LUMI
The wind howled through the valley of pure white snow. Lumi, Tom and Doctor Hart bent their heads against the gale. The lion and the wolf led the way. There was no chance they could fly in this snowstorm, so they trudged on, the snow up to their knees, pushing through because they had no other choice but to keep moving.
The three of them barely looked like people, wrapped as they were in every item of clothing, with thick material covering their faces, so they were more like colourful monsters pushing through the snow than they were people.
Lumi stumbled a few times. Doctor Hart seemed to walk unencumbered, her hand held high on Mondli's shoulder as it always was, her face completely covered so her eyes weren't even visible.
Tom and Lumi walked behind Kobuk, trying to use the wolf's weight as a shield against the snowstorm. They'd left the last village days ago and were travelling further and further Dorth, where the map showed nothing but darkness. But Lumi could feel the pull as she moved forwards. There was something out here, in the snow.
They couldn't see where they were going, but Lumi could feel it was the right direction.
There was a shout on the wind, and Lumi felt the muscles in Kobuk's back tense. It was impossible to tell where the sound had come from, but she was sure it had been the sound of a person. Tom and Lumi squinted into the gloom, trying to see the source of the voice.
Flames erupted across their vision, and then suddenly, the snow storm seemed to slow around them, as if they were in the eye of the storm. Lumi pulled her scarf down from her face so that she could see, and she noticed two tigers stalking towards her.
And then she noticed the wolves.
"There are winter starrlings here," Lumi hissed, but Kobuk had already noticed the wolves and his hackles were raised, as more and more wolves came out of the gloom. A pack of them, with no starrlings in sight. Lumi had never seen wild winter wolves, and these wolves didn't seem happy to have company. It seemed strange that they were in the company of tigers.
"Have we got lost and somehow crossed the border to Norrlund without realising?" Tom asked.
"There are no borders here," Doctor Hart said. "These people are neither Norrlish or Kaio."
And there were people, Lumi saw now. They weren't riding their kinnlings but instead walking behind them. They wore huge animal pelts as clothing. There were two of them, and as they moved closer Lumi saw that they were two men. One man held fire in his hands.
"Fire starrlings," Lumi said, feeling a flicker of relief. If they were fire starrlings then they were her people, sworn to serve her.
"Strangers are not welcome," a man called out, in strongly-accented Kaio.
"We're no strangers," Lumi said. "I am Princess Lumiko, daughter of Lumivara. I believe she and her sister Virani were born in this village."
The two men who stepped forward lowered the scarves around their faces to stare at Lumi.
"You have a twin," the taller man said.
Lumi nodded.
"Are you the surger or the queller?" a second man asked.
Lumi glanced at Doctor Hart, and then said, "I'm the queller."
The two men exchanged glances with each other, and then the first said, "We're honoured that you should visit us, Lumiko. Let us take you inside out of the cold."
"Thank you," Lumi said, and she exchanged a hopeful look with Tom before moving to follow the men.
"Please follow us to the... village, as you named it, Princess."
Lumi swallowed, and then she did as instructed. Tom was beside her.
Kobuk was sniffed by a few of the wolves, who seemed to decide that he was trustworthy, and they allowed him to walk alongside them.
The calm of the storm followed them. Lumi realised that there were winter starrlings surrounding them, warding off the strength of the blizzard. They trudged through the snow, following the pack of wolves. It was almost impossible to see these people in the storm, which gave Lumi the feeling that she was surrounded by ghosts,.
In the darkness and constant grey of the blizzard, it was impossible to tell which direction they were going, but up ahead there seemed to be some icy cliff. As they trudged forward, Lumi realised it wasn't a cliff but a wall, built of ice.
They approached it, and Lumi squinted, trying to see whether there was a gate. She was sure they were going to walk right into the icy wall, but then the men on either side of her approached the ice. In a terrific show of force, they used ice magic to create a gate which swung open seamlessly, revealing a whole new world beyond.
Everything was dazzling white, even in the darkness. There was fire everywhere, burning in oil lamps. The storm seemed not to reach this place within the gates, and it was only snowing mildly. The sky above was dark and shrouded with clouds. They followed the wolves inside the walls, and the ice gate closed behind them with a sound like the roaring of an avalanche.
Lumi and Tom stayed close to each other.
"This isn't a village," Tom said quietly. "Doctor Hart, it's like an ice city. A city built of ice."
Doctor Hart laughed in delight. "Oh, if only they knew."
There was a huge white structure before them. The top of it was invisible, but Lumi guessed from the shape of the bottom that it was a pyramid, made purely of ice, glistening white and shining.
The Temple of Reunsgar.
There was no entrance to the pyramid, that Lumi could see. Instead, feeling nervous, they followed the men downstairs into a tunnel. Two of the tigers followed, whereas some of the wolves remained outside, guarding the tunnel. But Lumi was glad that Kobuk followed them down the stairs, into the icy tunnel.
The tunnel was lit by fires in brackets, and they followed the fires until eventually the reached a set of stairs going up. They followed the stairs to find themselves in a huge icy chamber that seemed to glow white-blue.
They were inside the pyramid. It was amazingly warm in here, and Lumi and Tom pulled off their scarves and layers, revealing red noses and wiping already melting snow from their clothes. Lumi's fingers were stinging from the cold and she removed her gloves and rubbed her hands together to bring some feeling back to them.
"You're the daughter of Lumivara," one of the men said to her, staring at her face. "Now I see it. Come, come. And you? You're a doubler too, I'd say."
Tom couldn't understand the words spoken to him, but he glanced at Lumi.
"What's a doubler?" she asked the man.
"One with two hearts," the man said simply. "Come along."
Behind them, Doctor Hart was laughing to herself, and Lumi felt a tremor of panic. Had the old woman gone mad in the cold?
Lumi frowned and stared at Tom, who was looking curious.
"How does he have two hearts?" she called out as they walked, but the men ignored her question.
Her hands were starting to warm up now, and she was able to truly take in the cavernous ice room they had entered. Everything seemed to glow white, lit by fires in every direction. There were two women who seemed to be standing guard at the entrance, with two wolves, but otherwise the chamber was empty.
Lumi relayed the conversation to Tom, who just looked confused.
"I'm sure I'd know if I had two hearts," Tom said, his tone light but the frown on his face betraying some of his wary confusion.
"Ah, you speak Starg," said the first man, and then glanced at his companion. "Should we speak Starg?"
"You can speak Starg?" Lumi asked.
"Yes. Norrskiy speak Starg now. We make the trade with them," he said in a rough Starg.
"Norrlish," the other man corrected. "We trade with the Norrlish, occasionally. They speak Starg."
"Old ones speak Norrlish. Young ones no. They not Norrlish. They cheap workers. Starg. Dirty business," he grumbled.
"What are your names?" Lumi asked.
"I'm Eero," one said. "And this is Armo."
"Are you brothers?" Lumi asked.
"Very astute, Princess," Armo said, switching to the Fire language to say it. "But we are not twins. Please, follow."
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