Soul Seeker

22: Lake

Ciara lost control of her powers again while they were sledding the next day. She thought Ask's fire, wondered how she could explain any of this to Cali, and something frozen spiked her gut.

The wind changed direction, and freezing hail slammed into her. She clung to the handle as the sled skidded uncontrollably, the footboards sliding, the dogs scrambling for purchase against the snow crust.

"Ciara!"

Ciara recovered to see Sebastian looking worriedly in her direction.

"I'm fine!" she called, hating that he was concerned, hating that he'd seen her lose control. "Keep sledding."

"Get back in line!" Fell barked, the very epitome of sympathy. Ciara gritted her teeth, steering the sled back into position. The dogs' fur was ruffled and stiffened with frost.

As they neared a frozen lake surrounded by trees, Ciara spotted Isa looking at her. "What now?"

"Maybe you should talk to your past lives, get your memories back."

"And how do you propose I do that?"

She shrugged.

"Thank you, as always, for your wisdom and insight, Isa. I feel so much better now."

"Here's a tip: why don't you drop the attitude and stop being sarcastic around me? And I'll let you keep your face intact."

They set up camp beside the lake. Simmering with frustration and not wanting to stay near the fire, Ciara stood on the bank where a river flowed into it, the toes of her boots hanging over the edge, gazing at the vast expanse of glittering, blue-white ice. The river was only half-frozen, and chunks of ice drifted leisurely past, shining silver and semi-translucent.

"Watch this," Sebastian called. He threw a pebble as if he were skipping stones, sending it skittering along the ice. It created a sound almost like birdsong, and Ciara had to fight back a smile.

"Child's play," Tonraq said, nudging him. "I can throw further."

"Oh, really? How old are you again, fourteen?"

"I'm eighteen, I'm almost your age!"

"No, you're not, I'm much older than you."

"Yeah, right. You don't look it."

"Excuse me?"

"I bet you can't hit that rock over there."

"And now you're changing the subject. Want to place a bet?" Sebastian asked.

"What would we be betting? We have no money."

"Rations?"

"Absolutely not."

Together, they readied to throw pebbles at the same time, laughing and joking as Sebastian tried to unbalance Tonraq. They both cheered when Tonraq's pebble struck the rock he had aimed for, and Ciara watched them, bemused. When had they become close? How had that happened?

Shame filled her at the memory of the way she had rebuked her friend. Was she driving him away? Had she been driving him away ever since the day of the sled race?

To her annoyance, Fell joined her. He leaned on a tall branch like it was a staff, gazing out into the distance. A breeze ruffled his hair and the fur on his magnificent coat. It rippled out behind him.

"Are you going to give me a lecture?" Ciara turned to challenge him, but he had already gone – stepped onto the ice.

"What are you doing?" she asked warily. He was walking slowly on the ice lake.