"Zel! I- we went to get the ice for the water, he thought he heard something and went to listen better, and forgot to watch the ice. He broke through into a hole!" she cried out, obvious fear in her voice. The two sleepers were up in a flash and out the door, stopping only long enough to pull their foot wear on. Filia directed them to a hole in the ice not very far from camp.
Argentus told the girls to stay back as he went down on his belly and slid forward, distributing his weight better to avoid falling in himself. He looked in the hole. Lina bit her lip nervously as Filia wrung her hands. Argentus spoke. "I bet that was surprise, eh Mr. Zelgadiss?"
From the hole came a faint but clear curse. And a nasty one at that. Zel was alive, and from the sounds of the oath, he was alright. The crew on the surface laughed with relief. "It sounds from here that you are not hurt?" Argentus asked.
"No, I'm not." said Zel. "If one of the girls had fallen in they might be badly injured, but thanks to my being a chimera, I just bounced. Well, it hurt a bit, I might get a bruise, something I haven't had in years, but nothing broken. Except this chunk of ice that fell on top of me."
"So I see." replied Argentus. "Trapped are you? Well, don't worry, give us a bit of time and we will get you out." With that he started testing the ice. A few minutes later he stood up next to the hole and said "This part of the ice is solid." He pointed towards the camp. "That is dangerous." He pointed away. He gave a few chips with an ax and opened the hole a bit.
He turned and said "Lina, go get dressed warmly, you are going into that hole to help Zel get out from under the block of ice while Filia and I will hold the rope you will be tied to. In fact, I'll come with you so I can dress too, and get the rope. Filia, get the fuel for the stove and fill it please, and put some ice on to make water, we'll need a hot drink when we are done, and no one has eaten yet either."
Lina felt like she should object but couldn't think of one. "I could levitate..." she said. If this wasn't an emergency worthy of using magic she didn't know what was.
Argentus smiled and replied "No magic to use a rope." Lina nodded.
Soon the preparations were ready and Lina found herself dangling at the end of the rope as it was being lowered. Filia was obviously strong, well, she had dragon strength, and Argentus was strong for a man. So she actually felt fairly secure. And if something happened, well, she was ready to use magic. Eventually she made it down. After some careful poking around she decided the ice floor was safe and walked over to Zel who was lying there under a block of ice. "Well, I've heard of ice sculpures, but this is a bit much, Zel" she quipped.
"I wanted to try a new angle and work from the inside out..." Zel joked feebly back. Lina set to work and soon had the ice shattered to the point where she and Zel could dig out. He was free! He stood up, a little gingerly, and was able to walk. "A few bangs I think, nothing too much." he said. Lina hugged him.
"What was that for?" he asked, sinking into the hug.
"For being human, no matter what you think." she replied. He smiled.
They made it back to the hole and the rope, and eventually they both came up. As predicted, they were cold. In the tent the water was just coming to a boil and soon they had a big pot of tea ready, which was drunk quickly. Then breakfast was started. As it cooked they planned the day.
"Well, if Zel, isn't hurt, Miss Filia isn't exhausted, and you, Lina, aren't frozen, then I suggest we go ahead with our plan to fly one more day as soon as we have had breakfast." said Argentus. The others nodded.
"Yes, lets get this over with." said Lina. "I'm tired of being cold. But first, Zel, what did you hear?"
"Hmmm?" said Zel sipping his tea and stirring the porridge pot. "Oh, out there. I don't know, it was on the edge of hearing, and it might have been a trick of the wind that's always blowing around here. But I could have sworn I heard a scream, whether in pain, or fright, or rage, I couldn't tell. So I went to listen. Argentus are their any creatures or monsters that live here?"
The guide replied "Anything that lives here does so on the edge of the ice where it meets the ocean. They need the liquid water to survive. However, the wind can play tricks here, and so can the ice, and the sky itself. Mind you, that's natural creatures, as for monsters and mazoku, or a party of other people, that's another matter, of course. But did any one else hear this scream?" he asked.
Filia shook her head no, and Lina admited she had heard nothing. "Not that I was listening." she added.
"Well, then, if we meet the screamer we will know, otherwise, we must press on and leave it as a mystery for now." replied Argentus. The others nodded.
Again with the packing, and again with Filia as a dragon and they were finally off. Argentus studied the sky and announced "There is a storm coming. And I believe it will cover from here to the pole. But it will be many, many hours off yet. We will make our landfall before it arrives, but it will be hard upon us by then."
"Great, more cold." shivered Lina. "Why do we need the cold anyway? she asked.
"It counter balances the hot equator and sets up the wind and weather. No poles and equator, no rain for crops, no wind for ships, no sunny days for work, or play." replied Argentus. "Face it Lina, we are in a place where people weren't meant to live. So let us be thankful it was here that the cold was stored."
"Yeah, yeah, everything is beautiful in it's own way, I remember." said Lina. "Don't mind me I'm just getting cold again. But tell me something, if you know anything about it. Why did the Silver Lord have to build his, or it's, residence here? Doesn't he want to be accessed?"
"I suppose that would depend by who." replied Argentus. "There are beings that would have no problem with this stuff. Humans of course would be kept out for the most part, but it is possible that they were not meant to access, as you put it, the Silver Lord. Or maybe they were ment to do so by a different method, one they have forgotten perhaps? Put that on your list of questions for when you get there."
Lina nodded. "That's if we get to ask any." she replied.
"Well, we shall see." Argentus smiled at her.
The trip wore on. The white was begining to get familiar, as was flying. Lina dozed as best she could. It felt warmer that way. Suddenly she felt herself being shaken awake. "Zel?" she asked as the chimera shook her again.
"Don't sleep here Lina, it's too dangerous, too easy to drift away and never wake up. Or more's the point wake up to more warmth than you ever would want to." he replied. "If you are cold, wear this." He took his coat off and wrapped it around her.
"But, but you'll freeze too!" Lina said, worried. "No, keep it, Zel. I don't want you to freeze."
"I'm cold but I'll be okay longer than you will be." Zel replied, stroking his blue, stoney skin. "One third blue demon has it's advantages too, and stones don't care about the cold." He smiled at her. "And knowing you are safe has a warmth of it's own too, Lina."
Lina blushed slightly, and looked away. Then she brought her gaze back to Zel and smiled. "So does the care of a friend." she replied, snuggling into his coat.
As the day and the flight wore on Argentus' prediction was born out. The sky began to haze, then cloud, over behind them. Lina was a bit amazed that the clouds were white not black, like a thunderstorm would have been, but Argentus explained that the snow and ice in the clouds were highly reflective. A snow storm was following them. And slowly gaining.
They discussed with Filia if she could go faster without tiring too much and she agreed to try, although Argentus reassured her that they would be down beforethe stormhit in any case. Lina joked with her asking if she wanted a carrot on a stick. She did this remembering how Amilia had tried to either help, or torment, Filia, she wasn't sure which, during the chase with Darkstar all those decades ago. She did it by magically creating a stick with a carrot hanging from it, on a string, and dangling it in front of Filia. To say the least the golden dragon hadn't been impressed then. Nor was she now, even though all Lina did was remind her of it. But Lina's only response was to laugh.
Finally, it began to get very cold as the storm front caught up to them and they were all shivering violently. "We land now and set camp before the storm hits." ordered Argentus. He looked intently, then directed Filia to a space between two low ridges. "The leeward side of the rise will give us some shelter." he explained. The sled was dropped, it bounced a bit, Filia was shivering too hard. Then they landed, and also bounced a bit for the same reason. Well, but they were safely on the ground.
Working quickly, they had the tent up and secured for a storm in record time. They hauled extra supplies in off the cart in case the storm proved too firece to venture out into. It made for more cramped quarters, but the security made them feel a bit warmer. "Well, we may be cold, but we won't freeze!" said a tired Filia as she prepared to enter the tent.
At that moment she was struck frozen, as was the rest of the group. But it wasn't the cold. A great and monsterous scream broke over them like a hurricane of sound.
