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‘Skaldi,’ Sereh tried to reply, but her voice was too quiet. Instead, the sledge began to move again. It was growing bumpier now. Perhaps they were close to sliding from the glacier. She’d welcome the warmth of the Library and the taste of Freya’s food.

But there, she heard it again. ‘Skaldi,’ she whispered, and then thought of something else.

‘Arrow,’ she murmured, and even above the howling wind, Arrow came to her side, looking down on her with her familiar yellow eyes. ‘Can you communicate with Skaldi? Can you tell him where we are?’ Arrow gave no indication either way.

‘By the Gods.’ Sereh winced, as the sledge hit a shard of ice that sent it sliding aside from the path. She felt it as the direction of the wind changed. ‘Arrow, think of Skaldi,’ she tried again, endeavouring to do the same. If only she could communicate with the dragon as Emma and Erann could.

And yet, she heard the sound again.

‘Skaldi,’ she breathed. It was almost dawn. The brightness of Gemini had eased enough for her to be able to look directly up, and now she knew she didn’t imagine it. The sledge stopped as a snap of wings rang through the air, accompanied by the noise of something heavy settling on the ground.

She heard the Librarian’s gasp of shock, and Arrow’s scampering paws, and then there was silence. She grimaced. Undoubtedly, Skaldi would be trying to communicate with the Librarian, but she’d hear nothing of it. But, she did see Skaldi peering down at her, his beautiful eyes shimmering with the coming dawn.

‘Good morning, Skaldi,’ she offered, but of course, there was no reply. Instead, the Librarian came back to her, peering at her, a half-smile on his face.

‘You see it too, then?’

‘I see Skaldi, yes.’ She felt more able to speak now, although her body remained cold. ‘I can’t speak to him though.’

The Librarian’s mouth dropped and then opened, and Sereh surmised Skaldi was able to speak to the Librarian. She was almost grateful the Librarian spoke aloud his responses, as Erann had done when she’d met Skaldi for the first time.

‘She… she’s cold and I’m taking her back to the Library. Were you supposed to meet her by the marker? She ran in the middle of the night. I came after her, but too late. How did you know to come here? I wasn’t able to make the marker work?’ Sereh listened to this last part, wondering what the Librarian meant. The markers were just that, weren’t they? Although, well, she remembered his interest in them. What she really wanted to do was ask if Skaldi had found Erann, and yet she thought that if he had, Erann would be here, now.

‘Yes, she needs warming up and thawing out, and some hot food.’ The Librarian’s voice trailed away in response to Skaldi’s questions. Sereh watched one of the Speaker’s huge glinting claws reach out towards her. She considered grasping it, but didn’t want to remove her arms from under the furs. She felt some comfort from knowing Skaldi was concerned for her.

‘She can’t speak to you?’ the Librarian queried. Silence followed, as Skaldi must have replied. ‘Then I’ll continue to speak aloud,’ the Librarian offered, smiling down on Sereh, although his eyes reflected his shock. A surge of jealously tore through her. How much easier would this all be if only she could communicate with Skaldi.

‘She was supposed to meet you by the marker three nights ago?’ The Librarian continued. ‘And you’ve returned every night since to look for her. Last night, you experienced her dream and knew she was alive, so you came back again because you’d promised to meet her, and Emma’s expecting her back within run-ketill, so you’ll take her now, but you’ve not yet found Erann. Is that what you want, Sereh?’ The Librarian questioned.

‘Erann,’ Sereh gasped.

‘I’ll take that as a yes.’ The Librarian smiled, but there was something on his face, something the mention of Emma had occasioned once more. How she wished she could ask him all the questions that tumbled through her mind. But she was too exhausted. She felt her eyes closing, only for them to snap wide open again.

‘Yes, I’d mislaid the script with the details on, but I’ve found it. However, in my frustration, I’ve broken the marker. I hoped to call you myself.’

Sereh felt herself being jostled, and she looked up to see Skaldi’s huge claws enclosing her. At the same time, she felt whatever the Librarian had put by her feet being dislodged. She could also hear Arrow’s growl. The wolf-dog didn’t like being within the dragon’s claws. She settled to the ground once more, as Skaldi and the Librarian continued to communicate and he released his hold on her. She’d changed her mind. It was even more frustrating to only hear half of the conversation.

‘Just these two,’ and the Librarian held up two pieces of the broken marker. ‘Just these two needed to call you. Thank you,’ the Librarian offered, bowing slightly.

‘Sereh, he’d going to take you to Emma. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to help you more, and for ignoring you these last few days. Everything’s so overwhelming, even when I anticipated something changing, but Skaldi knows what to do, and Emma will care for you. Tell her. Tell her I’m sorry.’ The words seemed to pain him. She reached out, to touch his arm.

‘Thank you,’ she managed to whisper, and then, the huge claws enclosed her once more, and with some encouragement from the Librarian, Arrow slunk to her side and lay down, her head on Sereh’s chest.

‘Sorry, girl,’ she mumbled, and then felt the ground falling away from her. She hoped Skaldi wouldn’t drop her.

She watched as the slowly rising sun tinted the inside of Skaldi’s claw cage a golden red.

‘I’ll see you soon, Sereh,’ the Librarian called, but the words were lost with the speed of Skaldi’s wings.

Going to the Library had been a mistake, or so Sereh feared, but what would she discover when she was once more returned to run-ketill, for one thing was clear, Erann was still lost and she so needed to find him.

20

ERANN

Erann stumbled through the gloom. Long days and even longer nights had passed without any change in his surroundings. His throat was raw from shouting for anyone to hear him. The need to be returned to Sereh and to reconnect with Skaldi drove him on. He wouldn’t give up. He would find a way out of whatever Hel he’d fallen into.

Sometimes he could have sworn Sereh was at his side, trying to hold him in her arms. But she wasn’t there. The darkness made a fool of him.