Urrhnaldo pressed himself against the wall of the igloo, the twitch at the tip of his tail that he always seemed to get under stress twitching at full speed.

Narlunveru stepped forward slowly, clearly enjoying the moment.

"Oh dear, we've scared the runt!" He laughed.

Urrhnaldo froze. Runt, was it?! He growled incoherently, building up steam, but Narlunveru was less than impressed.

"Drop the tough act." He snarled. "You don't stand a chance."

Urrhnaldo continued to build up, almost smoking at the ears. Getting angry was, as far as he was concerned, the best way of getting a job done quickly.

Narlunveru and his band of thugs were nearly on top of him now, he had to act fast.

Urrhnaldo drew back one foot, paused for a moment, and then charged. He sprinted right between Narlunveru's legs and out the other side before the thugs even had a chance to react.

"Haha, see you later clumsy giants!" Urrhaldo whooped, looking over his shoulder.

He heard Narlunveru's shout of frustration, and grinned happily. Now, off to tell the Kenu about all this nonsense. But what if -

Urrhnaldo stopped in his tracks. What if the Kenu had something to do with this? What if he had told those thugs to go after him? The Kenu had seemed so friendly... he just hadn't seemed the type to do that. But you never can tell - perhaps it had all just been a facade.

His thinking was, however, cut short but sounds of the thugs chasing him. He looked back, checking that they weren't too close. They were quite a way back, but they were gaining fast.

Beginning to run again, Urrhnaldo made a snap decision, and sped up to a hurricane speed that them in the dust.

Best to hide out in the snowdrifts just north for a while, then return at night. He would talk to the Kenu after all, just with some precautions in place.

#

This other Yirinu - Mortaga, Angetuga reminded herself - was heavy. She was so amazingly, spectacularly heavy that Angetuga could barely hold her up.

"Can't - you - hold - yourself - up - more?" Angetuga grunted.

Mortaga didn't reply apart from a rather indecipherable mutter.

"Thanks. Just what I needed to hear." Angetuga groaned, shifting her grip on Mortaga. "Very helpful."

Mortaga muttered again, this time a little more decipherable. "'S no' my f'lt..."

Angetuga sighed and decided not to press the point, instead heaving Mortaga up a bit more and continued stumbling down the long white corridor.

The lights were blindingly bright, brighter than the sun had ever been on Yirin, but Angetuga just stared at the slightly greyer floor and carried on, occasionally stopping to heave Mortaga up a little more.

A little further on, she met a junction and stopped dead.

Oh great. Just what she needed. A junction. The two corridors were exactly alike, identically long and white and annoying.

Ah well, if you don't eat the ice you won't get the drink. Angetuga turned left and headed down the passage, hoping she wouldn't end up in some kind of dangerous situation.

Angetuga groaned and carried on. She was nearly spent - she couldn't hold up much longer. But she would do it. She didn't want to think about what would happen if she didn't.

But it was no use worrying about the future, Angetuga decided. Only think of the present.

She ploughed onwards, hoisting Mortaga a little higher and muttering under breath.

A little bit later, and corridor turned out to be the right choice.

Just round the corner, Mortaga finally managed to at least walk on her own.

A short distance after that, Angetuga saw what she maintained for many years after to be one of the most wonderful sights of her life.

Grishgern was in one of those strange pods. She was hooked up to many wires and leads, but still, unmistakably, Grishgern.

Angetuga whooped with joy and leapt forwards, scrabbling at the see through part of the door in an attempt to get it open. The door refused to move.

Angetuga stepped back, calming down a little. She had to think this through.

#

The Yirinu pulled himself further on along the cliff wall. He was nearly there, he was going to make it to the end of this accursed cliff.

About twenty minutes ago, he had stumbled across a pack lying in the middle of the ravine.

While he had been unable to reach it, it had brought back some memories.

Arguing with his sister over what to bring...

Fear at his ultimate goal...

Worry about his brother...

Falling... falling so far...

Then darkness, and nothing else.

He had nearly lost his balance, swaying on his one good leg and taking a sharp intake of breath.

He remembered his name.

He could remember his name.

"I remember..." he had wheezed, uncaring of the pain it had caused in his ribs. "I can remember..."

Even thinking back to it gave him a renewed burst of strength, and he pulled himself forward with just a little more vigour, and a little more light in his eyes.

He could do it. He would do it.

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🦅—Aquila!