Icebound

Chapter 35

Bits of snow and ice flew into the air as Shesh galloped forward at full speed, Anyu's knife outstretched in front of her as they charged directly at Siku. The indweller woman bared her teeth at them as she ran forward, her own sword poised to strike. There was rage and violence in her eyes, a revenge so pure that her bright blue eyes seemed to glow with the intensity of it.

But Anyu was done letting indwellers get the better of her. She had learned a few things herself these past weeks, and she intended to show Siku just what she was dealing with.

In a practiced movement, Anyu raised her foot to lean against Shesh's back. In the split second before they clashed with Siku, she launched herself off of him with all her strength, soaring into the air.

Shesh immediately veered left towards the boys and Sakari while Anyu flew over Siku's head, rolling to land on her feet behind her. Turning her fall into a seamless motion, she instantly turned around and raised her snow-knife to strike. With any luck, Siku would be taken by surprise and this battle could be won before it ever truly started.

But it couldn't be that easy, of course. Moving so fast that Anyu's eyes could hardly follow her, Siku turned around and met the arc of Anyu's knife with her sword. The sound of it seemed to echo out into the far reaches of the tundra, the unearthly chime of bone and ice colliding.

Grunting in effort, Siku pressed forward with inhuman strength, forcing Anyu back several steps. Anyu breathed heavily, tightening her grip around her knife even as her stomach dropped from under her. She didn't have the strength with only one hand to defeat Siku in single combat. She was doomed to fail.

Nonetheless, she grit her teeth together and charged back into the fight

Meanwhile, on the other side of the battle, Shesh had lowered his head and charged straight into Sakari, hitting the startled young woman square in the stomach and sending her flying back into the snow.

Shesh snorted at her direction in contempt, as if to say: You're going to get what's coming for you.

"Shesh!" Kano cried incredulously.

Shesh turned and galloped towards him, immediately giving his cheek a lick in a gesture of happiness.

Kano wiped the slobber off his face, too happy to even feel disgusted. "Good to see you too, buddy," He said, leaning against the reindeer's flank for support. He hissed in pain, clutching the open wound on his torso to try and staunch the blood. He didn't think that he was making any progress.

Tavra, weak and beaten, also gratefully leaned against Shesh's side, his eyes darting fearfully to where Sakari had been thrown back.

Both of their hands were still chained together with her icy shackles. Kano's mind raced, trying to find some way to break free of the chains. There was no way they could ever hope to defeat Sakari like this.

Sakari's form started to get up and Kano looked toward Tavra in panic.

"Get on Shesh's back," he said hurriedly. "Go to the summer indwellers- they'll protect you."

"What?" Tavra replied, his yellowish-orange eyes wideneing. "No way. I'm not leaving you- you can't defeat her by yourself."

Shesh huffed and blew steam out of his nostrils, a noise of agreement.

Kano's brow furrowed in frustaion. "But-"

"Aren't you forgetting about something?"

Shesh and Tavra darted away and Kano dove into the snow as a blast of ice whistled past them. Sakari was fully recovered from her surprise and back on her feet, looking disheveled and just as angry as ever.