Danug struggled through a white landscape, a constant stream of snow hitting his face and chilling his brain.

'We should have wintered with the S'armunai,' Druwez muttered next to him. 'But oh no, Danug wanted to get back, and what Danug wants, he gets. I remember…'

'Sshh,' Danug stopped walking and put a frozen finger to his lips. 'I think I hear something.'

Druwez shook his head. 'There's nothing,' he said after listening for a while. 'You are imagining it.' He started to walk again, his head bent down low into the hood of his cape, trying to avoid the worse of the snow.

'No, wait.'

Druwez sighed and trudged back to Danug. 'There is nothing around here but snow. Snow, snow and more snow. We've been outside so long in this stuff; your ears are probably hearing things. Now come on, we should walk a bit more before we set up camp for the night.' He walked away.

'But…' Danug hurried after his cousin but then heard the sound again. 'I really do hear something, it sounds…' He looked around. 'Singing. Look,' He pointed up to where a flickering light came from a dark shape high up on a cliff. 'Look. I think it's a cave.'

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My name is Shana and I'm fed up, I've got a headache, and the raucous singing of my people doesn't help it. Today is the middle of winter, and a horrible day it has been. I don't mind the cold, or the snow. It's the celebrations that annoy me. All day, everyone but me has been drinking the fermented drink. All day they've been rolling around on the cave floor, only just avoiding getting burnt by the fires. And only then because I pulled them away. I've rubbed shaking backs, while people are sick in the night baskets. Held back hair so it doesn't get covered in what should stay in stomachs. Cleaned faces, given them tea to drink. But they don't show any gratitude to me, they just throw the tea away and crawl back to the drink. Getting more and more inebriated. And now they are having a competition to see who can sing the loudest.

I sigh and stand up, walking to the cave's mouth to peer out at the pristine snow. A cool breeze and some smattering of snow hits my face but I don't feel the cold, it just helped clear my head. I breathe deeply and close the wood barrier shut so I'm outside the cave, with the fire that always burns there and the people are inside. The noise from the singing recedes and I sit down. Start to hum to myself as I watch the sun set.

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'We have to hurry,' Danug shouted above the roar of the snow. 'This is turning into a blizzard.'

The snow was faster, the wind whipping it around and forcing it under the hoods of the capes. Both of them pulled the drawstrings around their faces, so that only a little showed. They started to run, as well as they could through the deepening snow.

And all the time, Danug kept looking at the flickering light.

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It's glorious; the dark sky looks like it is on fire.

I lean back and put my arms behind my head and stared at it. Deep peace fills me as I think about what my mother always said about the sunset. That a goddess was burning away the old day, ready to bring new to the people's life.

'What will you bring to me?' I whisper. 'Will you bring something new to my life? Or will it remain like it is?' I sigh and think about my mother. The woman who raised me died long ago, I haven't seen her since but when I was smaller, she used to tell me about her own mother and how she'd gone on a journey long before. And never returned.

'I would like to live somewhere else,' I mumble to myself. 'But they will never let me leave.'

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They were nearly there, the flickering light was bigger now, and not as high up in the cliff as they thought it would be.

'Look,' Danug pointed to a small path that led up to the mouth of the cave. 'We can get up that way.'

They stared to climb, slipping on the icy slope but determined, they continue. At one point they almost crawled up but eventually reached the cave. The dark cave. There was no flame in it, no people. It was empty.

'But I saw a light,' Danug said, frowning as he stood in the mouth. 'I saw a light.'

'Well, I saw nothing,' Druwez snorted, holding his spear shooter in his hand as he edged into the cave. 'You probably just saw the reflexion of the moon. But at least you found somewhere for us to stay for a while. This cave looks like it hasn't been used by humans or animals for a long time but it will give us shelter until the worse of the blizzard goes.'

Danug nodded and pulled his back frame from his back and rooted through it for the kindling he carried and the fire stones. Bending down, he quickly made a fire. 'It must have been the moon,' he muttered to himself as he warmed his hands.

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For a moment, I think I hear someone coming up the path, but that's impossible because no one ever comes here. No comes and no one leaves, not for a long time. Sadly, I open the barrier and slip back into the cave and head for my sleeping place.

My people are quieter now, sleeping off the drink but I know that tomorrow, they will have headaches and I will have to help them again. Just like every other day for as long as I can remember.

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The cave was a large one. It stretched right back into the cliff, growing bigger the further back it got. The two men walked through it, a burning torch in each hand. Together they noted the dust that was layered on the rough floor. At intervals the rock floor was darker, as if a fire had once scorched it there, but there was no sign of hearth stones or tinder. There was no real signs of the habitation of humans really, though it felt like someone had lived there. Once. But when they reached the back of the cave, and saw a small tunnel leading off it, they followed it into a small cave where someone had painted on the walls. And amongst the handprints and paintings of auroch and horses were a collection of people standing in a cave. And right at the front was a girl who looked like she had blonde hair and grey blue eyes.

'Ayla,' Danug gasped. 'She looks just like Ayla.'

Druwez stepped toward the wall, and reached out a hand to the painting.

'Don't.'

Druwez turned and looked at Danug. He had a frown on his face. 'Why?'

'I don't know, but I just feel that you shouldn't touch it. Like it's sacred or special in some time.' He shivered. 'Come, let's get back to the fire and make some supper.'

'Okay,' Druwez shrugged. 'I guess I am hungry.'

They walked back to the front of the cave, and thrust their torches in between two rocks. Then taking some stones out of their bags, they put them into the fire. Danug untied a large wooden bowl that hung from his pack, and went to fill it with snow. By the time he came back, Druwez had taken out some dried meat and a couple of travelling cakes that the S'Armunai had made with dried berries, animal fat and grains. He crumbled some into another bowl and waited for the stones to heat.

Danug used a stick to push one of the stones out of the fire, and drop it into the snow filled bowl, where it hissed. He put some more stones in and waited while they melted the snow into water. Then he poured half of it into Druwez' bowl, and added some mint to the rest.

Danug stirred the meat and travelling cake filled bowl, adding another stone until the food, now a stew, started to bubble. He divided it between two eating bowls and passed one to Danug, who passed him a cup of mint tea.

They sat for a while, just eating, filling their stomachs but didn't feel like talking. Too tired, they washed the empty bowls and cups with snow and then climbed into the furs they'd laid on the ground and went to sleep.

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I wake to screaming. Pushing off my furs, I get up and hurry to my sister. All around her are white lights, and she, paled faced and terrified, is staring at them. And shaking. And crying. And screaming.

'Make them go away Shana,' she says when she sees me. 'They frighten me so.'

'They frighten us all Shala,' I say as I reach through the lights and pull her to me. 'But they have never hurt any of us.'

'I know Shana, but why do they come? And…' she screams again and points to the far side of the cave.

Something is walking up and down there. Something that looks like a white bear but has no fur. Its skin is shiny, and there is some sort of bubble on its head. As I look at it, it looks at me and through the bubble, I can see sad eyes. It mouths something to me.

'What is it?'

I shake my head. 'It's just one of them,' I say. It's just one of the strange ones.'

Nearby, there are other strange ones but they look at least human, to a degree anyway. A woman with no hair and white scars over her face and body. A girl with a withered arm. A boy with no legs who seems to float in the air. All of them pale like spirits, but we know they are not spirits, spirits can't be touched, or fought and the leaders used to try when they first came. Until they started disappearing. And then in a flash, came back again. But since that flash, no one has been able to leave the cave, and what has been consumed the day before, whether food or drink, appears again the next day. Which would be good, if it wasn't for the strange ones. No hunting or gathering to do, we could just have fun every day, but who can have fun with such strangeness around them?'

'They will be gone soon,' I tell her, though I'm telling all the other children too, many of them peeking out from under their furs. Many of the adults doing the same thing. 'They will be gone soon.'

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Danug woke to an explosion. During the night, the dust from the cave had worked itself into his nose and caused him to sneeze. Which woke him up.

He looked around, puzzled to see rough stone walls instead of the hide tent. But then remembered coming to the cave the night before.

He pushed his furs back, and stood up, hoping as he put his boots on. Then went outside to empty his bladder. It was early morning and the snow had stopped but was pretty high. He knew there would be no chance of them continuing their journey for some time, that they would have to stay in the cave and just hoped they would have enough food to last them.

He trudged back to the cave through the snow and noticed Druwez was still asleep. Drool coming from his mouth as he snored.

Danug picked up the bowl he'd filled with snow the day before and went outside to collect some more, making sure he stayed away from the area he'd emptied his bladder over. He put the bowl by the embers of the fire to melt and then relit the fire.

Then he started to look through his pack, pulling out the packages of food within.

'If we're careful,' he said to himself. 'We can make this last us a week. Hopefully we will be able to continue on our way back to the Mamutoi by then.'

He lifted some stones from the fire and put them into the bowl of melting snow, waiting until the water started to bubble. Then he put some more mint leaves in it and left them to seep.

'We should have some of the dried meat for breakfast.'

He packed everything away again and poured some of the mint tea into a cup and stood up. Walked to the back of the cave. To the small cave with the painting in it.

He sipped his tea as he looked at the painting that looked like Ayla. Putting the cup down, he stepped closer, lifting his hand without realising, he touched the wall.

There was a flash of light.

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'Where am I? What happened? What was that flash of light?' Danug looks around the small cave, and notices the paintings are missing. Even weirder, he can hear people talking. He peeks around a rough wall and sees an occupied cave and a young girl walking toward him. Or toward the small cave anyway.

She stops when she sees him and then turns and runs away.

'Shana,' she shouts. 'There's a new strange one.'

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As soon as I hear Shala shouting me, I run to her. I was standing in my favourite place, in the mouth of the cave next to the big fire, enjoying the sight of the snow covered valley and hating it all the same because I would never experience walking in it again. But self-pity takes a second place where my little sister is concerned. So I run.

'What's wrong Shala?' I ask as I wrap my arms around her.

She points to where a young man is peeking around the wall that separates the main cave to the sacred one. 'It's one of the strange ones,' she says, trembling in my arms. 'A new one.'

But something about the man seems different to the strange ones. He looks normal, not abnormally pale. He isn't floating off the ground, and isn't doing any of the other things that they normally do. Plus he seems to be able to see us. Only the white bear that I am sure isn't a white bear at all, has ever noticed us. All the others, the ones that look sort of normal, they seem to drift around, not aware that we are here, or they are in our home.

I step back as the young man walks around the wall, entering the cave. He has his hands outstretched in front of him, his palms facing me.

'Hello,' he says in a strange accent. 'My name is Danug.'

He seems to speak my words, but deep down, I know he doesn't, it is just the magic, or whatever has trapped us here, that is translating for him. Which is the first good thing it has ever done, because he is the first person, except for the strange ones, I have seen for a long time.

'Hello,' I reach out and take his hands in mine. They are flesh. 'You're not a strange one,' I say, staring into his eyes in wonder. 'You are normal like me.'

He laughs. 'What a weird thing to say,' he smiles. 'But how is it you come to look like…' he stops speaking and blushes.

'Like who?'

He shakes his head. 'You just look like someone I know.'

'Who?'

'A woman I met years when I was little more than a boy. My cousin and I travelled to see her and her mate, and their people, the Zelendonii, this year, and were just heading home. To the Mamutoi.'

'The Mamutoi? I have heard of them. But tell me, what's this woman's name?'

'Ayla.'

'Ayla? And is she pretty?' I blush as he has just told me I look like her, and it sounds like I am fishing for compliments. 'Or is she ordinary looking like me,' I add.

'She is very beautiful, and could never be ordinary looking. You look very similar to her. Almost like you could be related to her.'

'I don't have a relative called Ayla. Or at least, I don't think I do. Though I guess, it has been so long, anything is possible.'

'What's been so long?' Danug shakes his head. 'And where am I? I was with my cousin, Druwez, and then found myself here. I remember a painting that looked like you; it disappeared and replaced the empty cave I was in to this one full of people.'

'You were in the cave?'

He nods. 'Does this cave join that one?'

'Sort of,' I chuckle. 'But not how you think it does.'

'Shana,' my little sister had been edging forward while we were talking. 'Is he a strange one, he doesn't look like one.' She smiles at Danug and then blushes.

'No, I don't think he is Shala. I think he is just a normal man, who found our cave and then somehow was brought here. And if he's found a way to get to us, then maybe,' I smile as excitement fills me. 'Maybe, we could find a way out.'

'A way out of what?' Danug shakes his head. 'I don't understand, why would you want to leave the cave in winter?'

'Because we can't,' I answer. 'Because we're trapped.'

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'What do you mean trapped?' Danug asks as he looks around at my people. 'How can you be trapped?' He walks to the mouth of the cave and tries to step onto the path. The something that always pushes us back, does it to him too. 'Hey.' He bounces off the barrier, for that is what it feels like, and falls onto the stone floor.

'Like I said,' I say, offering him my hand to pull him up. 'We are trapped in this cave. And we have been trapped here for years.'

'But…'

I shrug. 'I don't know why, or how, I just know that it is the truth. Time passes in here like it does out there. My little sister Shala was only a couple of years old when it happened, and I only ten. Now she is the one who is ten and I am eighteen.'

'But if you can't go outside, then you won't be able to hunt or gather food so surely you should be…'

'Dead?' I smile sadly and shake my head. 'It is fickle, whatever has happened to us. For the years pass, but each day, the food that has been consumed the day before, the water drank, is back in storage. For the last eight years, we have had to eat the same food day after day, week after week, month after month. We long for something new.' She points further down the path. 'You can't see them from here, but strawberries grow down there. I remember when I was little, going down there with my mother to pick them. Stuffing them into my mouth. They were so juice that they used to stain my tunic but my mother would just laugh. But we can't get to the now, and have none in storage. I long for those strawberries.'

Danug frowns. 'But how is this possible? This doesn't happen, it's not natural.'

'But still it has happened.'

'But…'

'I know, it is strange, but even our leader doesn't understand it, and she was in service to the Mother. The simple truth is, we are trapped, have been trapped for eight long long years, and will probably be trapped until we die.'

'So am I trapped too?'

I shake my head and look at him with sorrowful eyes. 'I don't know, I really don't know.'

He walks into the cave, heading for the back, the small cave. But the leader has become aware of his presence and isn't going to let him go easily.'

'A stranger,' she says, planting her feet in his path. 'And not a strange one.'

He tries to push pass her, but she moves back into his way. 'Who are you?' she demands.

'I… he stutters. 'I am Danug of the Lion Camp of the Mamutoi, and in the name of Mut, I greet you.'

'Mut?' the leader spits on the ground. 'The Mother has abandoned us. We serve her no longer.'

Danug steps backward. 'How can you not serve the Mother?' he gasps.

'Because we hate her for what she has done to us.'

He turns around and glares at me. 'And you? Do you hate the Mother?'

I shake my head. 'I do not think that the Mother has done this to us,' I say. 'I think whatever has happened; it is to do with the strange ones.'

'The strange ones? Who are they?'

'You will see,' I say. 'Tomorrow, you will see.'

'Tomorrow?' he shakes his head. 'I'm not staying here until tomorrow.' He pushes the leader gently out of the way, and marches to the small cave. We follow him.

'There is no way out,' the leader sneers. 'You are as trapped as we are now.'

I enter the small cave to see Danug touching the far wall.

'I don't understand,' he says, planting his hands on the wall. Pushing his body up against it. 'I touched the wall and arrived here, so why can't I touch it again and get back to Druwez?'

'Because you are trapped,' the leader snorts. 'Foolish man.' She leaves the cave.

He turns around. 'Am I trapped?'

I shrug. 'I don't know but it seems like you are. But maybe, a way out will come for you. You serve the Mother still. Maybe because you are here, she will take pity on you and save you. And save us too.' I start to cry. 'Because I don't want to stay here. I don't want to be trapped.'

He puts his arms around me and whispers into my hair. 'The Mother is good, she will rescue us.'