Chapter 5
1445 Words
5The sound of dog paws hitting snow didn’t do much to disturb the blissful silence. The sled slid effortlessly across the white landscape through towering hills and tall mountains on either side. There were forests now and again, but mostly rock faces and uneven surfaces.
The panting dogs seemed not to mind the winter weather or that they were pulling a solid load. The location tracking device that counted the miles gauged their travel speed at a modest six miles per hour. Sandra had told him some sleds travelled much faster. The fresh snow really was slowing them down a bit.
By the time they were nearing the two-mile point of their trek, they were passing through cliffs sheltering a narrow passageway. Stark stopped focusing on the sled and dogs to study the majestic passing scenes the way Topper was doing. Relaxing finally, he looked in wonder at the natural beauty surrounding them.
The landscape was nearly as pristine as the ice fields, only much less forbidding. Unlike his homeland, he wasn’t constantly looking over his shoulder to see if some giant creature was after him for food. The biggest thing they might encounter on their trek would be an Alaskan bear or moose. While both of those creatures were sizable, he knew he could easily handle an animal of that magnitude.
He bent until his mouth was near Topper’s ear. “Are you enjoying the ride?” he asked. Topper nodded and chuckled in reply. Her happiness sounded almost musical.
“It’s very beautiful out here. I can see why this sort of stillness would appeal to you, Stark. If I wasn’t so lip-numbing cold, I’d probably love it myself,” she said.
Stark chuckled about her honesty and snuck in a quick cheek kiss. He straightened back to see Mercury slowing and looking around. The sled abruptly slid to a slow stop, forced to do so by its leader. Mercury paced back and forth, his nose to the ground in front of him. He lifted his head and looked back at Stark. Then he let out a howl and took off again.
One word filtered through the dog’s actions to alert him. Danger. Mercury felt they were in danger.
The dog barked anxiously to the ones behind him, and suddenly the sled was veering sharply to the left. Somewhere nearby, Stark heard a distinctive c***k. It sounded like a primitive weapon being fired.
Then the sled tilted as the ground shifted beneath them. Stark toggled his weight to keep them from overturning. Topper squealed in alarm as she grabbed hold of her seat.
Mercury barked once and the dogs jerked the sled hard as they ran full out for some destination only the worried Malamute knew.
“Hang on, Topper,” Stark yelled to his mate. “The earth is shifting beneath the snow.”
“That’s not earth under there,” Topper yelled back, desperately hanging on to her seat as the sled bobbled. “It’s water and it’s supposed to be frozen solid this time of year.”
Trusting the dogs to make the right decisions for them all, Stark hung on as the sled sped up. Behind them the landscape opened in a c***k that quickly let the water rise through. Once they were half a mile away from the fissure, Mercury slowed and brought the team to a stop once more.
Stark jumped from the sled and immediately dug beneath the sled, pleased to see they were now on solid ground instead of frozen water. He was all about ice, but not when so many creatures were under his protection. Thankfully the sled dogs had been brilliantly trained.
He walked passed the whining, concerned animals. “It’s okay,” he told them. “It’s okay. We’re all safe now. Thank you all for being so brave.”
He went immediately to Mercury who ducked his head. Stark pulled his gloves off and reached out to rub between their savior’s ears.
“Close call, eh?”
Mercury nudged Stark’s palm, asking for a harder rub. Tension rolled off the creature under his hand. Stark didn’t blame the smart canine for being afraid.
He rose and looked back the way they’d come. There was no reversing the trail. He could maybe try to freeze the passage back, but the size of the body of water might drain his energy before he got done. What if Topper needed him and he was too exhausted to help her? He shuffled that option to the ‘last resort’ column.
Stark saw Topper talking on a primitive looking communication device and walked back to hear the conversation. She was just signing off when he arrived.
“Emergency radio. Sandra had hers on and heard me at first call. Good thing we were still in range.” Topper held up the device briefly before tucking it away. “Got to conserve the battery. It seems there was an earthquake right after we left. The ice passage we just came through won’t form back and harden enough for travel until a couple weeks from now. Sandra said we’d have to go around. It’s a two day trip—some of it on foot—through uneven land, but she says Mercury knows the way. She’ll send someone to meet us with fresh supplies. Technically, we have to survive one day. They’ll help us with the other.”
“Earthquake?” Stark asked.
Topper frowned. “Sandra’s story.” She tapped her head. “According to Lacey, it was a portal opening up here. She said the random portals around Magic and Phoenix disappeared all at the same time and then she got a weird sensation that something was wrong with us. Those random portals were the ones created by the Fates, Stark. Something’s gone terribly wrong. I’d transport us all back, but I don’t have that much energy. I’d for sure not be able to clear Sandra’s memories. As bad as I hate admitting any limits to my power, we need to tough this out as long as possible and return without the aid of magic if we can.”
“I understand. I’m afraid I don’t have enough power to mend the ice or I would try refreshing our trail.”
Topper shook her head. “The last mile and a half was over a natural lake that stays frozen for many months of the year. The ice in the lake only goes down a few feet though. Under that is flowing water. It’s too big a risk to take, Stark. We might need your power over the cold elements later.”
Stark didn’t answer while he’d thought through their options. His resigned sigh echoed in the quiet. “I am in agreement. The only course of action seems to be to head back as Sandra indicated. If you want to pop back to our hotel room and wait the trip out, I’ll bring the dogs back by myself.”
Topper shook her head. “No. This is our honeymoon. I’m not leaving you to handle this alone… or those darling dogs who kept us from dropping into the lake. I have a warm coat, great boots, and a hot husband. I’m sure I’ll be fine.”
“Okay. I’ll tell Mercury.” Stark shrugged his shoulders inside the coat he was suddenly glad to be wearing. It was now going to be useful to have the extra protection. Conserving his power meant he could use his ice skills to build a snow shelter later. That would keep all of them warmer. He could build a separate one for the dogs.
“Stark?” Topper’s anxious voice stopped him. “Any idea who might want to open a portal from Glacier to Alaska? That’s too coincidental with us here at this exact time. If the Fates had done it, they would have popped in on us to let us know why.”
His jaw hardened at the thought of any danger greater than just surviving the freezing weather. “My enemies are all dead, Topper. I made sure of it before I retired. If someone wanted to get to me, they could have easily found me in the ice fields of Glacier. My work was always public there. How about you? Any death threats we need to consider?”
Topper shook her head and snorted. “No one wants to kill me, but quite a few would love to put me in a cage and experiment on me. That reason doesn’t seem enough to track me down here. I think the portal has to be someone after you. That’s what my instincts are saying. Want me to contact Lacey and have her send Frost to investigate it?”
Stark shook his head. “No. That would leave Magic less protected. What if this portal is a decoy of some sort? Let me talk to Mercury about where we need to go. We can handle two days out here. I’ll be right back.”
Moments later he was climbing on the sled. “Mercury said there’s a place we can make camp about four hours from here.”
“That’s pretty precise information for a dog to know,” Topper said, grinning at her husband.
“Dogs are complex creatures. I interpreted the travel distance for your benefit,” he said, making his mate chuckle.
Mercury glanced back at him and Stark nodded.
“Hike! Let’s go,” he yelled.
Once more the pack took off, dragging the sled and their human companions behind them.
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