forest, Anyu followed Kano into the glacier.

It was dark inside but not pitch black. Thin rays of sunlight filtered through the icy walls, casting eerie reflections against them. Everywhere Anyu looked, a distorted version of herself stared back, glossy and cold. The tunnel twisted and turned but never forked; there was only one way in or out.

The tunnel eventually emerged into a wide chamber, as tall as a giant and as wide as Anyu's entire village. It was brighter thanks to several small fire pits scattered throughout the room, and warm enough that Anyu felt uncomfortable in her heavy coat. She reached out towards the fire as they walked passed the pits. It had been so long since she'd had a fire to keep her warm that she'd almost forgot what real warmth felt like. The heat of the flames revitalized her, made her feel more awake and less jittery. Whatever or whoever was waiting for them, she felt ready to face it.

He was waiting for them at the very end of the chamber. He lounged on what looked to be a sofa of sorts, a raised platform covered in various furs and skins, some plain black and brown, others shimmering golds or mottled blues and greens. Anyu wondered what animals they had come from. Bones littered the ground nearby, and by the stench of them, some were fresh.

His appearance brought her up short. The tangle of unruly black hair and the ratty, black clothes he wore gave him an unkempt look. His lips were pulled back into an unabashed sneer, and Anyu couldn't help but be reminded of a snout that wore a similar expression just a few minutes earlier. His eyes, too, were an eerily familiar gleaming yellow.

What made Anyu falter slightly was his age. He couldn't possibly have been more than thirteen or fourteen years old. Barely old enough to be a warrior in her tribe, yet he was some kind of powerful spirit they needed to ask for help. He was the same age as Anik. The realization gave her a painful stab of longing to see her little brother. In spite of his newly earned status as a warrior, Anik was not strong or powerful. He'd always been weaker, both in the physical sense and in terms of his spirit. It had been Anyu's job to look after and protect him. Her grandmother could only do so much to shelter him without Anyu there. She forced herself not to dwell on it, although her anxiety still roiled in the pit of her stomach. Anik would survive until she got back. He had to.

Kano's voice brought Anyu back to the present.

"It's good to see you," He said, although his voice made it clear that he considered it anything but good. "We were hoping that you'd still be here."

"You're not welcome here," Tavra replied with a growl. Even his voice had the petulant indignation of a boy not yet a man. "I thought that would be obvious, but since you were stupid enough to come, I'll spell it out for you: leave me alone."

Anyu looked back and forth between Kano and Tavra, trying to gauge the cause behind the tension electrifying the air. Clearly, it was personal.

Despite the stiffness of his shoulders, Kano kept an open smile plastered on his face. "I think you might be willing to look past your feelings towards me once you hear-"

"I said leave." He stood up, taking a threatening step forward. The soft noise of padding feet alerted Anyu to the crowd of wolves stalking closer behind them. There were almost a dozen of the animals, all looking hungry and anxious to attack.

"Kano," Anyu hissed. It seemed clear already that Tavra was not open to any negotiations. Leaving before he set his wolves on them was the only option if they wanted to get out alive. Kano kept his gaze locked with Tavra's, refusing to acknowledge Anyu or the prowling wolves.

"I screwed up," He said, gritting his teeth. "You don't have to remind me. But I'm trying to make it right." He gestured towards Anyu without looking away from the boy in front of him. "We've found her tamga." Tavra's eyes slid over to Anyu. She could tell the moment he identified the tamga around her neck the second his eyes widened and the snarl faltered. It made him look even more childlike and less wild.

"You..." He seemed at a loss for words. He seemed to realize his threatening aura had slipped and shook his head, returning to stare at Kano with narrowed eyes. "How?"

"Does it matter?" Kano asked with an arched brow. "I know you hate me. I also know that you hate Siku even more." He held out a hand to him.

Anyu saw the hesitation, the conflict in his eyes. Something was holding him back from agreeing. Again, Anyu wondered at the history here that she was unaware of. Why did this kid seem to have so much hate inside him? Perhaps Kano had miscalculated; however much Tavra hated Siku, he didn't appear ready to look past his anger towards Kano either. Finally, he seemed to make up his mind. He stood up slowly and reached forward, as if to shake Kano's hand.

Instead, he crouched down, hands poised on the bone littered ground, and pounced. His form shifted in midair. Although it didn't shock Anyu quite as much as it had the first time, when she'd seen Nanuk change into a bear, it was still spellbinding. The boy's fingers and toes changed first, elongating into sharp, deadly claws that could tear out a man's throat. The rest of his body followed, his skin and clothing molding together until he was covered in a layer of tangled black fur, his ears standing up on his head, his teeth and mouth transforming into a ferocious maw. The only thing that stayed the same was his eyes. His honey colored eyes held the exact same expression of resentment and rage as they had in his human face.

He barreled into Kano, sending them both sliding backwards on the icy floor. Anyu raised her spear and pointed it at the beast's heart, but she couldn't attack. Tavra had his paws on Kano's chest, holding him down, and growled into his face. He would kill Kano before the spear had even left her hand.

"Leave," He repeated. His voice had the same raspy quality as a knife sliding against metal but it was still recognizable as the voice of the boy he'd been before. "And if I ever see your face again, I will kill you."