Ice-Bound Promise [Wattys 2023 Shortlister]

24

She said nothing as she headed back to the centre of the temple. Tapping her thigh, she waited for Barsa's obedience to overcome his fear and watched as he skulked to her side. She hated forcing him to do this. Resented Shihiri and Hatyara for forcing her to do it. Soon, they all stood around the tunnel entrance, only the low, flickers of the torch flames breaking the silence.

"Well, I expect we should get it over and done with." Leaning forward, hands on her knees, Hatyara gazed down into the tunnel, her many-coloured, wide pantaloons rippling as the wind caught them. "Who goes first?"

"Ask Shihiri, she's the one making the decisions around here." Únik knew it sounded bitter and petty, and she caught the hurt look from the Fae, but she didn't care. "Whatever happens, Barsa stays with me. Don't you dare call him to you, Ice-Kin!"

"Fine! I'll go first!" Whipping her torch over the entrance to the tunnel, Shihiri made a deliberate turn away from Únik.

Without even hesitating, the Fae made her way into the tunnel, walking sideways to compensate for the steep slope. As she passed further down, Hatyara gave Únik a look of disgust before following the Fae. Únik did hesitate.

She watched as the darkness swallowed the outlines of Shihiri and Hatyara until only the orange/blue glow of the torch's flames remained and still she hesitated. Only when she felt the nudge of Barsa's head under her hand did Únik take her eyes from the tunnel. The hound's dark eyes looked up at her, his ears laid flat against his head.

Únik understood his fear. Even though she did not have the greater senses that Barsa had, she felt something that caused her stomach to turn every time she looked down into the depths below the temple's altar. Like she had felt out in the field of bones, this felt like a desecration, to her. They had no business trespassing within those tunnel walls.

But, she could not let Shihiri and Hatyara go alone. Though she had no weapons, she had chosen to help and protect Hatyara. She couldn't stop now. She had the feeling, however, that weapons would give no help in that tunnel. She didn't know why she felt that, only that any place that could withstand the fury of a Patron was no place for mortals.

She set a boot upon the slope of the tunnel floor, setting it as flat as she could. She felt the strain upon her ankle as it bent in a fashion that ankles were not supposed to. It felt solid enough and she followed the first foot with the other. She made slow progress, not wishing to slip and tumble down into that eldritch darkness, but she soon reached the Fae and the Ice-Kin. After a while, they had waited for her.

Barsa had hesitated, too. At first, he only stood at the mouth of the tunnel, allowing little half-growls/half-whimpers to escape his muzzle. A second or so after Únik had begun to descend the tunnel, the hound began pacing around the entrance, emitting pained woofs. Eventually, his loyalty to Únik got the better of him and he began to follow, front paws digging claws into the surface of the tunnel floor as he descended in an awkward fashion.

As soon as Barsa had reached them, the sound of stone moving against stone began to echo through the tunnel. Únik looked upwards, towards the tunnel mouth, only to see the altar closing over the entranceway. Within a second, only a tiny sliver of half-light remained and then it was gone, sealing them all within the confines of the tunnel.

Shihiri pushed past Hatyara and then Únik. She clambered back up the tunnel until she reached the bottom of the altar and began pushing against it. When it failed to move, she put the torch down, to the side, and started to use both her arms, but the altar refused to move. With the palms of her hands, Shihiri began to pound on the stone of the altar, as though that would help where brute strength had failed.

"What are you waiting for? Give me a hand!" Shihiri's voice fell down the tunnel towards Únik.

"What's the point?" Holding her torch high, Únik lit up Shihiri's face. "If you can't open it, I won't be able to. It was magic closed that altar atop us. It was your choice to come down here, time to accept the consequences of that choice."