Ice Blink

32: Ikkuma

There was no time to get away – fire was licking the ashy snow.

Nuna caught sight of a blaze behind them, on the edge of the ridge – a fuse hidden under the crust – and then a blast sent her flying.

Weightless. White and yellow burning her eyes as the world vanished.

Then she collided with something hard and started to roll. The ground was moving, tipping beneath her and she struggled to put a hand against it, to push herself to her feet, but the earth had broken apart. Pebbles struck her like projectiles, peppering her bloody skin, and her temple smashed against rock as she bounced. She landed again, this time on a warm, soft body, but then everything disappeared.

The world was rolling and she couldn't make sense of it.

A blunt stone struck the back of her head and everything went black.

*

When she woke, her head was pounding. Pressure squeezed her chest, locking her legs and arms into place. Everything was still black, yet her body was on fire. Had she gone blind?

No. You're buried alive.

Her breaths came in short, sharp bursts as she struggled against the earth – or was it snow? – pinning her down. Rocks clattered and pain lanced through her, so bad she wanted to scream. But she clenched her teeth and kept moving, clawing at the earth. Finally, something gave way beneath her fingers. She squirmed like a weasel until her head broke out of the tiny hole she had created.

Air seared her face. Rubble surrounded her – loose earth, broken boulders and snow all mixed together. A landslide. But what had caused it, and where were the others? Nuna refused to believe they were all dead.

Biting her cheek so hard blood flooded her mouth, she stuck her arms out of the hole and tried to drag herself out. The world slid in and out of focus. Her muscles seized up. If she did this, she could rest. She just had to keep going and climb out first. After the rest, she'd dig for the others.

Stars burst in front of her eyes and her ears buzzed. She was almost out of the rubble, she just needed to pull her legs free. Her muscles turned to water and she slumped onto her side.

She wasn't strong enough to save herself, let alone anyone else. She remembered Toklo's face when Amarok had urged her to run, the last time she had seen him up-close. She'd felt a pang of foreboding then, as if she'd never see him again. Maybe the spirits had been trying to tell her something.

If Toklo was gone, she had to find his body. She had to lay his souls to rest and help them depart for the afterlife. No Nualik would die without the proper rites, not if Nuna could help it. New strength surged through her, and she wrenched her legs out of the hole. Salt mixed with the blood in her mouth, although she hadn't thought she was crying. Her lips were chapped and sore – every inch of skin felt sore.

"Toklo," she said into the silence, struggling to keep her vision intact.

Footsteps crunched nearby, but she reached for a stone, barely registering the noise. Her ears still rang. Her mittens were filthy and ragged, but still she clawed earth free.

"Amarok. Niju." If she kept digging, she would find them.

If she kept digging...

A hand touched her shoulder. Nuna pulled away with a startled cry she barely heard, staring up into an unfamiliar round face.

Words, muffled as if underwater, reached her.

"She's in shock."

"Give her something for it, then. Put her to sleep."

Nuna tried to scramble away, but a hand cupped the back of her head – she couldn't tell who it belonged to.

Stop. Let go of me, she tried to say, but the words wouldn't come. Or had her ears failed her entirely?

The lip of a cup clashed against her teeth and she tried to fight one last time, but the hand tipped, and a strong, bitter liquid slid down her throat. Coughing and spluttering, she twisted, but the drink was already burning her insides. Everything fogged.

*

Nuna woke too heavy to move. Her skin felt like the finest musk ox wool, deliciously smooth and warm, and she was sinking into something soft. Woodsmoke and cooking fat smells were sharp in her nose; Meriwa was preparing breakfast. She listened for her singing, as she liked to do in the morning, which was usually Nuna's favourite way to wake up, but only the low murmur of voices filled the house.

Reality hit her: she wasn't in Nualik, Nualik was gone. So was her mother.

Nuna's eyes flew open and she tried to bolt upright but pain exploded in her stomach. It was all-consuming, and she swayed.

"Hey. Easy, easy now, Nuna. Don't do that, lower yourself back down. Here, let me help."

A rolled-up pelt slid beneath her head, propping her up.

"Niju?" she whispered.

"I'm here."

"Nuna's awake?" That sounded like Iki, but she was still finding it hard to focus. "Thank the spirits."

"I thought you didn't believe in the spirits."

"I don't believe in the gods," Iki corrected. "I'm spirit-touched, remember? I know the spirits are real."

They were perched on the end of her bed, their faces webbed in scabs.

"You're alive," Nuna whispered. "Where are we? Where are the others?"

Niju gestured, and she turned to see Toklo beside her in another bed, furs drawn to his chin. A nasty-looking welt covered one cheek, and it hurt just to look at.

"We've been rescued," Iki explained.

She couldn't see Amarok. Was he...?

She pushed the furs back, but a figure by the fire rose. "You aren't supposed to be walking around. Stay still."

Nuna ignored her.

"Are you all right?" Niju asked.

"I've felt better," she said. "Where's Amarok?"

"Amarok has disappeared – but he's alive," he added quickly.

"He woke up just before you did," Iki said. "I don't think he wanted to stay inside."

The woman by the fire walked towards the bed. Her expression was turned into a mask of ferocity by a streak of black running horizontally across her face, darkening the area around her eyes, and her long hair was frizzy from the fire's heat, making her look twice her size. "You've been mostly unconscious for the past three days. My name is Keeonah. My group found you, and we've been tending to your wounds."

"What happened?" Nuna croaked.

"The soldiers had some kind of explosive," Iki said heavily, "something I've never seen before. They set off a landslide, and those who didn't die in the explosion... We were caught in it. It destroyed the whole slope."

"What about the village?" she demanded, thinking of the terrified people at the safe house, women, young children and the elderly all huddled together.

"We lost the village," Niju whispered.

"Can't we go back, make sure the survivors are safe?"

"No," Keeonah interjected. "When we found you, the entire slope was a death trap with unstable earth. We searched for survivors as best we could, but most died of their wounds. We couldn't check the village itself, it was too risky."

I let my head fall against the pelt. "So... it was all for nothing?"

"Maybe not," Niju said. "Maybe some survived."

"It was lucky you made it out alive," Keeonah interjected. "Those weren't Mortu's ordinary soldiers you were facing off against. They were Ikkuma."