Winter of Yggdrasil

Chapter 23

The moment the Bifrost's beam lifted, a wave of heat slammed into them. Kenna gasped and doubled over, feeling as if she'd been burned all over.

"Kenna?" Rowan rushed to her side. She grit her teeth and stood straight, trying to focus enough to control her temperature. "We have to go back." He said to the others. She shook her head but found them all staring at her. Looking down, she found her skin wavering in patches of pale cream and cerulean blue, the hot spots of her body already turning. She shook her head again and breathed out slowly, focusing on her core, finding calm in the way Rowan's hands gripped her. The heat lessened slightly and she waved a hand over her clothes, changing to a light shirt and shorts. She settled for hiking boots and quickly tied her hair up into a braid, managing a smile for them.

"'M fine."

Ebony brushed a hand over her forehead, frowning. Sweat was already running down her temples.

"Sure?"

Kenna nodded and changed her mother's clothes as well. There was a noticeable drain and she tucked her hands behind her back to hide the way the skin of her fingertips wavered back to blue again.

Merek stood calmly under the heat, looking around at the burning realm before them. It was a lot like what he imagined a new realm would look like. The ground shook and the sky was filled with smoke. Fire raged everywhere. There was a famous volcano in the distance, almost always erupting but it was a viscous lava that cooled on the mountainside, building it up further with each year. He turned and watched as Rowan pulled his shirt off and tied it over his head.

"We should move." He said. He watched Kenna closely. Sweat was already running in rivulets down her neck. The heat would kill her... They couldn't stay long. He looked up at the sky. "It's just sundown. We have all night and then we have to find shelter, underground preferably."

"Like that movie..." Kenna mumbled. Ebony nodded, knowing the reference.

He raised a confused brow and shared a look with Rowan. The boy shrugged. Merek hiked his bag higher up on his back, walking on. They followed him in silence, looking around at the eternally Vulcan world. Kenna materialized a flask of ice water for each of them but they were all lukewarm in seconds, hot in minutes. It would do. She finally stepped up to walk beside Merek. He set his hand on her forehead and checked her temperature. She gasped and grabbed his hand, holding it to her cheek.

"You're so cold!" She breathed.

He smiled and kept an arm around her shoulder. She sighed and relaxed, walking along. They trekked across deserts of igneous rock, jumped across seas of molten lava. It was a treacherous journey but Merek led them easily. He knew how to survive here, it was similar to a planet he had helped to build. Kenna and Ebony talked quietly from time to time.

As they came to another river, this one black with ash and igneous lava, Kenna looked sidelong at her mother. Merek moved ahead, barely hesitating on the floating masses of rock.

"If you can't keep up, don't step up. You'll just die." She said in a deep voice.

Ebony snorted. "Merek is Riddick."

"I accept that." Kenna laughed, following their silent guide. "I think Vin Diesel would accept that."

"Who?" Rowan frowned.

"Movies." They said, waving him on with laughing smiles.

The night only seemed half through when they came to another long stretch of igneous desert. The clouds parted and Merek's head snapped up as he heard a call like a bird's. "We may be in luck. That was a Yhenta. And if they're still around, then elementals may be as well."