Weirder Things 2

12. Klaus: Escort Mission

"Are we there yet," asked the ghost, and Klaus could only sigh.

He took a single step. Paused. Then, without much ceremony, tore his boot free.

The snow whimpered.

Ashlnir. Freakin' Ashlnir. Why did it have to be Ashlnir?

Klaus felt the ghost staring at him, body light on his shoulder. It was still burning bright.

Good. Considering how cold— inhospitable, actually— the tundra was.

The wind howled. It whipped his face. It peppered his beard with snowflakes and ice gems. Teeth were rattling.

He could no longer feel his legs. They didn't exist. And his fingers? What were fingers, anyway?

No wonder She had forbidden him from using the Sleigh.

Foot-travel was the only way. His reindeer wouldn't last a second. Not out here, with such ineffectual fur.

They would fall, right out of the sky, and plummet. Crash. They'd already be stiff. Dead.

An image came to mind. Klaus froze in mid-step and screwed his eyes shut. Holding back tears.

He stood there for a while, and the ghost tilted its head. It blinked. Blinked again.

"Are we there yet?"

"..."

"Are we—"

"No."