When the incline became a cavern, there was a low noise within, like the rumbling of a bear. Then it was a bear, the man slowly mantling upward, his bulk arching before the two of them, three times the size of even Iske. The wolf snarled, stepping in front of both of the humans, before Silvye called out.

“Peace, please! We’re only lost!”

The human voice stilled him. The bear sat back on his haunches, and fur became skin and armor, leathers over his body. Urthgar took in the two waifs with a surprised look.

“…What are the two of you doing so far down here?” He frowned.

“We’re lost.” Silvye inhaled. Vitha was gone, she could no longer see the glow of tails flitting down the long caverns. Her heart fell. Certainly, for once, the fox spirit might have actually been helpful? Any spirit this far below the ice must have been a blessing.

“I’d say so…” Urthgar glanced at Aizik, taking in the younger man. He rubbed his beard, before gesturing behind him. “Come, you’re injured.” He lumbered into a cavern behind him, with makeshift furs, and pulled things from a travel pack.

“What are you doing down here?” Aizik asked, his hand still on Silvye’s back.

“Hn…looking for someone.” He offered them both food, which Silvye bit into. His tone cut the conversation short, and she took in his appearance. Haggard, slightly slumped for being such a tall man.

“Were you really a bear?” Aizik whispered this, as if he hadn’t believed his eyes. He looked equally surprised when Urthgar threw a piece of jerky at the wolf, who snatched it up, tail wagging.

“Yes, boy. I’m a bear and a man.” Urthgar wrapped a blanket around Silvye’s shoulders, and paused to look down at her, taking her in.

“You fall very far, girl? You’re limping when you walk.”

”Just sore. It’s..normal.” Silvye tried to explain, rubbing her lower back as the ache spread.

“Sit down for a few moments then. Catch your breath. When you’re rested, I can take you top side, and then you can go home.”

Aizik sat close to Silvye, raising both brows at her in curiosity. “Are you alright?” He murmured, and Silvye wondered what it was about today that had led two strangers to be so concerned over her. She rubbed the back of her neck.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“Just sore, Aizik.”

With the crackling fire dancing off the walls, Sylvie let her body sink in against the wall with the fur draped over her shoulders, some warmth settling in. She made a soft sqwack as Aizik pulled her in, letting her rest against his shoulder.

“You look a little green around the face, boy.” Urthgar leaned in close, studying him in the firelight. “Been burning any effigies lately?”

“How did you know that?” Aizik mumbled, stirring from the warmth.

“Pale Gods been wreaking havoc everywhere. Everyone who burns those effigies in hope of warmth and food finds themselves hungry and mad. Shamans, animals, humans…whole tribes falling under the monster’s sway.” He grunted, throwing a packet of something on the fire. It flickered blue, the smoke thick and pleasant, though Aizik gagged on it.

There were a few moments Sylvie was sure the man was going to vomit on her, before she pushed him the other way, and he lost his stomach. In the bile, a gold coin sat, slick with vomit, and Aizik stared at it.

Urthgar took the burnished gold coin, wiping it off in a piece of thin leather, turning it over in the firelight. “Bet you didn’t even question it when your shaman asked you to swallow it, did you?”

“N-no. He said it was what…what was good for us.”

“Then the hunger set in, hm? Did you eat flesh?” Urthgar looked over at him. “Might not be able to save you if you’d fallen to that point.”

“No.. no, I didn’t eat..” The look of horror that passed his face was a realization, and he clutched his throat.

“I doubt you did, or you wouldn’t have thrown up the gold.” Urthgar put a hand on his shoulder. “You’re lucky.”

Sylvie studied the gold coin before Urthgar tucked it away in his pack. “They’re having people eat gold?” She murmured, confusion darkening her face. She laid one hand against the flat of Aizik’s arm, but he slid his hand up over her own.

“Eating flesh too. More than hunting wildlife until there’s almost none left. They’re gorging themselves on corpses of men and beast alike, some kind of hungry stripping of the land.” Urthgar sat back, stoking the fire.

“You, girl. You didn’t throw up.”

“I’ve never ate gold. I was traveling on my own, and Aizik nearly killed me.”

“Again, I am sorry about that.” Aizik mumbled, one hand against the back of his neck, his face flushed.

Sylvie sighed, leaning her head on Aizik's shoulder. "Apology accepted, I suppose. We're all in a strange situation here." She looked around at the cavern, its walls glistening with the icy hues and the firelight casting eerie shadows. "But what do we do now? How do we get out of here?”

“There’s a way out, but you won’t be climbing out in your current state. Go to sleep for awhile, we’re safe here. As safe as we can be this deep in the ice.”

Iske laid his head on her lap as Alye perched on a bag. Silvye ran her fingers through the wolf’s fur, watching the firelight. The unfamiliar weight of Aizik against her side as he settled in, his eyes closed.

Urthgar glanced up, meeting her eyes over the fire. There was quiet that stretched between them, and he gazed at her for the breadth of a heartbeat before he looked back at the pouch smoldering in the flame.

Sleep wrapped itself like a fur around her senses, warm and thick.