The Mist Children by E C Hibbs

Author:E C Hibbs [Hibbs, E C]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-06-25T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

Stellan rammed his shoulder against the door. Snow had piled up against it and wedged it shut during the night. Once the gap was wide enough, Tuomas shimmied outside with a shovel and began clearing a path as best he could.

He looked around at an alarmingly quiet landscape. Overhead, the sky was pale and clear of any cloud, transforming an icy blue as the dawn lingered below the horizon. The snow was up to his knees; in places, it had banked so high, it was almost touching the sloping roofs of the huts.

Now the storm had blown away, he could see the last of the mountains, standing like great monsters off to his left. Three jagged peaks, carved by generations of wind and ice, reached so high, he wouldn’t have been surprised if they could pierce straight through to the World Above.

He shuddered. He thought of the tear between the Worlds, the gateway he had opened at the Northern Edge, the feeling of the draugars dragging him into the fjord…

He looked at the way they had come, and his heart sank. The snow rose higher than the tallest man. Even if they’d wanted to go back, now it was impossible. The only way across was to climb, and go through the pass. Tuomas could just make it out from here: a narrow slit through the flank of the foremost mountain. The rock on either side of it was sheer, as though it had been cleaved straight with a giant knife. All through his childhood, it had reminded him of the Mustafjord, like the entire landform had been somehow lifted and recreated in the air.

He took stock of the reindeer. The females were desperate to get to the coast now. Their bellies bulged and they bellowed in agitation. It wouldn’t be long before it was time to drop their calves, and to do it anywhere but the summer grounds was dangerous. On Anaar and its neighbouring islands, there were no land predators; no wolves or wolverines lurking in the shadows. And there, the three villages would be together, able to support and protect each other at last.

He sighed sharply. The only chance he would have to reach the Northern Edge now was to continue to the coast and then rebound back on himself, the long way. But even so, his sleigh was taken and his own energy was drained from the long migration. There was no choice but to carry on.

Enska emerged and whispered thanks to the Spirit of the Winter Winds. If the blizzard hadn’t dissipated so quickly, they might have been trapped here for days.

“Come on, everybody,” he said. “We need to move quickly and get through the pass before it gets more dangerous. If we hurry, we’ll be at the coast tomorrow evening.”

After a laborious morning, everyone managed to get out of the shelters and helped arrange things for moving on. The Sun Spirit had risen by the time all was done, and her glow transformed the land gold and blue.

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