Icebound

Chapter 30

This time, Anyu didn't stop herself from reaching up to grasp her tamga. She sensed that there was no hiding it from Siku, wherever it was.

"You were meant to repay your debt to me," Siku continued. Her eyes locking onto the tamga hungrily. "That was the bargain."

These words did cause Kano to react. He turned to her with an incredulous expression, mixed up with hurt and confusion. The way Siku had spoken- she talked as if she and Anyu had some kind of deal together. But that was impossible- Anyu was only just meeting the woman at this very moment, and they had no such bargain. She shook her head, wordlessly trying to communicate with him. Don't believe her. She's lying.

"I never made any bargain with you," Anyu said. "I never even knew you existed until I got here."

"The debt incurred was not yours, but it is yours to pay nonetheless." Siku's word were unwavering, absolute. Anyu only grew more confused. She truly believed that Anyu owed her something, somehow. It didn't make any sense!

Siku bared her teeth, as if the next words tasted bitter in her mouth. "For the actions of that cursed woman- Awa."

Anyu froze as her mind slowly processed it. The one who owed Siku this debt was... Awa. Grandmother, Anyu thought. No one had called the old woman by the name of Awa since she'd earned the title of shaman so many years ago, but Anyu would know the name anywhere.

She tried to piece through it all, tried to comprehend. All this time, she'd secretly assumed her father had been the indweller. It made the most sense- she'd never known him well enough, was to young when he died to remember whether there was anything unusual about him. If anything, she had immediately ruled out her mother because her mother's mother had been a figure in the village for so long! The woman who practically raised her could never be a...

The dots connected. Anyu looked at Siku's face again, but this time she pictured it with wrinkles, creases around the eyes, and a heavy but stern brow. Siku's resemblance to her grandmother seemed so obvious to her now it was eerie.

"You're her sister," Anyu said aloud, mostly for her own sake. Saying it out loud made it feel like less of a fantasy.

"I was," Siku said, her thin lips turning into a grimace. "Until she betrayed me."

Anyu couldn't stop her gaze from drifting to where she knew the mangled muscle of Siku's side was. She felt sick to her stomach. She felt dizzy. There were a million questions buzzing around in her mind at the implications of it all, but she didn't know how to ask.

What in the world had her grandmother done?

"She won't be giving it to you, Siku." Kano stepped forward, drawing Siku's attention once more. "Never." Tavra growled his affirmation, his hackles raised and his teeth bared. Yet Anyu could see that his legs were trembling ever so slightly.

The air suddenly seemed to grow colder. Kano grabbed her hand and squeezed. Anyu knew it wasn't just for reassurance. She didn't feel any different, but she knew that he was giving her inua: a protection, and a warning.

"It pains me," Siku said. Her voice became steely, the first time she let down her gentle facade. Her eyes darted towards Tavra. "Perhaps a lesson is in store."

She gave a nod to Sakari, who's lips curled into a cruel smile. Sakari raised a hand and a large spike of ice rose up from the snow before her- pointing directly at Tavra.

"No!" Anyu shouted at the top of her lungs. There was no time to react. Her heart was beating fast, her mind working even faster. She watched as if in slow motion as the ice spear shot through the air, closing the distance between Sakari and Tavra. She couldn't let this happen. She wouldn't. A burning sensation climbed it's way into her chest, smoldering there.

She cried out and acted on instinct. She slammed both of her hands onto the ground, unsure of what she was doing but knowing that she needed to do something. In that split second, something did happen. A wave of heat poured out of her, encompassing all of them in it's intense warmth. Sakari was blown back, her ice spear instantly melting. Siku put her arms up in front of her face protectively, but was only forced back a couple steps.

When Anyu opened her eyes, the snow that had covered the mountaintop had vanished within a large radius around her, and instead tufts of strange green shoots sprung out of the ground.

Anyu didn't spare a second to wonder.

She grabbed her spear from her back and tossed tossed it to Kano. "Keep them here!" She called, and turned to run towards the edge of Yahal's pit.

Sakari was already stirring, and the snows shifted around her lazily. Tavra bounded toward her before she could fully regain her senses, and the two tumbled off, struggling against each other. Anyu couldn't spare a glance for Siku, but Kano hopped onto Shesh's back and ran toward her, Anyu's spear lowered in threat. It would have to be enough.

Anyu sprinted. The ledge was just ahead, not far at all, but every second seemed never-ending, and every moment Anyu flinched to herself, imagining a spike of ice impaling her in the back. She tried to picture Shesh's smooth gait, the way he effortlessly moved as fast as the wind, the way his hooves pounded against the ground to propel him forward.

Anyu didn't stop running as she unwound the tamga from around her neck and gripped it in her hand, didn't stop as the edge of the chasm appeared before her. She could see the space in the mist up above, her mind frantically trying to judge its distance. One shot- that was all she would have to get this right.

She heard someone cry out from behind her, didn't have time to process who it might have been or look back. She kept running.

The tamga seemed to grow hotter the closer the chasm grew, until it felt likely to burn her skin. The edge approached- it was time.

Anyu pulled back her arm and flung the tamga into the abyss. She stopped her momentum just before tumbling into the chasm herself, instead sliding to a stop right at the snowy edge. Her heart stopped beating in her chest as her eyes followed the tamga's arc.

She held her breath, her fate now in the hands of the wind. At first it was uncertain, but Anyu's aim had been true. The tamga was going to make it through. Anyu let out an incredulous breath as the tamga just reached the threshold of the chasm-

And then stopped in midair. A frost began to slowly coat the bone, more and more until it was entirely encased in ice. It seemed more appropriate if Anyu's heart had frozen over, as she watched the now frozen tamga float through the air and into Siku's waiting hand.

Siku stood behind her, a serene smile on her face. Sakari was there too, and Kano and Tavra- their hands were encased in blocks of ice, like wintery manacles, and Sakari dragged them forward with her. They were alive but harshly beaten- Tavra had a large gash on his forehead that wouldn't stop bleeding, and Kano was crumpled in on himself in pain, clutching his stomach.There was no sign of Shesh. Anyu's heart clenched in her chest- in fear, in hopelessness. It was over then. They had failed.

Siku cradled the tamga in her hand as if it was her own child, something infinitely precious and in need of protection.

"I thank you for returning my tamga to me," Siku said, and Anyu could tell that her gratitude was genuine. "I hope you have seen that you were mistaken. Awa is the true traitor."

Her eyes met Siku's for a moment, Anyu's earthy brown and Siku's pale grey. There was no malice in the glance, only a firm understanding that this the way the world was, and how it would stay.

Siku began to walk towards her, and Anyu didn't try to move. Where could she go? It was futile to try and get away.

Kano tried to struggle against Sakari's icy prison, gritting his teeth against the pain.

"Wait!" He called out. "She can still be of use to you! Siku! Just listen-"

But Siku did not listen. She stood before Anyu, tall and powerful and confident in her freshly won victory. She bowed her head once more in thanks. Then she pushed Anyu backwards into the empty chasm below.