Alvina and Quinn have never been further apart, but their connection to the spirits might be what reconnects them again.
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Quinn av Stál is slowly losing his mind. He's sure of that, and the only thing keeping him together is his fiancé Islo Charr...
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I hugged Nila closely before the entrance to the spirit world. And then I hugged Àlvar even harder.
"You'll do this. You'll finish it," he murmured into my hair. "And when you're done. When you're old and grey, you'll join me here."
I swallowed a sob and nodded, pulling back from my oldest brother. "I'll hug Quinn for you."
He smiled and nodded. "Yeah, he'll love that for sure."
I snorted and turned to Dy and Barr. "Are we ready?"
"Yep," Dy said and offered me a single nod.
I hoisted up in the backpack we had gotten, filled with food and other essentials. We had all three gotten one. Barr looked excited, bouncing around and urging us to hurry up. And Dy. Dy looked strong. Fierce. She had fixed and washed her beloved jacket, her hair was tied up in a messy bun, balancing on top of her head, and the strong expression on her face was back.
Nila grabbed my hand before I had the chance to leave. "Remember, I'm always with you. We are one now." She smiled and cupped my cheek with their other hand.
I swallowed something and nodded.
"I'll always help you."
I nodded again, not able to get a word out. I gave her hand a squeeze instead and turned my back on her and my brother. On my sanctuary. And then we started through the tunnel. It wasn't as long as I remembered. Before I knew it, we were out between the glaciers, the icy winds biting my cheeks. Everything was white here. There was no life, no trees, not even a bird. It was all just a frozen, dead land.
We were going to Paamut, going all the way around the mountain pass that separated the three mountain tribes and then to the Bursaaq harbour. Hopefully we could catch a ship that would take us to the Paamut capital. From there, we'd get a car and drive back to Aatskina. The trip was going to be long and rough and I wasn't looking forward to it.
We had been walking in silence for a good while and then Barr's bag started chirping. His eyes widened and he opened the bag, putting his hand down into it.
"What do you have there, bud?" Dy asked and arched a brow at him.
"Uhm..." he said and looked up, hesitantly meeting her gaze. "I could not leave her." He took out a small very bright pink bird. It fit perfectly in his hand.
"You brought a bird? From the sanctuary? On what might be a suicide mission?"
"She imprinted on me!" he said frantically. "I am her mum."
Dy sighed very deeply and glanced over at me. I shrugged. I had no idea what we'd do with a spirit bird on a trip like this.
"Just keep her quiet, okay?" I sighed deeply and hoisted up in my bag, shifting its weight a bit.
"She will stay quiet. She just does not like being in the bag," he muttered and placed the bird on his head, before he slung the bag on his back. The bird jumped down on his shoulder and settled close to his neck, kind of hiding between curly strands of shoulder-long black hair.
