City Under Ice

by T E Olivant

  I ignored the jibe.

  “I am no Seeker either. I am not here to represent any clan. It seems to me that the clans are tearing themselves apart anyway. I am here as a man. As one of the people. And I need to you to help me protect us all.”

  The leader looked at me, and I could see every line on his face, every hair, and still I didn’t back down. But he shook his head.

  “Maybe you are not as weak as I thought, it takes strength to say these things. But if the other clans are determined to kill one another, then my duty is still the same as ever. Protect my clan, protect my family. All I hear on the wind is that the Seekers have been attacked and we may be next, so why should I lend you my herd? I cannot help you when I need to look after my own.”

  I let my head drop. It was hopeless then, none of the others would go against the chief to help me. But then I felt a movement at my side.

  Lisanne drew the furs from around her and threw them down in one fluid movement. The men and women around me gasped, and Max actually fell backwards as he tried to back away from her. The Chief stood his ground but lifted his spear as if warding away an evil spirit.

  “What,” he hissed, “is that?”

  “I am Lisanne, and I am your worst nightmare. I am from a City beneath the White, and my people are coming for you. If you do not listen to Kyrk, you will all die.”

  I resisted the urge to close my eyes as she calmly said the words, terrified that she would be dead before she finished speaking. But no one moved. The chief stared at her open mouthed. Then, without ever taking his eyes off Lisanne, he moved his spear and pointed it at me.

  “Explain,” he said hoarsely.

  I looked at Lisanne and she smiled slyly with the corner of her mouth. She had bought me a little more time, and perhaps that would be enough.

  I nodded to the Chief and began to speak. I told him everything we knew, and what we did not know but merely feared. And through it all he never looked away from the girl. She didn’t speak again, just let her presence do the talking for her.

  Once I had told them about the guns, and the clan war, I fell silent. Manus had grown incredibly still, and he watched me now through narrowed eyes. I felt sweat prickle as it slipped down the back of my neck.

  Instead of speaking to me he turned to the Lisanne.

  “So, you have come here to tell me that your people are a bunch of murderers. And worse - cowards who will not do the deeds themselves.”

  I could see Lisanne’s face turn pink. She was so vulnerable with no fur to cover her, to shield her emotions from others. But she didn’t argue with the Chief.

  “It must seem that way, and perhaps they are. But we are not like you. We follow our leader without question, without pause. And if he leads us out over a cliff...”

  “Then you will jump.”

  She nodded.

  The Chief let his shoulders droop forward a little, and I could tell from the fleeting moment of anguish that he allowed to cross his face that he believed us. And that he realised just how terrible this was for his clan and for all our people.

  “How will it begin, this clan war?”

  “I think it has already started.” I explained the death of the Chief of the Doctors, the framing of the Diggers in the Peak’s destruction.

  “And you do not know who killed the Doctor Chief?”

  “No.”

  “But you must find out!” He was suddenly agitated, slamming his fist into the snow. “If you can point to a murderer then you will expose their plan before it begins.”

  “We have our suspicions,” Lisanne said darkly.

  “They may not be enough.”

  The wind whipped the snow around our feet as we waited Manus to reach a decision.

  “We will help you Kyrk. I wish we didn’t have to, but it seems there is no choice.”

  I looked at Lisanne, bravely standing before this strange clan without an ounce of fear in her body. She was brilliant, and even though I had begun to get used to her strangeness, I had underestimated her once again.

  Chapter 19: Lisanne

  I looked at the animals that surrounded me. Deer, I thought, my brain remembering my history lessons as my heart hammered in my chest. Herbivores, that was good. Gentle. Antlers.

  These deer certainly had antlers. Great crowns of bone jutted from their enormous brows. They could have carried five men in those fur-coated branches. Their shoulders were massive and heaved with every breath they took. They stank. And they were loud. They snorted and snarled and pawed the earth with muscular legs. It was all I could do not to turn and run, but Kyrk was beside me and I refused to embarrass myself. Angel Sam had ridden one, and if he could manage these creatures then so could I.

  Kyrk led me over. I looked into the beast’s eyes and tried to see something friendly, but all I saw was animal incomprehension.

  “It’s the only way we’ll make it to the city in time.”

  I nodded, not trusting myself to speak.

  Two of the Herders manoeuvred a large brown leather contraption onto the beast’s back while another held a rope at its head to keep it in position. Kyrk took the pack from me and gave it to one of the men who put it into a pocket on the side of the brown thing. Saddle, my mind supplied, it’s called a saddle. Oh god, that means I’m meant to sit on it.

  The only thing that made me plant my foot on Kyrk’s cupped hands and haul myself upwards was the knowing smirk on Felkyo’s face. I laced the reins around my arms and tried to find a comfortable position on the saddle. It was going to be a long trip.

  The herd moved faster than I could ever have imagined. The wind against our faces was so strong that I had to bury my face into the beast’s fur. Its hair was long and scratchy but at least it was warm. At first the animal musk was almost overpowering but after a while I barely noticed it.

  Once we had been moving for an hour I found the strength to lift my head against the wind. It made my eyes stream, but once I blinked back the tears I saw something amazing.

  The White opened out before us, brilliant and endless. The sun was setting at our backs but there was still enough light to see clearly. The last rays of the sun made the ice glitter and sparkle. I thought of my underground home, the city of corridors and rooms and tiny, crowded little lives. I looked out at the horizon and before I knew what I was doing I screamed in triumph. I couldn’t believe that such a sound could come from my lips: it was loud and high, excited and strong. I opened my mouth again and could only let out a hoarse, happy laugh. I looked to my right and saw Kyrk grinning at me from his mount. This was life, real and open and free. I hadn’t realised how much I needed it.

  The sun was getting low in the sky when I felt the beast begin to slow a little. I stared along the icy path uncomprehending for a moment until I thought back to my geography lessons. We had reached a frozen river. It was beautiful, like a picture of a tree mirrored on the ground. And a real tree, I thought, remembering the glorious green pictures from the archives, not one of the spindly, half dead things Kyrk had showed me.

  I felt the Herder in front of me pull hard on the reins and bring the deer to a hard stop. I brought my head up to see that all the others had stopped too.

  “This is as far as the deer can take us, the river is too slick for the animals. If they get up any speed their hooves cannot get purchase.”

  “How close are we to the city?” I asked as he helped me down onto the ground. My legs wobbled a little, used to the movement of the deer. I patted the beast’s neck absently as I rearranged my furs.

  The herder shrugged. “A day’s walk.” But he looked at me as he said it, and I knew exactly what he was thinking. A day’s walk for them: much more than that for me. I turned away, embarrassed. I seemed to spend most of my time here as a hindrance, and all I wanted to do was to help.

  Kyrk walked over to me, brushing the lose snow out of his fur. “How are you doing?”

  “Fine,” I said, but when his eyes looked straight into mine I had to turn
away so that he didn’t see how weary I was. When was the last time I had had a full night’s sleep? Or a decent meal? Kyrk and his friends may be able to live on air, but I couldn’t.

  “She can’t keep up,” Felkyo said, a little cruelly, I felt. “There’s no way she can walk to the city.”

  “I’ll take her.” For a moment I had a horrible image of riding on Kyrk’s shoulders like some kind of grotesque overgrown child. He seemed to have read my mind, because he caught my eye and laughed. He pointed behind him at a wooden board that one of the others had unloaded from the herd.

  “You’re going to pull her all the way?”

  “I’m strong.” In anyone else it would have been a boast, but with Kyrk it was just a matter of fact.

  I sat down on the makeshift sledge with a grimace. At least when Kyrk had pulled me along last time there had been no witnesses. I looked up and caught Felkyo’s eye. I was never going to live this down.

  There was a handle on the front of the sledge and I grabbed hold of it tightly. Kyrk looped a length of rope between my hands and bent down, his face only inches away from mine. I felt my heart quicken.

  “Don’t be scared,” he said.

  “I’m not.” I replied, and I wasn’t. As I watched him turn his back and begin to walk I thought about how strange it was to trust someone that I barely knew. But I did trust him completely.

  We kept up a steady pace all day. I stared at Kyrk and the others from behind, feeling more alone than I had since I had walked out onto the White. As I watched their powerful legs keep moving for mile after mile, I felt once more how inadequate I was compared to them.

  I missed Angel Sam and when I thought of him back at the Seeker’s camp, it was like a dagger in my heart. I thought of my city and all I felt was anger. Why had my ancestors chosen to let our bodies weaken, to make it impossible for us to live out here? They had condemned us all to life underground, whether we liked it or not.

  But could I be living proof that we could make it outside? As I cowered down into the furs so that only my eyes were showing I tried to hold onto that fact. Maybe I could live out here, and if I could do it then there was hope for all of us. I suddenly realised how important I was. Not because I was a ninety, or because of who my parents were, but because of what I had done. Perhaps just by choosing the White, by refusing to go home I was showing my strength. I hoped so, because at that moment with the Seekers striding out ahead of me, and my position as glorified luggage, it all felt like a terrible mistake.

  I must have fallen asleep because when I awoke it was nearly dark and we had stopped in front of a high grey wall. I climbed stiffly out of the sled and went to join Kyrk and the others who seemed to be having an angry discussion.

  “We agreed to take you here, but we will not enter the city with you. You may have convinced the Chief but I am not sure of your motives.” The speaker was an older female Herder and many of the others were nodding their agreement.

  “Max?” Kyrk turned to his friend. Max sighed theatrically, then smiled.

  “I’m with you old friend. But I can’t make the others stay.” He turned to the old woman. “Take the rest of the men back to the herd. If all goes well, I’ll see you back there.” The woman took his hand for a second in a gesture I didn’t understand, then they were gone, and there was only Max, Kyrk, Felkyo and myself left.

  “The city is just beyond that ridge.” Kyrk explained when he noticed me looking at him.

  “So, I guess now we get to hear your plan for when we get there.” Felkyo said, her arms folded in front of her chest.

  Kyrk looked a little embarrassed.

  “What we need to do is clear: we must evacuate the city, but I don’t know how to convince people to leave. Our first step should be to convince the Chieftain’s council. No one’s ever attacked the city before, it will just seem impossible to them. It still does to me too.”

  “How many people live there?” I asked, peering into the distance.

  “I’m not sure, maybe a couple of thousand?”

  “We have to get them out of the city.” I bounced from one leg to the other. I needed to do something; now that we were so close we were just standing about and meanwhile those innocent people could be destroyed at any moment.

  Kyrk nodded, strong and silent. I wanted to reach out to him, but forced my arms to stay by my side.

  “But how?” Felkyo cried, her eyes meeting mine for the first time. “They won’t listen to us. You’re the enemy and they probably think the Seekers are too. And we don’t even know how they’re going to attack.”

  “I’ll go.” Kyrk stood in front of us, his knife in one hand. “Jony and Mya are in there. I have more to lose than any of you. They’ll see that.”

  “Or they’ll throw you in prison or worse.” Felkyo said, and I nodded but I knew already that he would do it.

  “Then we’re all going.” Max said firmly. We all turned to look at him in surprise; we had almost forgotten he was there. “Felkyo represents the Seekers, and the Chieftain will know her mother. I can represent the Herders, and despite everything Kyrk still has the respect of most of the Hunters. And Lisanne must come because… well… she will scare them half to death.”

  I gave him a big grin and he managed a weak one in return.

  Rather than creep into the city we walked up to the entrance together like an advancing army, the fur hood I normally wore pulled down to show my face. When we reached the gap in the cliffs we were met by half a dozen guards carrying large knives. Kyrk demanded to see the Chieftain and while the others searched us one guard scurried off in search of authority.

  I saw the guards whisper to one another and point at my face and I smiled at the others. Within minutes the whole city would know about us. Hopefully they would want to know why we were here, and we wanted that news to spread as fast as possible.

  It took three more discussions between the guards before we were finally marched forward through the city. Eyes everywhere stared at us, and children shrieked in fear and hid in their mother’s fur when they saw my face. I thought about how our teacher used to frighten us with stories of the horrible creatures that might live up on the ice. Now I was the monster. The realisation made me shiver.

  After a short walk we were shown to a series of ice steps that brought us up on to the top of a stone ridge. I couldn’t help but gasp. It was something out of a dream, although I remembered seeing something similar in books about the ancient times. There was a semicircle cut into stone, covered in what must have been centuries’ worth of crystalized ice.

  We were left waiting for only a few minutes before a line of people walked in. These must be the leaders of the clans, I thought, each different in colouring and build from the next. I spotted a familiar face.

  “Yohan!” Kyrk growled from beside me. I placed my hand on his arm and he calmed a little. Max stood beside me and he whispered who each person was as they sat down.

  “First it’s the leader, the Chieftain, Dubh who was a Digger before he became our leader. Scyre is Chief of the Hunters, and that woman who’s twice as broad as everyone else is Ealsa, Chief of the Builders. Last of all, Yohan, Chief of the Doctor clan, who you already know.

  “Why isn’t the Seeker Chief here or the Herder’s?” I asked under my breath.

  “Herders have no interest in city life, we only turn up for the Tyngvall.” Max said.

  “And Seekers do not wish to sit on the council,” Felkyo said with a look of disdain at the group in front of us, “we have to remain impartial.”

  “That’s worked really well so far,” Kyrk said and the girl flushed.

  “It may have been a mistake,” she admitted.

  The Chieftain stood up and we all shuffled forward like we were awaiting judgement which I suppose we were.

  “Felkyo of the Seeker clan, Kyrk formerly of clan Hunter now a Seeker, Max of the Herder clan, you have asked an audience with us. I must state we do not normally spend our time on juveniles, but your pris
oner is most… intriguing.”

  I looked at the Chieftain in surprise. I had expected a fierce warrior like Kyrk, or some kind of benevolent King from the histories of my childhood. Yet this man was unassuming, carefully spoken and restrained. If it wasn’t for the spark of intelligence in his light eyes I would have thought that the clans had elected the weakest of all of them. Careful, I warned myself, there’s more to him than meets the eye.

  “She’s not our prisoner.” Kyrk said and his voice echoed around the empty hall. “She’s here to help.”

  “Really,” Dubh said as he leaned forward to face Kyrk. “From what I hear she has helped enough already. There have been serious accusations about this girl and another like her concerning the death of Brand.”

  “Allegations!” Yohan’s voice was shrill. “These are no allegations. These freaks used an alien weapon from under the ground to kill my father. I saw it with my own eyes.”

  “Why would I do such a thing?” I interrupted, and several of the Chiefs looked horrified that I had dared even to say this much.

  “Isn’t it obvious?” Yohan continued, “Who was with you at the time? Who is with you at this very moment? We have heard whispers of the plotting and scheming of the Hunters for years, and it just so happens that Kyrk is there with his friends and their nasty little weapon at the moment Brand dies.”

  The hall erupted. The Hunter Chief actually went for his knife and was barely restrained by the Builder woman. Kyrk looked ready to pounce, and Felkyo held him back despite her own growls of fury. Yohan meanwhile just looked on smugly.

  “There’s so much wrong with what you’re saying, Yohan. Kyrk isn’t even a Hunter anymore…” Felkyo was interrupted instantly.

  “How convenient that he should change clan just before the assassination. And really, it’s no secret that Hunters and Seekers have been conspiring against the rest of us. We all know you smell the same underneath your fur.” This time Felkyo had to be grabbed by Kyrk and Max or she probably would have killed him with her bare hands.