Anyu took another step. She was almost out, almost back in open air. She had not been in Yahal for long at all- only an hour, perhaps, a mere blink to the indwellers who had wallowed in this prison for eons. Still, stepping out from those depths and into the brisk air and clear daylight of the above world felt like breathing free for the first time.

The bindingness of it was the first thing to hit her. The sun was at its zenith in the sky, and the whiteness of the snow and ice all around only magnified the brightness.

She blinked until her eyes were able to open properly and see the scene before her. The other indwellers were spreading out along the mountain top already. There were so many of them. They looked so strange out here in the snow, even more so than they had down in the chasm. Their very presence was incongruous with the tundra, as if the snow itself knew that they didn't belong.

But Anyu wasn't searching for the summer indwellers. Her eyes sought Kano and Tavra, Sakari and Siku, Shesh. Any of them. But they weren't here. Panic began to well up in Anyu's chest.

Her right hand began to heat up, and this time she knew that it was not just her fear.

Anyu wandered forward on the mountaintop, desperately searching for some kind of clue, for anything. Eventually, she spotted a group of indwellers crowded around something, forming a loose circle. Anyu's heart faltered. She shoved through them until she was standing in the middle of the circle. Inside, Shesh lay on his side, unmoving. His fur was coated in frost, his antlers dripping with icicles.

Anyu dropped to her knees and placed her right hand on his flank. Cold. Empty. No blood running through his veins. Anyu felt the tears welling up and couldn't stop them, even as they froze on her cheeks.

"No," she murmured to herself. No. Shesh couldn't be dead. They had been through too much together for him to die like this, all alone and afraid in a strange place. It's my fault, Anyu thought miserably. I never should have agreed to come on this quest. If I'd just insisted on going home right away, Shesh would be alive right now.

The other indwellers stayed back, but looked on curiously, as if the sight of death truly fascinated them. Anyu didn't have the heart to tell them to leave them alone. She didn't have the heart to do anything, except sit there and grieve by herself.

She continued to pat Shesh's side, like she always did, ever since he was just a calf walking on gangly, shaking legs. She didn't know what else to do. She didn't know what to do next, and she didn't want to think about it. All she wanted was to mourn her friend in silence.

Anyu felt a hand on her shoulder and turned. Igni had entered the circle behind her. The frightening mask no longer disturbed her, and she watched numbly as he sat beside Shesh's body.

He took off his mask. His face was human, surprisingly, a square, tanned face and wide forehead. His eyes were a bright, clear green. Anyu was so startled by the color she stopped short for a moment- she had seen green before, yes, but never in so bright and vibrant a shade. What other colors were there, she wondered, that she had yet to know?

Then he opened his mouth. Inside were rows upon rows of sharp, pointed teeth in a wet, red maw. Anyu recoiled instinctively. Igni didn't pay attention to her reaction. He reached a hand into his mouth and with one sharp tug, pulled out a tooth.

The tooth that he used on my wrist, Anyu realized numbly. As she watched, he crushed it in his hand and sprinkled the dust onto Shesh's forehead.

For a moment, nothing happened. Anyu felt like she was teetering on the edge of a cliff, waiting to see whether the wind would push her to safety or send her tumbling. Then Shesh made a noise and moved his head. His heavy chest started moving as he began to breathe once more. By the time he had opened his eyes, Anyu had already crushed him into a hug, laughing out loud.

Shesh neighed, probably entirely confused, but Anyu didn't let him go until she had to. His droopy brown eyes widened at the strange sight of the indwellers around them and he jerked back with a frightened whinny. Anyu laughed again.

She turned back to Igni as Shesh shakily got to his feet.

"Thank you," She said.

He gave her a sharp toothed smile before placing the mask back on his face.

Suddenly, a huge rumbling could be heard. The mountain began to shake, tossing all those on it from side to side. This was not like the quake of Sakari's avalanche. That had been a mere shake compared to this earth moving rumble.

Anyu spotted Seqineq standing firm at the mountain's edge, looking down. Anyu grabbed Shesh's reins and ran over to join her. She froze at what she saw. What had been the foundation of the mountain refused to remain stationary anymore. It had ripped itself from the ground, all of that ice and rock and snow, and rose higher and higher in the air until it was of a monstrous size.

It was like she was watching a glacier form in fast motion. The large ice structure coalesced into an enormous mass of ice, pointed directly at them, itself the size of a small mountain.

Just behind and underneath the ice mass, Anyu caught sight of a group of small figures running away- Sakari and Siku, dragging Kano and Tavra after them. Escaping. A fury began to bubble up in Anyu's chest, a desire for revenge, for justice. They had almost take Shesh- they deserved what was coming for them.

But there would be no justice for Siku and Sakari to face if no one could reach them- and now, it seemed that they would all simply be crushed and gutted by the mountain of ice Siku had summoned to annihilate them.

Anyu looked to Seqineq. The indweller woman looked at the ice without emotion, although there was a fiery glint in her golden eyes. Her dark skin seemed to shine against the backdrop of endless snow, and her hands clenched into fists at her sides.

"Anyu," Seqineq said. 

Anyu looked to her, her right hand itching to hold a spear or knife. Seqineq turned and gripped Anyu's hand in hers. If Anyu's hands were warm, Seqineq's were burning, a living flame dancing just beneath her skin. She placed a dagger in Anyu's palm. It was made of the same smooth black material as the cavern floor had been made of, its blade a serrated edge.

"You must go after them. As long as Siku lives, we will never be free."

Anyu's fingers curled around the dagger's hilt. She nodded once.

Seqineq smiled at her. Then she stood to her full height. She closed her eyes, inhaled slowly, and then raised both of arms.

The mountain began to rumble once more, though this time the shaking was calmer, more controlled.

Without having to be told, Anyu pulled herself onto Shesh's back.

She turned to look behind her just as the peak of Yahal exploded in a torrent of molten flames. The liquid fire shot out of the mountain with an unearthly boom that reverberated in Anyu's ears, chest, and bones. She had never seen anything so simultaneously beautiful and terrifying. It was like the earth goddess herself had reached a bloody hand out from the earth's skin, reaching for the sky.

After the initial gasp of explosion, the fiery substance came crashing down. It began to pour down the sides of the mountain, thick and dangerous and surprisingly fast. It automatically went around the spots where any of the summer indwellers were standing, moving past them to continue on its way.

Anyu looked back to Seqineq. Her arms were still lifted in the air, her eyes still closed. How much power and control such a feat took, Anyu couldn't fathom. How on earth did Siku ever manage to capture someone so powerful?

The lava seemed to pool around Seqineq, as if coming to the call of its master and awaiting further demands. There was so much of it already, and it only continued to ooze out of the mountain peak like an army of living fire.

Seqineq opened her eyes, and flicked her wrist. A section of the lava directly in front of Shesh's paws crackled and hardened into thick black stone.

Anyu hesitated for only a moment. Gripping his reins tightly in her right hand, she urged Shesh forward. He whinnied in fear but obeyed her instruction and stepped onto the rock. He settled when it did not burn his hooves, instead forming a flat and effortless platform to run upon.

From down below, Siku's massive glacier began to hurtle towards them, a wall of pure crushing ice come to destroy them all.

The lava rose around Seqineq, forming a giant wave of the stuff. Higher and higher it went, until Anyu thought Seqineq intended to block out the sun itself.

"Go," Seqineq said through gritted teeth.

Anyu urged Shesh forward once more. He hesitantly took a step onto the molten lava. It turned to black rock under his hoof, cool and hard. Anyu snapped his reins and they hurtled down the mountain.