The Edge of Siberia

Shadows

Glancing back during our expedition towards the sky, gusts of snowy air continued to flutter over the distant holes that entrapped us. It was almost as if it was celebrating our escape, or even mocking us in pity. We hesitantly ploughed on upwards as rocks of ice proceeded to spill down from overhead like a waterfall. Although we were surrounded by an abundance of snow, I grew increasingly thirsty and imagined myself eating it, having it melt in my mouth.

Nearby squawking traveled through a combe in receipt of our presence and we were thankful that there were birds nearby for companionship's sake. Hetti's energy picked up upon hearing this, although I was unsure how, as we hadn't any food for what felt like over two whole days. Children get excited over the smallest of things.

"Elias?" She asked, inquisitively.

I looked at her in acknowledgement, too cold to muster a response.

"Do you think it's an eagle?" Her large eyes glinted in my direction. "Father said that this is where the eagles fly home to. He said that there was an avalanche here before, you know." She paused, looking up. "He said that only the eagles can speak to the mountains. They protect the land. And they live in that hole up there," she pointed at the alcoves. "Is that where we're going?" she exclaimed at me, all curious-looking.

She awaited an answer, patiently hanging onto my silence, but something else was trailing on the edge of my senses; sharpening my senses like a blade before battle.

"Shhh."

I threw an arm in front of Hetti's chest as I froze in my step and she abided. We were like gargoyles with ears in the breeze. Only whistling shot around us, with occasional stronger winds suddenly sweeping us off balance.

Hetti broke character, awkwardly turning her head at me. "What is it?"

False alarm. "Nothing," I said, my senses reluctantly descending a climax. I averted my gaze. "Nothing," I repeated quietly.

I gathered myself and once again, we started on up the slope for what could have been hours in a timeless haze until we were greeted by a most inviting ledge, protruding out like a helping hand. We found ourselves perched here for some time as the sun fell, drawing our energy down with it. We slumped our backs against the sludge, side by side, and allowed ourselves to drift away with the yellow sun gazing warmly back at us, lulling us into a sleep. The eagles had it right; it wasn't so bad up here.

Groggily, I opened my eyes without moving. Something had startled me - probably the weather again. Hetti remained asleep, exhaling puffs of white heat from her nostrils. I blinked slowly, looking out at how far we had come, not yet wanting to think about what lied ahead. The whole world seemed visible before us and us also visible to the world, exposed to the elements.

A chorus of squawks continued on somewhere down in the haze, echoing noise back and fourth to eachother. I shifted and hauled my back up to lay myself against the wall as I half listened, concerned about where we would find our next meal. It was almost as if I had forgotten the taste of food. My tongue became a mere ornament; a memory; an antique among other furniture. I dropped my eyelids and hugged my knees. Pressing a palm against pouted lips, I pushed my dry tongue into the creases of my palm and licked, slowly tracing the lines up, down and around. I let my eyelids open as the distinct image of food faded from my mind and rested my eyes upon a group of black dots hundreds of metres away on the ground. Squawking traveled louder though the open air each time the dots parted and bounced back together like magnets. I focused my attention, interested. It was hard to make sense of what the huddled collection of energetic birds could be doing down there.

As the dots moved closer, they grew larger and a couple of them descended from the group, chasing eachother up the base of the mountain slope. They began to sprout moving arms and legs, and their sounds erupted into brief cackles of laughter upon closer hearing.

A lump drew in my throat and a stirring sickness kicked from within my stomach. I began to buzz with every nerve ending in my body growing increasingly electric by the second, ready to spark flight. Being frozen for so long, I failed to pull myself from my catatonic state, with eyes frantically flicking from one figure to the next, and back again.

The figures below slowed. I hunched over onto my knees and held my position still with my palms, leaning toward the edge of a hundred metre plunge to get a closer look at what was happening. Within seconds, something whooshed past the side of my cheek, and clattered into the rock behind me.

Hetti shot up in surprise and sniveled her runny nose, wiping it with a sleeve as she stared at me with a concerned expression.

"Elias..." she cried while pointing at my face, twitching her furrowed brows.

I wiped my cheek and examined the smeared red liquid on my hand. We shared an incredulous moment, looking over our shoulders at the wall behind us to see wedged in its face a long, rusted steel rod, exceedingly pointed at its tip with a cyclic spiral of points on its rear end.

I gulped, Hetti gulped; our throats still intact.