Sentari: ICE

by Trevor Booth

  “Come on, Jaden,” said Mastus. “Give me a hand carrying this beast home. Tonight we’re going to eat like kings!”

  Jaden and Mastus disappeared into the trees carrying the deer. Kari put her arm around Ariana and pulled her close. Ariana loved her mother with all of her heart, but she longed for the approval of her father.

  The family lived in a beautiful house, very warm and inviting for times like those. A large fireplace sat in the corner of the delightful little cabin. The walls were wooden logs of a dark, warm colour. Large animal-skin rugs lay across the floor, trapping in the heat. A gorgeous, oak table took pride of place in the middle of the cabin.

  From out of the small cabin windows, large, deep green leaves hung down from the branches of the rainforest trees. Small drops of rain fell from far above the forest floor.

  A jubilant Mastus and Jaden shattered the silence as they burst into the cabin, singing songs. Mastus slammed the deer down on the table.

  Ariana and Kari walked in behind them, smiling at the prospect of full bellies.

  This was a happy time for their family. It had been a long time since they had eaten this well. For many years now, the animals had been slowly disappearing as the cold crept its way up to the Yen-Gyle jungle.

  The night rolled on. With their stomachs full and their hearts content, the family drifted off to sleep in front of a roaring fire. Ariana knew there would be harder times ahead, but for tonight they were together and happy.

  The following morning was exceptionally warm. The sunlight lit up the room like it hadn’t done for an age. The fireplace crackled with the remaining sparks of a dying fire.

  The sunlight caught Ariana’s eye as she slowly woke up. Mastus and Jaden were already up and fully dressed standing at the door.

  “Where are you going?” enquired Ariana, half asleep.

  “I’m taking my boy fishing. After the luck we had yesterday we shall keep striking while the iron is hot!” replied Mastus.

  Ariana leaped to her feet with the energy only a child can muster in the morning. “Wait for me!” she said, falling all over the room, trying to get her clothes on in a hurry.

  “Don’t be silly, girl. You’re needed here. To get all the meat off that deer. We cannot afford to waste any of it,” said Mastus. As soon as he finished the sentence, he closed the door and disappeared into the forest. Ariana’s heart sank.

  Kari, still lying in front of the fireplace, looked across at her disenchanted daughter. “Don’t worry, dear. Our place is here. In time you will understand that. Besides, it’s much nicer inside,” said Kari with a yawn.

  “But I want to go fishing. Father never takes me anywhere,” replied Ariana.

  “Of course. Jaden is his son. He must pass on the traditions of our people,” said Kari.

  “But I can do anything he can. I like fishing. At least, I think I do,” replied Ariana.

  Kari started to dress herself in front of what was left of the fire. “Of course you can do what the boys can, but I need you here, where a girl belongs” she said. Ariana crossed her arms and stomped her feet on the ground. Even at a young age, Ariana had one hell of a temper.

  Ariana’s days were long and arduous. Her mother would work them to the bone to get everything done. Kari worshipped the ground that Mastus and Jaden walked on, so it was Ariana’s job to make sure that everything was in pristine condition when they arrived home each day.

  The only spare time that Ariana had was the hour after Mastus and Jaden arrived home. So besotted with Mastus and her perfect son was Kari that she never noticed when Ariana went missing.

  Ariana would take a long walk through the ancient rainforest to a secluded rock pool at the edge of the rainforest. The pool sat right on the edge of a cliff that separated Yen-Gyle from the rest of the lands. Ariana could swim to the edge of the pool and look down the thousand-metre drop to the icy fields below.

  The pool was only shallow and the water came from a natural hot spring, so it was the perfect place for Ariana to teach herself to swim and not freeze to death at the same time. Every day she would go there and stare out at the world below, wondering to herself what it was like, convinced there was a better life waiting at her feet.

  The pool wasn’t just a place for Ariana to swim. Animals of all kinds would enjoy its natural warmth. One time Ariana had the great honour of sharing the pool with a gorgeous baby unicorn. Truly the rarest of sights, it’s said that a unicorn will only reveal itself to the pure of heart, so while her family may not have appreciated her, deep down she knew that she was special.

  Ariana’s other great passion in life was to sing. She would drive her family insane with her constant lullabies. Every opportunity she had she would sing – cooking, cleaning, even sometimes in her sleep.

  One cool evening, Jaden got especially angry at Ariana’s singing. “Stop that!” he screamed at her, but Ariana would never listen. So off she went, sneaking out the door to go swimming, assuming that, as usual, no one was paying attention. Only this time, Jaden was. In fact, he had been watching her go off each night for quite a while, and that night he decided to follow her, a task made very easy because of Ariana’s constant singing.

  Jaden followed Ariana all the way to the pool, ducking and weaving behind trees so that Ariana would not notice him. Jaden watched as Ariana swam in the beautiful water.

  Jaden was always the jealous type. Anything that Ariana had, he wanted to take from her. He jumped out from behind the trees. “I’m telling Father what you’re doing,” he said.

  “What are you doing here?” replied Ariana, startled.

  “You think I didn’t notice you sneaking off every night? You just wait until Mother and Father hear about where you go!” said Jaden.

  “No, you can’t,” replied Ariana. “Please don’t tell them. Hop in the water. It can be our secret,” said Ariana.

  Jaden considered this for a moment, then took his shoes off and dipped his feet in the water. He was visibly surprised by its warmth. It brought a smile to his face, which was a welcome change for Ariana. Jaden dove head first into the pool and splashed the water with joy. “This place is amazing,” he said. Ariana could never understand what was so special about this water, but it seemed to have the same relaxing effect on Jaden.

  Over the next few months, Jaden and Ariana would sneak out each evening and swim in their pool. For the first time in their lives, they began to enjoy each other’s company. It was fast becoming their favourite time of day.

  Unfortunately, good things cannot last forever. Ariana going missing each night never bothered him, but Mastus had started to notice Jaden’s absence. He quizzed Kari about it, but she just assumed the kids were playing outside. She was never a very attentive mother.

  Now it was Mastus and Kari’s turn to follow the children. They followed them all the way out to the old pool and watched them from behind the trees. Rather than being angry, Kari was so proud of his children. “Finally,” she said with a grin on her face, as she emerged from the trees. “Finally, you two are starting to work together.” Jaden and Ariana climbed out of the pool, frightened.

  “It’s alright. We’re not angry,” said Kari.

  “You’re not?” enquired a confused Ariana.

  “Of course not, but you should have trusted us. You should have told us about this place sooner. Wandering off by yourselves is not safe,” said Mastus.

  Ariana was shocked. This was the first time she had seen her father this way. He was genuinely pleased with them, and this made Ariana very happy.

  So the pool that started out as Ariana’s secret little hideout became the whole family’s bath. They thought they had found the greatest place in Sentari. Each night they could lay their troubles to rest and just relax in the warm waters.

  But they were not the only ones who frequented that pool. Ariana and Jaden had been lucky that they went there at dusk each day, but now that the family all knew about the pool, it was theirs to use all day long and soon dawn becam
e their favourite time to visit. Dawn was also the time that another creature relaxed its weary bones after a night of hunting.

  This creature was the one creature in the Yen-Gyle forest that everyone knew about but rarely ever saw. If they ever did cross paths with it, they would be dead before they could tell anyone about it. It was the Yen-Gyle tiger.

  The Yen-Gyle tiger was not like any other tiger. Hunched over, the tiger was just over six feet tall. Fully stretched, it could reach heights of over nine feet, but it wasn’t clumsy; it was fast and nimble. With thin legs and arms, it glided around on all fours for quick movement, but when threatened, it would stand on its back legs to intimidate its opponent.

  The tiger’s skin was covered in coarse, dirty hair. Its head was horse-like, only smaller. Its mouth was filled with hundreds of razor-sharp teeth. Its hair was so thick that only its dark, red eyes were visible, except for when it opened its mouth and all its deadly teeth came into view.

  The family’s path to the pool would always lead them through a large clearing in the forest. The clearing made Mastus very nervous and they would generally skirt around it.

  One day Mastus let his guard down. For some reason he was not paying attention to his surrounds and the family walked straight out into the middle of the clearing. The fog from the morning cold still hung over the ground, obscuring the grass.

  Mastus stopped the family in the middle of the clearing. “Something’s wrong,” he said nervously. “Stay close and be quiet.” Jaden walked next to his father, trying to be brave. Kari held Ariana close as they walked only inches behind Mastus.

  The trees surrounding the clearing began to rustle. Then, out of the trees stepped not one, but four tigers. Mastus quickly pulled Jaden close. Kari winced in fear as the tigers approached them from all angles.

  Mastus took a deep breath. He had seen the tiger in action before. He was lucky to escape it, but that time there was only one.

  One of the tigers charged at the family, knocking Jaden to the ground. Jaden disappeared into the dense, lowlying fog. Ariana quickly ducked down to see if she could find him. She searched around but could find nothing. Suddenly she heard roar. The tigers were attacking her parents.

  Ariana stood up out of the fog. The tigers were hacking and slashing at Mastus. Kari cowered behind him.

  “Stay down!” screamed Mastus, as he fought the tigers.

  Ariana dropped to the ground and hid in the fog.

  The screaming and fighting carried on for what seemed an eternity for Ariana. She huddled on the ground terrified. “Jaden. Jaden,” she whispered, but she got no reply. Suddenly there was silence. “Mum, Dad?” she whispered. But again, there was no reply. Ariana slowly got to her feet. She looked out and all she could see were trees. Mastus, Kari and Jaden were all gone. She heard a hissing sound, then a cold breath down the back of her neck. She spun around to see all four tigers looking directly at her. Startled, she stepped backwards. The tigers snarled and hissed as they advanced on her slowly. It was almost like the creatures were taking pleasure in tormenting her.

  Ariana stepped back again, but she knew she had nowhere to go. She closed her eyes and thought back to happier times, with the whole family playing in her pool. The four tigers all let out an ear-piercing howl, when suddenly their screams were drowned out by the roar of a much larger creature.

  Ariana opened her eyes and looked up. High above, a mighty dragon flapped its wings and roared.

  The tigers stepped back towards the tree line. The dragon swooped down quickly and slammed into the ground, right in front of Ariana, getting between her and the tigers.

  That was the first time she had ever seen a dragon. It was enormous in size, covered in scales, with thick spikes running up its tail and back. Its scales were worn and damaged, a sign that the dragon had seen a lot of battles.

  The dragon raised its head. Smoke poured out of its nose. The tigers knew better than to take on a dragon. They quickly scurried away into the trees. The dragon took a deep breath, then let out a gigantic burst of fire. Ariana shielded her face from the heat. The trees surrounding the clearing caught on fire and began to burn.

  The giant dragon turned to face Ariana. She was so afraid that she could not even look. It leant down and, as it did, Ariana’s head grew light. She became dizzy and stumbled around before falling to the ground unconscious.

  Sweet dreams swept through Ariana’s head – rolling mountains, flying through clouds and swimming in giant lakes of glimmering blue water. She slept and slept, her mind lost in beautiful places. Part of her knew she was asleep, but she did not want to wake from such a place.

  After nearly a week of sleeping, Ariana woke. She found herself wrapped up tightly in a snugly warm, animal-skin blanket. Her head rested against the softest pillow she had ever felt.

  She looked up and realised that she was sleeping under a tree. She took the blanket off and gingerly got to her feet. She gazed across at a sight that she had only ever seen from above – acres and acres of snow-covered fields.

  She turned around and, behind her, high up above the cliff faces, was the Yen-Gyle forest. The memories of the tiger attack came flooding back. For the briefest of moments, she had forgotten about it.

  Ariana stood in silence for quite some time. Not a sound could be heard. She stared intently at her home above, taking one last look at the place she had called home her whole life. She turned her back on the forest and walked off into the unknown.

  “There is only ever one way forward.”

  Chapter 6

  The Long Road Ahead

  With one last sniff of the cool evening air, Xerxes pulled shut the door to his ice-bound home.

  Te’oma stood by the fireplace, pondering the path that lay before him. He always dreamt of having friends and going on great adventures, but now that the moment was here he was not sure it was what he wanted.

  He stared at Ariana and marvelled at her determination. It was the night before they were to leave and she was already packed and ready to go. ‘She is just so amazing,’ he thought to himself, before his stare caught her attention.

  “What are you looking at?” snapped Ariana, her usual charm breaking Te’oma’s trance.

  “Nothing,” he said, as he did his best to look away.

  “It does my heart good to see you moving so freely young man,” said Xerxes to Julius. His injuries had fully healed and he had continued to improve all day. It was amazing how much good a couple of days in a nice warm bed could do.

  “I feel fantastic,” said Julius, as he dug into another helping of Xerxes’ soup. “In fact, I’ve never felt this good. What is in this?”

  “Nothing special, except for the ten-thousand-year-old water melted from the glacier,” replied Xerxes.

  “Well, whatever it is, it works,” said Julius.

  “I have something for you,” said Xerxes. He grabbed a box out from under his bed and opened the lid. Inside lay three pairs of silver-coloured gloves. The palm of each glove was covered in dozens of tiny diamonds. Xerxes handed a pair to each of them. “The journey ahead is long and difficult,” he said.

  Ariana looked at the gloves curiously. “I already have a pair of gloves, and these don’t seem so warm,” she said putting them on.

  “There will be a time when these will come in very handy,” said Xerxes. “Just put them in your pack. You’ll know when to use them.”

  Alto hurried over to his little bed in the corner of the room. “Come now. It’s getting late. I’m an old man and I need my sleep,” said Xerxes.

  Julius lay down on a small bed, next to the ones Ariana and Te’oma had been sleeping in. A single animal skin lay on top of the rock-hard, wooden floor. He looked longingly at the lovely bed he had had, the one that Xerxes now occupied.

  Xerxes blew out all the candles, bar one. “We need a little light for when nature calls,” he said.

  Xerxes, Julius and Ariana fell asleep as soon as their heads hit their pillows. Ariana snored like a stea
m train and mumbled in her sleep. Te’oma stared up at the roof. The light from the candle reflected over the exposed area of the glacier, causing the light to dance in all directions. His mind was troubled. He knew he was not doing this trip by himself, yet he still felt alone.

  Ariana tossed and turned. Te’oma turned to look at her. She was very beautiful. It was just a pity that this was as peaceful as she got. She mumbled some incoherent words, then flung her arm across herself. Her hand landed on Te’oma’s. Her skin was warm and soft. Te’oma held her hand in his. Ariana squeezed it, mumbled again, then continued to snore. The night was long and bitterly cold.

  ***

  It was dark in the cave. The morning sun had no effect this far below the glacier. Luckily, Xerxes had his own personal alarm clock. Alto woke at the crack of dawn every day and leapt onto Xerxes’ bed to lick his face, something that Xerxes did not enjoy.

  Surprisingly, this day Julius was already awake, preparing a breakfast for them all, if you could call some steamed vegetables and a bowl of soup breakfast.

  “You’re up early,” said Xerxes.

  “I had a hard time sleeping,” replied Julius.

  “Yes, it does take some getting used to down here,” said Xerxes.

  “Apparently, not for everyone,” said Julius as he pointed to where Te’oma and Ariana lay, still hand in hand.

  “Oh, I see,” said Xerxes, rather awkwardly.

  Alto leapt off Xerxes’ bed, running straight over the top of Ariana and Te’oma, and scratched at the door to be let out. “Alright, alright,” said Xerxes.

  Ariana and Te’oma opened their weary eyes. “Good morning,” said Julius, standing directly over them with a big smile on his face.

  “What are you so happy about?” said Ariana.

  Julius looked down at their hands and grinned. Ariana quickly pulled her hand away from Te’oma’s. “Yuck, get off me!” she said.

  It was a clear day. The sun beamed down over the glacier, causing an incredible amount of glare. It was still bitterly cold and the clouds hung over the land below, but up there it just felt nicer.