City Under Ice

by TE Olivant

He took off the knife that he always strapped to his chest and began cleaning it carefully with a rag of animal skin. Not really knowing what I was doing, I went and stood next to him. We were on a raised shelf of compacted snow that ran over the top of the Peak for twenty meters. It meant that we could see across the White to where the sun was setting in pinks and greys.

  “Did you really see hundreds of guns?”

  A grim nod. “Yes. I should have destroyed them, but I couldn’t see how, and I needed to get out of the Doctor’s camp as quickly as possible.”

  I rubbed my face with my hands, still not used to the transparent film that protected it from the cold. I ached to feel my own skin again.

  “We have caused you a lot of trouble.” I said.

  “It wasn’t all your fault. Yohan, the guns... whatever is going on here is much bigger than you and Sam.”

  My throat tightened at his name.

  “You don’t want him to go.” Kyrk stared straight in front as he spoke.

  “No, I don’t.”

  “It’s not safe for him here. By now the word will have spread to all the other clans. They’ll be looking for him – they think he’s a murderer.”

  “But you don’t?”

  “No. And I understand why he needs to leave. He has a duty to his city.”

  Didn’t he have a duty to me, I thought, but said nothing. Instead I stood beside Kyrk and tried to feel some of his calm confidence. I needed it. After a few minutes Sam came out of the building, his cheeks flushed with excitement.

  “Lisanne, I need to go now. Felkyo is going to take me back to the city and we should leave immediately.”

  I bit back the tears. “I can’t lose you again Sam. You’re my best friend...”

  He laughed, and kissed me, right on the lips. I couldn’t move, just stared at him.

  “I knew that would shut you up. Look, Lisanne, you know I have to do this. It’s actually a good thing – I’m being useful for once. Ever since I got out on the White I’ve been nothing more than a burden, especially to Kyrk.”

  “Well, so have I,” I said, managing to find my voice. “It’s the suits; our bodies are not ready for this place yet. And our muscles are weak, and we don’t have the same knowledge of the White”

  But Sam was already shaking his head.

  “It’s nothing to do with our bodies. You’re different out here, more confident, more... free. It’s like you belong here. And I don’t, however much I want to. I want to go back to the city, and more importantly, I need to.”

  I chewed on my bottom lip and nodded. He had put into words what I hadn’t even dared to think. Sam was the one that had to go back to the city, because he still belonged there. But maybe I didn’t.

  “These people need you. They might not realise it yet, but you need to explain to them about us, about what we could do. And you need to be here if I fail.”

  I reached out to him and hugged him tight. “You won’t fail,” I said as I held his body against mine, but I wasn’t as confident as I sounded.

  “Time to go,” Felkyo said from the doorway, and I broke away from Sam. He held my hand for one more moment then followed her out into the White. After a second I walked after them even though I felt crushed by him leaving.

  Felkyo said something to Sam that I couldn’t hear, then climbed onto a huge white deer that another Seeker held for her. Sam walked a little unsteadily towards a slightly smaller beast next to her. I watched him take a deep breath then clamber up onto the deer. He held up one hand and I waved back. Then the Seeker girl gave a shout and they were away in a flurry of hooves and raw speed. As I stood there alone and watched them go I couldn’t help feeling I had let him down.

  A hand rested lightly on my shoulder, and I knew it was Kyrk without having to turn around.

  “You’ll miss him.”

  “Yes.” I said. I couldn’t begin to explain my feelings about Sam and the city to Kyrk. He would never understand.

  We stood and watched until Sam and Felkyo were black dots on the white horizon. The Chief walked past us, carefully pretending that we weren’t there and all of a sudden a huge black shadow passed over us. I ducked and cried out in fear, but Kyrk grabbed my arm.

  “Don’t worry, it’s just an eagle. They’re tame.”

  I watched the Chief call the eagle down until it landed on her arm. It was surprising graceful for a creature that must weigh nearly as much as I did. It turned it’s great, sharp beak to her and she scratched it tenderly under the chin.

  It’s a bird I thought, a flying creature. Mind you, the pictures I remembered had never suggested this immense size, or the fierce look in its eyes.

  The Chief walked into a low building with the bird still attached to her arm. I looked after her longingly. She was so in tune with her surroundings, the whole of the White seemed to bow to her command.

  I hugged my arms into my chest and tried to stop the tears from leaking from my eyes.

  “What’s wrong?” Kyrk asked.

  “I’m wrong. I can’t live out here. I’m too broken to live in the world that was meant to be ours. It’s just so unfair.”

  “There’s no such thing as ‘unfair’,” he said. “Life is what you make it.”

  “But how can I make this better?” I said tugging at my suit, angry at him and angry at myself. “I hate this thing, this fake skin that I can never take off. Do you know how long it would take me to freeze to death without it? A couple of hours?” I was determined not to let him see me cry, but I could hear my voice begin to waver.

  Kyrk gave me that look of his, staring at me like I was from another planet. Then he did something I didn’t expect – he took my hand.

  “Come on, this way...”

  He led me towards a small, low building half way up the Peak.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  “Just come inside.”

  He pulled gently on my hand, and I followed him in. My heart hammered in my chest – I didn’t know what was going on but I wanted to find out. It took a few moments for my eyes to adjust to the dark, but suddenly my senses were assaulted by the smell of smoke and burnt flesh. I recoiled horrified and grabbed blindly behind me for the door.

  “Where are we, Kyrk, please, I don’t like it.” I babbled as I scrambled backwards.

  “Sorry, sorry,” he cried, “I never thought... It’s the smokehus.”

  I tried to keep the horror from my face as the strange shapes in the smoky gloom turned into carcass after carcass. What was he thinking bringing me here? The disgust must have shown on my face, because he squeezed my hand.

  “Every clan has its own smokehus to preserve the meat. The smokers set up in the morning and they leave the meat there all day. So no one’s going to come in.”

  “I still don’t understand why we’re here.” I said, although my heart was beginning to beat a little more regularly.

  “Trust me,” he said, and led me through another door. And for a moment I thought he had led me into hell itself. It was some sort of reinforced cave, with holes to funnel the smoke to the other room. It was actually a little less smoky here and I could see ahead of me. There was a massive circle of stones filled with burning smouldering oil.

  “It’s fat they burn mainly.” I nodded. It smelt terrible. I was about to demand Kyrk to tell me why we were here, when I felt it. The heat. Even through the suit I could feel the tingling warmth along my fingers and spread across my chest. I looked over at Kyrk with a smile. He was already starting to sweat.

  “Warm enough to live for more than ten minutes. Mind you, you might smell pretty bad.”

  I laughed and reached for the mask that covered my face.

  “I’ll leave you to it,” Kyrk said awkwardly and slipped back to the other room.

  I stood stock still for one second, then started to strip. First I flung the mask from my face. Then the suit peeled off one limb at a time until I stood there completely naked. Minutes went by as I enjoyed the feeling of air on my skin,
the touch of my hair, the freedom to stretch out. I used a water pitcher hanging on a nearby shelf to have my first decent wash for days. Finally it was time to go back outside. I didn’t realise until I went to put my suit back on that my face was wet with tears.

  Chapter 16: Kyrk

  “What are you doing here?” Swift walked like a White wolf – I never heard him coming until he was right behind me.

  “Just waiting for someone.” I didn’t feel the need to tell the Seeker that Lisanne was inside the smokehus, probably completely naked. In fact, that was something I had been trying to avoid thinking about. It was hard to think clearly when the stranger was around, and I didn’t want to delve too deeply into why that might be.

  “Lisanne?” Swift’s brow furrowed.

  “Yes.”

  “Do you trust her?”

  “I’m not sure.”

  Swift sighed and he looked even more harassed than usual. “I have to say, your new friends have terrible timing. We could have done without this complication.”

  “It isn’t a coincidence, though, is it?” I said, facing the old Seeker. “Them arriving in the middle of this trouble with the clans.”

  “No,” Swift said softly, “I don’t think it is. Coincidences are the easy recourse for those unwilling to spot the truth.”

  “Hello.” Lisanne had an easy smile on her face which she dropped when she saw Swift standing beside me. Swift looked like he was dying to ask her what she’d been doing in the smokehus but he didn’t pry.

  “Your friend has already left?” Swift asked Lisanne. She bit her lip and nodded.

  “Yes. He and Felkyo left an hour ago. Do you think they’ll make it back to the city all right?”

  Swift grinned. “Felkyo is an excellent mistress of the White. She’ll see him home.”

  “And after that...” Lisanne let the thought hang. I looked at Swift and his worried eyes reflected back mine. After that, Sam would be on his own.

  “Come see me later, Kyrk” Swift said, turning to go, “we have a lot to discuss.”

  Lisanne and I were alone again. We stood awkwardly for a moment until she sat down on a mound of snow.

  “He doesn’t like me, does he?” She said, poking some fresh snow with her feet into tiny hills and valleys. I sat down beside her, close enough that I could have touched her if I wanted to.

  “He doesn’t know what to make of you. None of us do, really.”

  Lisanne gave a quiet laugh. “I’m not very hard to understand.”

  “Really?” I shook my head. “Lisanne, you are completely strange to us. We have never even imagined that anything like you might exist. Can you imagine how... weird that is?”

  “Oh yes, I can imagine it.” There was a long pause. “When did your parents die?” Lisanne’s abrupt words surprised me, but when I looked at her face I saw only sympathy and curiosity.

  “Five months ago, just at the start of the hunting season. At first, I thought they had been killed in an accident, but then Swift told me that they had vanished when he sent them on some mission to the South.” I tried to keep my voice even, but I could only feel frustration when I thought of my parents. So much had happened since I had set out from the Peak and I was no further on in the search for the truth of what had happened to them.

  “They went South?” Lisanne asked.

  “Yes, that’s where I was headed when I met you. Swift said they had been camped out in an old Seeker’s cave near the edge of the frozen ice lake. Their bodies were discovered just a few meters away, half buried in snow.”

  Lisanne had grown quieter and quieter and I wondered if my talk about my parents’ deaths was upsetting her.

  “Is something the matter?” I asked, but she chewed her lip and looked away.

  “So when your people travel, do they often stay in caves?”

  “Yes.” I felt she was missing the point, but I went on talking to fill the silence. “In fact, most Hunters tend to stay in caves. Caves are the easiest to defend from wild animals, and our clan tends to attract unwanted attention from wolves.” I looked around at Lisanne when I realised that she still hadn’t moved a muscle and stopped dead when I saw her face. She looked like she had seen a ghost.

  “It was them, it must have been them,” she whispered.

  “Lisanne what is it?” I reached out to touch her shoulder, but she pulled away from me.

  “Oh god,” She suddenly hugged her knees in to her chest.

  “What is it,” I asked as I knelt quickly down beside her, “are you hurt?” She shook her head and gave out a tiny moan. I placed my arms around her shoulders and tried to get her to look at me so I could see what was wrong.

  “I know who did it.”

  “Who did what?” I asked. Her body felt so small and delicate as I wrapped my arms around her.

  “Who killed your parents,” she said, almost in a whisper. I broke away and stood in front of her.

  “How could you know that? You weren’t even here?”

  “Because I know him.”

  “Who?” I still felt like I couldn’t be hearing exactly what she was saying.

  “The man who killed them.”

  I staggered away from her. I felt like I was going to be sick.

  “Tell me who he is.”

  “We call him the Physician. He’s the one that wanted me to lead a rebellion, the one who wanted rid of all the low graders.”

  “The what?” I could hardly take in anything she was saying.

  “Low graders. People like Angel Sam. People who are less human.”

  “Less human? You people are sick.” And you killed my parents, I thought. Your people murdered my family.

  Lisanne’s face twisted with fear.

  “I didn’t say I agreed with it! Not anymore. People like the Physician think that your genes are the most important thing about you, that people who are... different are some kind of degenerates. But I swear he doesn’t speak for all of us.”

  “How can you be sure that he killed them?”

  “He took me to a cave. It was still filled with their things, and when I asked him about who had lived there, he wouldn’t answer my questions. I don’t think he even realised what he’d done, Kyrk, he didn’t think of them as human...”

  “Take me there.” My voice was empty, betraying no emotion, but I could feel my muscles tremble.

  “I’m not sure I could find the way, I mean, it was just a cave somewhere out on the White.”

  “Come with me,” I said, and pulled her to her feet. She was light as eagle down. She gave a small yelp as my claws encircled her wrist but I didn’t care. I marched her along beside me. I couldn’t believe that a few moments ago I had thought that she was something special. She was one of them. A murderer.

  Swift looked up in surprise when I marched into his tent, pulling the girl behind me. Barely able to catch her breath, Lisanne repeated her story while I listened impatiently.

  “Swift,” I snapped finally, “what cave is she talking about?”

  “Kyrk, I’m not sure this is the best thing...”

  “Tell me!”

  “I think that Lisanne might be right. Your parents knew there was an old Seeker’s cave right on the edge of the ice lake. They planned to set up camp there. We found their bodies close by.”

  Swift’s calm tone infuriated me and I struggled to keep my claws in my fists. How could he talk so calmly about murder?

  “Tell me how to get there.”

  “Kyrk, I don’t think –”

  “Tell me.”

  “Follow the trek to the south, just as you did before, then head east to the edge of the lake. You’ll see the cave from there. It’s marked in the usual way, you won’t miss it.”

  I let the air hiss out between my teeth. Now I had a plan. I turned to leave the tent but stopped when I saw that Lisanne had blocked the way.

  “I’m coming with you.” Her face was red and blotchy from crying, but I still shook my head.

  “I
don’t need you.” I replied and ignored the pang I felt as this registered on her face.

  “You need someone who knows about the Physician. Someone he trusts. That’s me.”

  I shook my head and reached for my pack. I started sorting through it, checking I had everything I would need for the journey. I refused to look at Lisanne who just stood watching me

  “I think she should go.” Swift placed his hand on my shoulder but I shook it off.

  “Why?”

  “Because I don’t think you should be alone, not in this state. There’s no quicker way to die out on the White than when you let your emotions control you. I would send one of our clan, but it’s too dangerous at the moment. I’m not sure what’s coming but I want everyone to be prepared. The girl will keep you safe.”

  “Keep me safe” I snorted. Lisanne said nothing, just folded her arms.

  “She’ll slow me down,” I said to Swift, unable to keep the whine from my voice.

  “That will be no bad thing. Take a sledge of supplies. If she tires then she can ride on it. Mind how you go. I don’t want another death on my hands.”

  I strapped my pack back across my chest and looked at Lisanne.

  “It’ll be a hard walk,” I said, “harder than you’ve done before. I’m not going to wait for you.”

  “Then we better get going,” Lisanne said, her eyes shining. I grunted assent and we went to get our supplies. I didn’t even say goodbye to Swift. I wasn’t in the mood.

  The journey took three days. I could have done it in two, but Lisanne slowed the pace. Still, she never once complained, even though her muscles must be aching. On the third day I suggested she rest on the sledge and she agreed. As I pulled her along behind me I enjoyed the strain on my muscles. At least I didn’t have to look at her this way.

  If Swift had thought that sending Lisanne with me would cool my anger then he was wrong. I could feel it like a blaze inside me, and all the time it took us to walk the White I barely spoke to the girl. With each passing moment I could feel the rift between us growing bigger, but I had no desire to mend it. Part of me knew it wasn’t logical, but I felt that she was somehow responsible for my parents’ murders. And I had let myself start to like her, to be her friend, even... I had betrayed my parents and I knew it. The only thing stronger than my anger at Lisanne was the rage I felt for their faceless killer.