Ice-Bound Promise [Wattys 2023 Shortlister]

20

20

The eerie silence of the city made her heart clench in fear. The increasing downpour of the rain did nothing to quell those fears, either. It was as though she could hear every single drop of rain strike the ground around her. From soft thuds against the packed mud, to the lighter patter as the rain fell upon upturned cobbles that once lined the streets. There was no other sound.

Her clothes had become sodden and heavy, her hands slick against the shaft of her whale hook that she gripped tight, spinning to point it at any shadow, any trick of the diminishing light as the storm clouds blackened the skies above. To her sides, Shihiri seemed no less and no greater wary, walking as though travelling through any normal habitation, and Hatyara appeared to take the entire thing in her stride.

Barsa had not left Únik's side since making the first step into the outskirts of the city. His tail remained tucked between his legs, ears flat against his skull and, every so often, he would pause, growling into nooks and crannies, lowering his head, ready to pounce or run. Únik was not used to seeing her brave, loyal hound act in such a fashion.

The further they moved into the city, the more derelict the buildings became. Ancient stone buildings, that once may have been exquisite in their construction, now in complete disrepair. Some had collapsed against their neighbours, others had become nothing but rubble. Every so often, they would encounter a building, a home or an old business premises, that remained almost intact, tantalising them with their promise of sanctuary from the rains and the cloying, desperate feelings the city conferred upon Únik.

The streets began to fill with running waters as the rains continued to pour, making their footings more precarious, hidden potholes and dips, upturned cobbles and stones from ruined buildings making the path more treacherous to follow. It soon became clear that they needed to find higher ground, within the city, as the waters began to rise above their feet.

"I didn't realise that the city dipped so steeply." Testing the depth of the rain water with her staff, Shihiri began to frown. "It's like we're walking through a river."

"We'll move closer to the edge. Maybe find an old street higher up the valley side." Únik kept her eyes open for a turning. "Though I'd feel happier staying on this street, it seems to run the entire length of the city."

Indeed, as they had made their way into the valley and the city, Únik had noticed this wide thoroughfare and had made her way towards it as soon as she could. She had no idea whether it was a sound strategy, but she knew she would feel far more safe with space around her, rather than within the tight, twisting ruin of back alleys and side streets.

They had passed one large square after only a few minutes within the city and Únik had imagined the place in its prime, filled with people and market stalls. Folks mingling around the fountain in the middle of the square, now dry, listing to the side, the statue it once held nothing more than a weather beaten lump of shapeless stone.

"There! Look!" Hatyara, wading through water that almost reached her knees, moved to one side of the street, pointing with one hand as she held the skirts of her dress in the other, trying to lessen the prospect of having to walk with a dress leadened by water. "I see another street!"

Únik followed the direction of the pointing finger. The Ice-Kin was correct. There, between two buildings that had collapsed against each other, forming a pointed arch, Únik could see an alley leading up to a street that appeared dry. A smaller street, but Únik would take the more cramped path than this street that now resembled a river more and more.

As she had walked, she had seen evidence of flooding within the city. Mud and dead branches piled up against some buildings. Stones that had become scoured, over the centuries, by the passing of rushing waters and the detritus dragged along on the current. The foundations of buildings revealed as the surrounding soil had become washed away. Worst of all, what looked like tide marks that reached high up most of the buildings.