Sentari: ICE (2 page)

New Beginnings

Three years later …

Dense air rose up from the cave water. The air was so cold and heavy you could feel wet just standing in it. The ground below the well had been organised into a small garden bed fashioned out of hay, and a nicely crafted wooden shelf rested against the wall with lots of plants, fruit and vegetables growing well even in this desolate environment.

Water dripped down from the well above, hitting the ground and echoing throughout the cave. The ocean quietly lapped up against the cave floor. The silence was broken by Te’oma bursting out of the water with two large fish in hand. Now in his late teenage years, he had turned into a tall and strong man.

Te’oma made his way out of the water and over to a small fireplace. He whistled a happy tune, one his father had taught him years before. He bashed the fish against the cave wall, then threw them on the fire.

He took an old blanket from the floor and wrapped it around himself, trying to warm up by the fire.

His ears pricked up. The muffled sound of voices could be heard in the distance. Te’oma swiftly threw some water over the fire and disappeared into the darkness of the cave. He had become exceptionally good at keeping his presence hidden.

Tiny particles of dust began to rain down from the well above as the movement of people above caused the ground to vibrate.

“We can’t stay here,” said a muffled female voice.

“We’ve been running for days. How much longer can we run from them?” a man asked.

Snow began to trickle through the well, followed by a terrific thud as the man fell onto the metal grate that separated the bottom of the well from the cave below. He screamed out in agony.

“Julius!” screamed the girl. “Are you ok?”

Te’oma peered out of the darkness to see what was going on.

“Hold on. I’m coming down,” said the girl.

“Hurry,” replied Julius. “My arm is stuck and I can feel it twisting.”

Julius dropped his head down in pain, resting on the metal grate. A flicker of light came from Te’oma’s torch below and, for the slightest of seconds, Julius got a glimpse of Te’oma’s silhouette standing in the shadows.

“Hey,” screamed Julius. “Hey, there’s someone down there! Help me,” pleaded Julius.

“Who are you talking to?” yelled the girl.

“There’s someone down here, Ariana.”

“Just keep still. I’ll be down in a minute,” replied Ariana.

The floor of the cave began to rock back and forth violently. The ground roared. Terrified, Te’oma curled up in the darkness. The ground shook more and more. Bits of the roof began to fall down. It was an earthquake.

Ariana desperately tried to hang onto the wall of the well as the ground shook. Rocks and dirt fell all around her. The rock she was hanging onto broke away from the wall and she fell down the well. She crashed on top of Julius with an almighty thud. They both screamed in agony as the walls of the well crumbled.

A large rock fell down from above and smacked Ariana in the head, knocking her unconscious.

The sound of the quake grew louder with every passing second. More and more rocks fell from the roof.

Julius shook Ariana. “Wake up, Ariana. Please, wake up!” he pleaded.

Julius looked down at the cave below. “Hello!” he screamed out. “I know you’re there. Please, please, you have to help us.”

Rocks and dust rained down on Julius and Ariana. Te’oma looked on in fear. He hadn’t spoken to another soul in years. “Please,” said Julius. “I don’t want to die.”

Te’oma plucked up all the courage he could muster. He ran over to the ruins and picked up an old metal bar. He grabbed some rope and tied it to the end of the bar.

The rocks quickly piled up above Julius and Ariana. Te’oma ran over to the well and looked up at Julius. “Here, catch this!” he yelled, throwing the bar to Julius. “Now, throw the rope back down and I’ll pull the grate out.”

Julius rested the bar on the grate and dropped the rope down to Te’oma.

The rope was old and frayed. It had been down there as long as the ruins had. Te’oma pulled it as hard as he could. The metal grate began to creak from the pressure.

“It’s working!” yelled Julius, just as a heap of snow and dirt fell down on him, knocking him out.

Te’oma looked up, terrified. He steadied his nerves, looked back at the rope and, with gritted teeth, pulled with everything he had. With a mighty crack, the metal grate gave way, sending Julius, Ariana and a mountain of dirt and rocks down to the floor of the cave.

Te’oma pulled them out of the rubble as the earthquake eased, and over to the fireplace. He looked up at his once-flourishing garden bed, now covered in rocks and dirt. His heart sank. Deep down he knew that he couldn’t stay there, but that place had become the only real home he had ever had.

Exhausted, Te’oma lay down on the ground and closed his eyes.

***

Hours passed. The dust settled around them. The sun slowly began to creep back in through the cracks in the cave. Te’oma snored quite loudly as he slept on the rock.

Julius began to stir. He opened his eyes; it was clear from the look on his face that he was in immense pain. He rubbed his aching head. A constant ringing noise echoed in his ears as he struggled to get up.

Julius looked around at the mess. He saw Te’oma sleeping, but he could not see Ariana anywhere. He quickly got to his feet when he heard the sounds of rocks falling.

“Ariana? Ariana, is that you?” called Julius as he wandered about the cave. Ariana poked her head around the corner of a giant pile of rubble below the well.

“Help me with this, will you?” she snapped at him, as she pulled on the rope, trying to extract it from the rocks.

“What are you doing?” asked Julius.

Ariana ignored him as she finished pulling the rope out of the rocks. She wrapped the rope around her arm, then set off towards Te’oma.

“Hello?” said Julius with a frown.

Ariana knelt down at Te’oma’s side and tied his hands together.

“What the hell are you doing?” snapped Julius.

“We don’t know anything about this guy. I’m not taking any chances,” said Ariana.

“He just saved us from certain death,” said Julius.

“I don’t care. How do you know he’s not one of them? This is what the others would want us to do,” she said.

Ariana tied the rope around Te’oma’s waist, locking his arms around his back. Then she slapped him in the face, violently waking him from his slumber.

A hazy and distorted Ariana knelt right in front of Te’oma as he slowly woke up. Suddenly, Ariana slapped him across the face again and her angry gaze became crystal clear.

“What was that for?” asked Te’oma as he wiggled his jaw in pain.

“Who are you?” yelled Ariana, slapping him again.

“Ariana, that’s enough,” said Julius.

Te’oma leaned back in fear. “Please stop. My name is Te’oma.”

“Why were you following us?” asked Ariana.

“Following you? I wasn’t following you. I live here,” he replied.

Ariana raised her hand again. Te’oma winced in fear. Julius grabbed Ariana’s hand and pulled her back.

“What are you doing?” demanded Ariana.

“I believe him,” said Julius. “Look in his eyes.”

“It could be a trick. It wouldn’t be the first time they fooled us,” said Ariana.

“I have seen many good men pretend to be cold before, but never have I seen a Sentari warrior fake this well; this man is telling the truth.”

‘A man,’ thought Te’oma; he had never considered himself to be a man.

“I think we should take him to the council. Let them decide what to do,” said Julius.

“Fine,” said Ariana, as she looked down at him curiously. “Since when did we start calling ourselves a council? And don’t call him a man. He is the same age as we are,” laughed Ariana.

“Are you saying I am not a man?” asked Julius.

“Please, as long as I can beat you in a fight, you are not a man,” said Ariana.

“Now all we have to do is work out how to get out of here,” said Julius.

He and Ariana wandered around the cave, searching for an exit. Te’oma wrestled with the rope, trying to break free. He knew the way out of the cave, but should he stay here and wait for the opportunity to escape or should he take a chance with these strangers? His heart told him he could trust them, but their actions said otherwise.

Te’oma wiggled to his feet and said proudly, “I know the way.”

“What did you say?” asked Julius.

“I know the way out of these caves, but I can’t show you with these ropes binding me,” said Te’oma.

“Then let us see you free of them,” said Julius as he quickly untied the ropes.

“What do you think you are doing?” asked Ariana, running over to Te’oma and holding the ropes tight.

“Come on, Ariana. He knows the way out of here and, besides, it’s a long enough walk as it is back to the city without his being tied up slowing us down.”

“Fine, but I’m keeping an eye on this
boy
,” said Ariana.

“Alright, lead the way,” said Julius.

Te’oma took one last look around at the cave he had called home for so long. In his heart he had known this day would come, but now that he was leaving he was not sure if he wanted to. The decision was quickly taken out of his hands as he was kicked in the bottom by Ariana.

“Come on then,” she snapped.

“I’m really starting to dislike you,” said Te’oma as he walked to the water’s edge. “I hope you both know how to swim.”

***

Light snow fell from the ever-grey sky. In one direction, the ice covering the ocean stretched out as far as the eye could see. In the other, the snow had covered the rolling hills that sat at the base of the mighty mountains, surrounding the ocean’s edge.

A faint thud could be heard thumping the ice below. The thud grew louder as the ice began to crack. The ice broke open and Te’oma’s hands burst through. He pulled his semi-naked, freezing cold body out of the water, gasping for air.

He got to his feet and shivered in the snow. He looked out at the world he had avoided for so long. It was even colder than he remembered.

Julius and Ariana shivered as they climbed out of the water. Ariana pulled a sealed backpack out of the water and opened it up. Inside, their clothes were surprisingly dry. Julius ran over to Ariana’s side and began pulling clothes out of the bag.

“Hang on. Hang on. Wait your turn,” said Ariana.

Julius jumped up and down on the spot, trying to get warm. Ariana handed him his clothes and took her own clothes out of the bag. Te’oma looked on, shivering. Ariana paused for a second, then passed him the bag.

Ariana began to get dressed. Te’oma held the bag in his hands, trying not to glance at Ariana, semi-naked. Around her neck she wore a shimmering silver chain. At the end of it was a gold medallion with some undistinguishable markings.

“What are you looking at?” snapped Ariana. Te’oma looked away, embarrassed, and started taking his clothes out of the bag.

The tiniest hint of a smile formed on Ariana’s face. Julius looked at Ariana with a large smile on his face. She quickly changed her expression.

Te’oma pulled the final layer of clothing over his head. “So where to now?” he asked.

“Just walk,” said Ariana as she stormed away.

Julius looked at Te’oma with a smile. “She grows on you, I promise,” he said.

The three walked across the large ice shelf towards the land’s edge.

For hours they walked, struggling their way through valleys covered in thigh-deep snow, river beds with razor-sharp rocks covered in frozen water and vast plains with no life at all.

Ariana kept a close eye on Te’oma the whole way. Te’oma just whistled happily. It was his passive way of trying to get under her skin.

Finally, they reached the edge of a mighty mountain, which seemed to burst straight out of the valley and rise almost vertically towards the sky. Te’oma looked up, trying to see the top of the mountain through the clouds that obscured its peak.

At the base of the mountain was a dark, forbidding tunnel that disappeared deep inside. They stopped at the tunnel’s entrance.

Julius walked over to Te’oma’s side. Te’oma felt nervous as Julius’s expression turned serious. “This is an extremely dangerous place we are about to enter. For your safety and our own I would ask you to stay quiet and keep your eyes on the ground. If a Sentari warrior gets one look at you, we are all in big trouble,” he said.

Te’oma thought back to his tiny little cave and wondered if he’d made a mistake in leaving it.

“Do you understand?” snapped Ariana.

“Yes,” said Te’oma nervously.

“Good. Because, if you so much as open your mouth, I’ll shut it for you,” she said, marching into the tunnel.

“Is she always this intense?” asked Te’oma.

Julius smiled.

“I don’t understand something,” said Te’oma. “If this place is so dangerous, why do you live here?”