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She remembered now. She needed to tell him about the symbols.

‘Erann,’ she shouted in her sleep, surprised when he looked directly at her from within a darkened space, faintly lit with some sort of strange, muted glow.

‘Sereh,’ he replied, his voice somehow welcoming, as though he’d known to expect her presence in his mind. Or his dreams. Or wherever she was.

She thrilled to see him, and was desperate to reach out and embrace him. To kiss him. To feel him hold beneath her hands. But no.

‘Erann, I have to tell you something. I know how you can escape. You have to understand me. You must listen to me, carefully.’

‘Sereh?’ His face revealed shock at her words. ‘What do you mean? Are you here?’ His face turned from side to side.

‘No, no, I’m not with you, but I’m here, with you, if that makes sense. You must listen to me. We don’t have much time.’ Panic infused her, only for a calmness to enter her mind.

Skaldi. He added his steadfastness to the flickering vision. It had wavered and now held firm before her. Sereh thought Erann wasn’t alone as the connection solidified into something almost real. She reached out and touched Erann on either arm. She could feel his thin frame through his layers of clothes.

She stepped closer, tilting her head upwards, and reaching on her toes to kiss his lips. His breath hot on her upturned face.

‘Sereh,’ he exhaled, his voice filled with wonder. She stood back, aware this was wasting precious time.

‘Erann, listen to me, you must do as I say. You need to make two symbols, together. I can explain them to you. They must be exact. Listen to me, Erann,’ she commanded, when his attention was simply on holding her. She stepped back from him, even though it pained her. ‘It’s the only way, Erann. If you don’t understand me, you’ll be trapped here. Until you die.’

‘What?’ he shook his head, focusing on her words, or so it felt.

‘You must learn to make these symbols. I’ll explain them to you. Are you listening?’

‘Yes, Sereh, I am. But what will the symbols do?’

‘They’ll release you from your prison. They’ll take you back to Vatna Jokull. But, the symbols are complex, and I know it’s very dark where you are. You must make use of stones, or your clothing, or anything you can find to depict them on the floor, or draw them on the wall. But it must be done absolutely precisely. If not, it will not work.’

Now his eyes narrowed.

‘Is this real?’ he queried.

‘It’s very real, Erann. I promise you. If you can do this. If we can do this, then we’ll be reunited. And I want that so very, very much.’

‘I’m listening.’ He nodded, and she wanted to kiss him again, but forced herself to concentrate.

‘So, the first symbol. It’s circular.’ And she began to laboriously tell him all she could remember of the symbol.

‘I think I understand,’ Erann announced, his lips moving just after hers, as though speaking aloud made it easier for him to retain the information.

‘The second symbol’s fiendishly complicated,’ Sereh began, only to feel their connection waver. ‘No, no,’ she denied, straining to keep hold of the connection.

‘Sereh, Sereh, don’t go,’ Erann shouted. ‘I need to know the other symbol.’

Abruptly, she felt something join her.

‘Skaldi,’ she breathed, and this caught Erann’s attention.

‘Is he there, with you? I can’t sense him.’

‘He is, yes.’ Sereh smiled. ‘But I can’t communicate with him, but he’s here, with me. No, listen, and I’ll explain the second shape to you. It is, importantly, about half as big again as the first symbol. It consists of spirals, running from a central point. Twenty of them, Erann, twenty. Remember the number. And ensure you make the symbol bigger. At its heart is a small circular shape, from which these spirals run, out towards the edges. They must be the same size.’

Again, Erann was mouthing the words back to her. But again, Sereh felt the connection waver, even with Skaldi’s support.

‘No, no,’ she wept, frustration threatening the link again, but once more, she felt something stabilise the connection.

‘Arrow,’ she gasped, a sense of contentment at having eaten well this day, making her think it was the wolf-dog who was with her.