Hika's canoe bumps against the ice and she nudges away from the chunk with her paddle. Even with her canoe now barely large enough for herself to fit inside it, her belongings stored away by the magic, there is almost too little space left in this river for her to continue traveling its course. Even with the aid of the river spirits, who help her follow the river against its flow, she cannot continue much longer.

The ice floes in this river scrape against the side of her canoe, slowing its pace. Other boats could perhaps force their way through, but this is a small canoe, only carried forward by the will of the river spirits. The ice does not bow to the rusalkas. Hika pushes aside another chunk of ice and her canoe moves a few feet farther up the river.

She shivers at the wind, tempted to run a flame beneath her clothing. But no, she won't ruin the fine clothing the buffalo woman gave her. She shivers again at the chill in the air, a lick of cold against her cheek. Even her hair, tucked deep inside her hood, feels cold against her skin. The boat stops and one of the rusalkas rises above the surface, her watery face drawn with worry.

"Young one, a storm is approaching. We cannot protect you from within our waters. We could keep you safe from drowning but your flame-"

"The waters would snuff it out." The rusalka nods. "What should I do?"

The rusalka turns and points. "You see that forest? You must reach its shelter before the storm hits, it is the most aid we can provide you now."

"Thank you."

The rusalka gives Hika a smile and collapses into the river. The watery sisters push the boat towards the bank of the river and Hika clambers out. She lifts the canoe from the river and wipes off most of the water, shaking her fingers out at the touch of the freezing water. Her hands steam, a bit painfully, and she resolves herself to dry the boat on her clothes from now on.

She tucks it inside her bag and hurries toward the distant woods, drawing her hood tight against her face. The trees beckon, reaching for her, but the wind tries to pull her back, into the approaching storm. Hika keeps pushing forward against the wind and she finally reaches the closest tree.

Once she steps into the forest, the wind all but disappears entirely. Only a whisper of it remains. The forest is quiet, its inhabitants already hiding from the storm. Hika shivers, but this time not from the cold. If the creatures are hiding, this storm won't pass over the forest and leave it unscathed. It will be hit hard.

Perhaps not to the same extent as the open plain outside the forest, but hard nevertheless. Hika leaps over a snowbank and stumbles into the next. Facefirst. She jerks back at the bite of the cold and pushes to her feet. The snowbank behind her collapses, flooding past her feet and knocking her back into the snow.

Hika groans, feeling the cold already sapping at her strength. Once up again, she summons a flame to burn the frost off of her skin. The fire sputters weakly but doesn't die out, slowly melting away the flakes of snow. She shivers again, feeling the cold deep to her bones. She needs to find shelter, and to not fall into another snowbank.

She had thought it could never be worse than how she felt falling into the frozen water at Poli'ahu's house, but that was a minor inconvenience compared to this, despite having less exposure here. Perhaps it's because all of Russia is terribly cold and it's been sapping at her strength the entire time she has been here?

She climbs up over another pile of snow and looks back at the approaching storm. The dimly lit sky is already a dark grey color, looming overhead. At home, these clouds would mean a hurricane. She can guess that it indicates something just as bad here. The clouds are too close, she doesn't have much more time to find somewhere to hunker down. She looks forward.

There are only snow drifts up ahead, behind her there are dark, ominous clouds. Forward again, there. Half-hidden through the trees. A large snowdrift, pressed up against a thick clump of trees. That is her best bet. She needs to reach the bank before the storm hits the woods. She vaults over a fallen log, darting for the snowbank.

With a sidestep around a boulder, she clambers over the bank and quickly presses back against the snow as wind comes roaring through the trees. It switched directions at one point, it had been going toward the storm and now it is fleeing from the approaching clouds. The wind tears at the branches of the trees, whipping them back and forth.

The storm roars again and it begins to snow. Lightly at first, just a few flakes falling on her skin and hissing away. She huddles back against one of the tree trunks, cold against her back but not worse than the snowbank a few inches away. But then the snow gets stronger, falling down faster and heavier.

Soon, she can't see the closest trees, she can barely make out the snowbank that lies so close to her. She shudders, tucking her hands in close to the center of her body and pulling her knees up to her chest. She may be a fire demigoddess, but she does know what to do in the cold to keep warm. Poli'ahu taught her that.

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'Umi kūmāhā = fourteen, when counting

What do you think of the rusalka? What about the storm? Do you think Hika's fire will last through it? What is going to happen during the storm? Tell me your thoughts!

Happy reading and I'll see you next chapter!

~ Goddess of Fate, signing out