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Erann should be cold, exhausted, weak, but he was far from that. With Sereh at his side, and Arrow, who’d spent much of their time, sitting, watching them with eyes Erann fancied were vastly more intelligent than he’d ever thought possible, and Skaldi, he felt invincible. Even when he wobbled on his painful leg.

Sereh’s hand swept upwards, hesitantly, and he watched it run over Skaldi’s tough hide. The shimmer of it beneath the bright sunlight was almost blinding, but now, with dusk on the horizon, it was less dazzling.

‘How could such a magnificent creature be kept hidden?’ Sereh mused again. He felt Skaldi’s gentle huff of laughter as his body shifted.

‘Now that I don’t understand,’ Erann admitted, his eyes taking in the huge shimmering shield, or wall, as Skaldi had called it. He walked to it, Sereh coming with him. Skaldi’s giant claws crunched the compacted snow and ice beneath him as he followed them. Arrow, too, had her nose to the ground, although he noticed her stance was more rigid.

‘It is,’ and he ran his hand over the shield, ‘something to do with this.’ And he stepped into the shield, and out the other side, unable to keep the grin from his face as he pulled Sereh with him, although now she did drop his hand, so he hobbled on his own. Towards the marker.

‘It’s something to do with this,’ he explained, turning to smile at Sereh, as he ran his hand over the marker, only to blink.

‘What by the Gods?’ he gasped.

PART I

1

SEREH

Sereh felt disorientated as she staggered through the small passages leading off from the ledge where Skaldi had left her. Emma, somehow fully restored to health, had met her there. Now she walked ahead, her melodic voice rising and falling as she muttered niceties. Sereh was paying no attention but did her the courtesy of occasionally grunting in acknowledgement of the attempts to make pleasant conversation.

The passage floor was strangely smooth for all that it wound through solid black rock. She let her gloved hands trail along the walls, as much as to guide her as through curiosity. Like the floor, the sides had been worn so smooth she felt their evenness through her thick fur gloves. The walls glowed faintly orange in the wake of Emma’s covered lantern. It was as though she constantly walked from daylight to night as Emma pressed a little too far in front, or stepped back to more carefully escort her.

It felt warm in the passage. Sereh tugged her cloak open and snatched her fur hat from her head in discomfort. She’d been cold on the glacier waiting for Erann’s return. The journey here with Skaldi had further frozen her to a bone-numbing chill. Yet, only moments had passed, and she felt sweat beading her face. Her tingling fingers and toes were an uncomfortable sign they were returning to her normal body temperature too quickly.

There was a pleasant smell within the faintly glowing cave. She reasoned the enclosed passageway should have smelt of long habitation and probably damp. Not to mention the scent of Skaldi. The dragon couldn’t possibly smell like her own kind. However, it felt fresh and homely, almost like the warmest day of the Long Day when the gentle wind blew and brought with it the scent of the salty ocean.

Orange flames that didn’t flicker as she walked past them, despite the cold air blowing around her aching legs, lit the passageway. She thought the lamps must be covered in something but didn’t have the inclination to check now. She was weary and sick with worry. Where had Erann gone? Why hadn’t he returned?

She, Arrow and Skaldi had looked everywhere for him. One moment he’d been there, and the next he was simply gone.

Skaldi had rushed forwards to the spot where he’d been standing, his huge head seeming to spin before spreading his mighty burnished wings to launch into the air, a strange noise coming from him, which Sereh could only term a bugle of alarm.

She’d started to rush forwards towards the marker, Erann’s name on her lips, only to be distracted by the glorious view of Skaldi in the sky. She’d marvelled at the myriad hues of his wings as he’d hovered momentarily over the glowing orange orb of the sinking sun. He’d flown along the glacier rapidly, covering its entire length and breadth, a tiny gleaming dot at the outer reaches where the sun’s ray still reached.

Only as Skaldi returned was her attention snapped back to what had just happened. She’d hurried forwards to the spot where Erann had been standing, her hand outstretched, only to snap it back from the marker stone. Something telling her not to touch it. Never to touch it.

‘Erann,’ she’d shouted. ‘Erann,’ her voice had sounded strange, even to her ears. Strangled. Breathless. Bereft. Somehow, she’d known it was futile.

‘Erann,’ she’d called again all the same. Her single word had echoed back to her. ‘Erann, where are?’

There’d been no response, but she could be honest enough to say she’d not expected one. Whatever link Erann had with Skaldi had been severed. There was no other explanation for Skaldi’s frenzied activity. Or for Arrow’s sorrowful howls splitting the previously peaceful dusk.

Sereh had sunk to the icy ground as abject loneliness engulfed her.

Once more, she found herself alone. There was no rational explanation. How could Erann have disappeared from a mere few footsteps in front of her? Where had he gone? Why had he gone?

Her eyes had closed in grief that had replaced her joy and exuberance of all that had passed that day; of kissing Erann and discovering the existence of Skaldi. Where before her heart and mind had swelled with joy and understanding, she’d felt it turn to stone, as tears had leaked from her eyes. Arrow had slipped beneath her hand, and the frozen ground. She’d gained some small comfort from her presence.

Skaldi had returned to hover over her and then to land, his wide wings sending a brief shower of light snow into the air. Her hair and Arrow’s fur had waved in the wake of his passing. Then there’d been nothing. They’d all sat and waited for Gods knew what.

‘Where is he?’ she’d asked Skaldi, but although he’d turned his beautiful eyes towards her, there’d been no answer.

‘Will he come back?’ she’d asked all the same, clutching as tight as she could to Arrow. She’d felt herself meld with the chill glacier as the sky slowly darkened with the sun’s all too quick descent. The sky had turned stunning cobalt edged with a paler strip of Long Day blue, before deepening to the black of night. The wind had sprung up and against a backdrop of translucent stars, pale wispy clouds had scudded across the sky, leaving their shadows on the reflective surface of the glacier.

A planet almost brighter than the sun had loomed huge on the horizon.

‘What’s that?’ she’d gasped on seeing its luminous surface, struggling to her feet, roused from her apathy. ‘It’s not any of our usual neighbours. It’s not Thor, who shows his face at sunrise,’ she’d murmured, reminded of his dull, muted red. ‘It’s not Odin,’ she’d continued. Odin in contrast was a bright jade planet that appeared around nooning. ‘It’s not Frey,’ she’d forced herself to continue, ‘Frey’s all shimmering sapphire. Neither is it mischievous Loki, for it’s the wrong time of night for him. I’ve never seen a planet so bright or close before. Skaldi, I feel as though we could fly to it. It’s close enough to touch.’