Within the Ice

by LaPolla, C. J.

  Chapter IX

  Before long the camp was bustling with activity as men were packing up their gear and preparing for another long day of marching. Devyn watched as Asvald kicked a few unmoving men on the ground. It became quickly apparent that the men he was kicking to get moving were dead. Either they died from their wounds from the battle the day before or succumbed to the cold through the night. They would never know, the army left them to their icy grave. None of the men who passed in the night were a citizen of Northspire, but it did mean there were less men to help Devyn get through this. With the loss of those men it left four dozen men to continue the trip deeper into the glacier.

  The morning brought clear blue skies and a frigid wind coming from the north. The wind bit through their furs as they cleaned their camp and recovered salvageable wood from the fires. Every ounce of wood was precious with the relentless cold and the unknown of how long they would be on the glacier. Devyn began to wonder about the wisdom of not pursuing the defeated army, if they were destroyed the group could easily send a group down to get more supplies. But not knowing what happened to the other band, splitting up would bring a certain ambush. Rakgar’s forces were long gone, those that survived were in hiding. They were trapped on the glacier until the pathways to and from the glacier were cleared. Unprepared for the cold of the glacier and without food, Bola’s army would soon grow desperate. Devyn had seen it before in armies they had sieged. It always began the same, false bravado and unwillingness to surrender to the greater force. The food would quickly run out as the army was forced to stand by and wait for the next assault, their nerves would quickly fray. Once the food ran out they would begin eating the animal life and soon disease would wrap its grasp around them. Soon, soldiers would start to die and then those that fell would become food. Then the dead would run out, and the stomachs of those remaining would begin to rumble. Only for Rakgar’s men, they would be skipping the first two steps and would immediately be without food. Devyn was amazed that they would even take such a chance moving into the glacier without the proper supplies. He assumed that Rakgar himself was killed in the battle and that the men, without leadership, acted without thought. One would have to be truly desperate to trudge up a glacier without appropriate winter gear.

  His thoughts constantly returned to his family as he and Dorm walked to the sound of ice crunching beneath their feet. Despite the amazing beauty of the glacier he could only focus on one memory, the memory of his wife and children crying as he walked past. Their puffy, red eyes clearly visible in the darkness. He wondered about their home and how it withstood the wave, it was unlikely anything was left and they were huddled with the remaining families in Northspire. With the bulk of the population captured, he worried that they would be incapable of making a proper house, but women of the North were strong and they would thrive under these conditions. Unlike the soft women to the south who would die within a day of the brutal north. He had faith that Rana would survive and she would help lead the people of Northspire to continue on. Despite the hardships that Devyn had faced in his life, the wars and death that had absorbed him, he would not have found the love of his life without them. Being a member of Lord Malark’s army drove him north and to Northspire and to Rana.

  The sound of the crunching ice halting broke his day dreaming about his old life and brought him screaming back into this new horror that had taken over. During the march most men walked with their arms wrapped around them and their face buried deep in the furs that covered them, barely raising their eyes from the icy floor. So when the line stopped, confused men raised their eyes to see a large crack in the ice in front of them.

  “Its a good thing someone was paying attention.” Dorm said in a voice muffled by the thick furs covering his rosy face.

  Devyn nodded and approached the large fissure and looked down. It was deep, deeper than he felt possible. Hrodny stood next to him and looked down as well.

  “Do you see that?”

  “See what?” Devyn knew the answer just after he asked the question, very far below deep in the chasm there was a stone work bridge. There was no other explanation for it, a mason’s hand had touched that stone and now it lay under a mile of ice. It jutted between the chasm bridging the gap. “Do you think that was here before, or built in the ice?” Devyn asked.

  Hrodny roared in a laugh that echoed deep into the chasm. “Built in the ice?! Daft! You are daft Devyn! Obviously the legends are true and riches beyond our dreams lay within the ice. Do you see anything here that can build a bridge?” Hrodny eyed him with a goofy grin that could just barely be seen through his thick beard. “Hellooooo! Bridge maker!” The echo traveled forever away. “See? Nothing.”

  Devyn could not help but chuckle slightly. Hrodny was right there was nothing here, but he could not shake the feeling that something was not right about that bridge. Why did it so perfectly span that chasm? Where was the land that it once attached to and how did it stay so perfectly preserved? Questions he would never know the answer to, but what it did do is inspire the men that they were actually going to find something. Hrodny turned to the men.

  “Cold? As am I. Miss the thrill of battle? As do I. But we are here to grow rich and fat and die in our beds. Below us stands a sign our fight is not in vain and we are here with a purpose and our purpose is sound! Until now I did not believe it, until now I thought we were on a fool’s errand and we would spend a week searching with no success. I, Hrodny, Thane of Isiir and Captain of our great Lord Bola’s army admit that I was wrong and we will grow rich! We will grow fat! We will tear this glacier apart and squeeze the gold from within!”

  Some men cheered, some men stared blankly. This did not effect Hrodny’s enthusiasm and he raised his hands and roared into the blue cloudless sky. Devyn could only think about that bridge, that stone bridge spanning the chasm that went into the endless dark. Who built it?

  With new found energy that even Devyn could not contest was infectious the men moved on, but not before each took their turn gazing upon the mysterious bridge down below. This was perhaps the first time any eyes had seen it in thousands of years. A bridge built by the ancients, their ancestors, and stood the test of time all these years. Once the spectacle was complete, the men moved out again, warmed by the glow of gold that they dreamed would soon be in their hands.

  They had to traverse the length of the fissure to where the men could easily jump across the span before continuing further in the distance. Far on the horizon Devyn could make out two mountainous ice spires that curled inward at their tops, below them seemed to be a break in the glacier. Perhaps it was a canyon that could be explored, perhaps it was nothing but a giant fissure that could not be navigated. The team did not know but their goal was set. It was almost impossible to determine the distance as the landscape looked exactly the same and the glare off the ice made everything seem closer than it actually was. A strange, eerie shimmer danced off the top as the bright sun gleamed from above and occasionally made the men in front of him disappear and reappear quickly. Some men yelled out when they saw this, superstitious men who believed that they would be next to be sucked up into some magical realm. Devyn, was not a superstitious man, but the effect of the sun was unnerving. In line with Dorm they continued their march for another day.

  Night brought on another grand spectacle of the colored lights, with the deep darkness that engulfed them the lights danced above in the sky and reflected deep within the ice. The men stood in awe of the amazing show while the fires were started and the delicious smell of food wafted from the cook fires. The bitter cold of the clear night and howling wind dancing off of the glacier inspired them to put a bit more wood on the fires to give the men warmth. Strangely, Devyn noticed that even the hot fire did not melt the ice below it. Devyn believed he might be the only man to have noticed it, but it was but another event to make him feel there was something amiss on this glacier. The warmth of the fires felt amazing after a day of freezing, and quickly his concerns over the stran
ge glacier were eased with comfort of being warm. The food was distributed out among the men and Devyn would be the first to admit his hunger had gotten the best of him with the smell, because the taste was that of mud. With every taste of the gruel, which even after warming had small sheets of ice in it, required a draft of his water after every taste. His stomach growled constantly and so, regardless of the mud gruel, he devoured it quickly despite the knowledge he would most likely regret it later.

  Sleep came easy this night as he gazed up at the dancing green and blue lights in the sky again wondering if Rana and his daughters were enjoying the same event. He hoped they were. His eyes drifted to sleep smiling imagining them laughing at the amazing view.

  So it was indeed another Aelaar. Eldgrim thought to himself. He must be here for the same purpose. During the battle in the mist he had finally caught sight of his new enemy. The man who he would kill and claim his power. It had been hard to resist jumping into battle there, but the armies of the humans would have soon engaged and truly made his combat with the other Aelaar complicated. They were both on the glacier now, soon destiny would pull them together for battle, it was unavoidable. When Eldgrim stood above his slain foe and possessed the item he had come for, his legacy would be complete. Stories would be told about him for ten thousand years, the Aelaar that changed the tide of the war. He would be honored by Bregidonnon himself and be given a place of honor. Feeling the cold wind against his skin he relished at the thought and inhaled deeply.

  The first order of business would be to find this item and then he would work to dispatch his worthy foe. He could feel he was much younger than his opponent but that did not matter, Eldgrim knew he trained harder than any other and could defeat any foe.

  He stood out in stark contrast against the ice in his leather armor and black wrapped blade. He could easily see the tracks of the two sets of human bands that had set out onto the glacier. What fools. They have no idea what they are about to encounter. Eldgrim thought with arrogance, but deep down inside Eldgrim did not know what was before him either.

  It took him the better part of a day but he arrived at a deep chasm that appeared to go on forever. Eldgrim smiled at the sight of the bridge far below and knew that was his target. He tightened his weapon securely and looked for a spot to climb down into the chasm. Eldgrim lowered himself from the ledge onto the first footing he could find and systematically began lowering himself ever closer to the bridge far below. Eldgrim was graceful in his slow movements and made sure each hand and foot was firmly secured before he moved any part of his body. What use would it be to be one of the immortals of Isiir if you were to spend your eternity at the bottom of a chasm. Eldgrim thought to himself with a smirk. He knew he would not fall, before long he set his feet upon the bridge. The stone work was crude and a strange green moss grew on it.

  “How can moss grow here?” he wondered out loud.

  He reached down and plucked it from between the stones at his feet. The cold moss felt as if it wiggled in his grasp. What had once stood absolutely still seemed to be invigorated by his touch and the wriggling of the moss in his hand increased. He stared at it amazed and flinched his hand back as he felt it was starting to bite him! He shook his hand flinging the moss, or whatever it was, over the edge and into the dark abyss below. The moss covered everything on the bridge and he looked at his skin, a small bead of blood welled up from where he had been bitten. It didn’t last long as he was Aelaar, he wiped the blood away revealing the wound had disappeared in just a few seconds. Both directions on the bridge entered a cavern of some kind, he was unsure of which one he would take. As he stood, quietly contemplating which direction he would like to go, he could see the greenish looking, creatures he decided were not moss, begin to wiggle and squirm. They were beginning to squirm in his direction as if drawn by his heat. He did not wait to make the correct choice, he only wanted to be away from these creatures and selected a random direction and ran. The bridge remained boiling with these creatures long after he left.

  Chapter X

  Two days prior, the canyon appeared as if it were just over the horizon and they would arrive any minute. Two days later, they finally arrived. It was a hard two days of frigid hiking that brought them to the giant spires of ice that twisted inward towards one another over a huge canyon of spiky ice. The feature within the canyon that peaked the interest of their entire expedition was the numerous caves that dotted the landscape. The men gathered around in a circle on the edge of the canyon discussing their plans. Hrodny, much to the dismay of Asvald, had asked Devyn to join them in their council. The council consisted of Hrodny, Asvald, Koll, and Thorolf. This council would decide the fate of the entire band of men. Devyn only listened in, unsure if he had the right to speak out and what repercussions he would receive for doing so.

  “This canyon is our key. We will have shelter from the wind, if not from the blasted cold, and those caves will provide our entrance to the wealth, if there is any to be had.” Hrodny began.

  “We can only remain here for three days. Men’ll start starving then and gold won’t matter.” Koll said as a matter of fact. Koll, as all of them were, was a large man, a bit heavier around the mid section than the rest but looked no less foreboding in his strength. Although heavy, he did not become winded on the long marches they had undertaken since beginning their journey. His arms and legs were as large as tree trunks and appeared as if he could snap a tree in half with a bear hug.

  The second man to speak was Thorolf. Thorolf was a lean, older warrior who appeared to have lived through many battles. It was a warrior’s tradition to place a bead within their beard for every victory in which they had fought. Thorolf’s white beard was laced with beads. “We have to guess then which caves will be lucky, and which will not. Then we come back with more men and more supplies and squeeze the gold from this blasted ice!”

  “We make camp in the canyon, once we are set up we will move out into the caves. ” Hrodny said with finality. “So go, we have three days to get rich.”

  The men moved away from from Hrodny, shouting and yelling orders out to the men who were resting in the plain of ice. Devyn remained where he stood looking out over the canyon taking in the scene below him. It was a massive hole in the ice with dozens of black holes leading into the ice walls.

  “Trouble?” Hrodny asked and for a moment Devyn’s mind slipped back to that day so long ago, when his mentor Alviss asked him the same question.

  Devyn swallowed hard with a pit forming in his stomach. “Something does not feel right.”

  “You are forced into the glorious service of Lord Bola on an iceberg that crashed into your town not a week ago. What since that very moment has seemed right to you? Soft, Thane Devyn. You’ve grown soft. Brother, our kind does not do, feeling right. We thrive in the unknown, and what does not feel right! Now move out and get with the group.”

  Devyn shook his head, he knew Hrodny was right, there was nothing right about any of this. Maybe that was why the fear was building within him about the events to come, but then again, maybe it wasn’t. He could not escape the images of the bridge within the chasm from his mind. Perhaps there was nothing to his paranoia, they would all leave here as rich men, or should he say Bola would leave here a rich man. Devyn did not care about wealth, only returning home. With only his thoughts, Devyn fell back in line with the group as they searched for a way down into the canyon.

  It took the better part of the morning before they found an area guarded from the constant freezing wind and provided them a good defensive position from any attacks. The men could easily take up position above to watch in the distance for any approaching army. It was perfect, almost as if it was built for this band. Fire pits were set up, bed rolls were rolled out, and even a few tents were raised as they intended on remaining here for a few days. By afternoon, everyone was resting comfortably while the leaders of the expedition entered one of the tents to discuss plans. Devyn and Dorm sat back against an ice spire enjoying the
scenery, while they chewed on their rock-like hard tack rolls.

  “I wanted to die in battle, not starve to death because I can’t bite my food.” Dorm joked as he gnawed in a futile effort to bite off more than crumbs from his roll.

  Devyn laughed. “You have to break it against the ice first, then you can gnaw on a big ol’ chunk!” Devyn demonstrated as he hit the roll against the ice, chipping the ice and breaking the roll. Both men laughed.

  The men could hear arguing coming from the small tent that held the council. “What could they possibly be arguing about?” Devyn asked. Dorm only shrugged, his full concentration continued to be on his roll. Devyn chuckled and rose from his spot on the ground, his bones were stiff and his muscles were sore. He did not remember it being this difficult when he was younger. The forced marches, the battle, sleeping on the hard earth. Age, it appears was finally catching up to him and he did not like it. It was only made worse by the fact Rana constantly reminded him of the white hairs that were quickly invading the roots of his beard. He shook his head to brush the thoughts of his wife from his head, he did not need his yearning for her to cloud his judgment as he approached the tent with the arguing men.

  “… I will split open your chest and eat your heart!” Hrodny shouted and the tent flap opened abruptly, Hrodny stepped out and stopped when he saw Devyn standing there, a furious glare flared on his face. “Finally, some sense! Come out here, Asvald!”