Chapter 31: Balance

Mira Jayne collapsed upon her sleeping roll and let out a pitiful groan. Because their frozen companions were afraid of being discovered by anyone, they insisted they all traveled under the cover of darkness. She was not used to being awake during the entire night. It was exhausting, and Mira had trouble sleeping during the day when her body insisted on staying awake. She hoped after a couple nights of the backward schedule, it would get easier. So far, it had not.

She wasn’t even entirely sure where they were heading, other than somewhere north. Mending Heart assured her they were being escorted to Deep and Troubled Waters, a kodan settlement in the northern Shiverpeaks where they might find more answers about the missing kodan they were trying to track down. However, their frozen friends hadn’t confirmed they were taking them there. In fact, they had not said much at all since the conversation in the cave Mira had first woken up in. Despite the lack of communication, the frozen kept moving with purpose, as if they knew where they were supposed to go. Neither Alma, Azoricum, nor Ian raised too much of a fuss with the traveling arrangements. Maybe they knew more than she did, but ultimately Mira believed her friends appreciated the extra protection. She certainly did. If there were other creatures like their frozen friends out there, or anything worse, she wanted to be kept safe.

Mending Heart crouched down and spread out his sleeping roll next to Mira. “Are you asleep yet, Many Words?”

“Yes,” Mira groaned into her pack which she was using as a pillow.

The kodan sat down and stretched out his long legs and flexed his furry toes. “The unconscious should not be speaking. It is not the way of things.”

Mira rolled over onto her side so she was facing Mending Heart and sighed heavily. “Okay, I’m not asleep, but I wish I was.” She yawned and rubbed at her tired eyes. “How much longer do you think it is until we reach the kodan settlement?”

“Not long.”

“Like a day? Two days?” Mira asked.

“Perhaps,” Mending Heart replied. “The paths the frozen traverse are not straightforward. It is hard to say for sure.”

Mira groaned. She wasn’t looking forward to another nighttime stroll through the snowy wilds of the northern Shiverpeaks, let alone another three. “What’s it like?”

“Of what do you ask?”

“Deep and Troubled Waters. What’s it like there? Is it like Song of Final Exile?”

He looked thoughtfully off into the distance. “The kodan of Deep and Troubled Waters reside on a great vessel docked in the Sea of Lamentation.. It was damaged by one of Jormag’s champions as they fled south, away from the elder dragon’s reach. I have only been there once. It was peaceful, but I hear whispering warnings about their Voice in recent days.”

“That sounds ominous,” Mira said, her brow knit in concern. “What are we even doing out here following them to that place then? Why don’t we split off and keep looking for the missing kodan?”

Turning toward Mira, Mending Heart crossed his long, furred legs and rest his paws on his knees. He absentmindedly scratched at one of them with his index claw. “I believe our meeting with the frozen was Koda’s purpose.”

“But I don’t understand. We promised Silent Snowfall we’d find the missing kodan. Instead, we’re following these strange ice people who are searching for their daughter.”

Mending Heart leaned forward. “Koda brought our groups together for a reason. There is purpose behind our meeting. We both are searching for something, a missing part in our life’s tale. In helping them find balance, we will find balance of our own.”

“How can you be so sure of this?”

The kodan’s muzzle wrinkled while in thought. “It’s not a thought or a word, but rather a—feeling.”

“A feeling,” Mira yawned again. Sleep had finally sunk its claws into her, and she was starting to feel drowsy. “I guess that makes sense.”

Mira glanced over at the frozen who were sitting around the campfire. They spoke in hushed whispers not audible beyond the area around the campfire. Alma sat with them, nodding as she listened to them speak. She wondered what they were talking about. The man and woman looking for their daughter were huddled together, her ice-covered hand resting on his. Their worried expressions were unmistakable, even with the ice crystals covering their faces. Mira couldn’t help but wonder if her own parents were as worried about her as these two were about their own daughter. She hadn’t had much time to send them a message before they left Song of Final Exile on their search. As soon as they reached the next city or village with a messenger, Mira vowed to send them a letter so they would know she was okay.

“Do you think they’ll find her?” she asked Mending Heart.

The kodan cocked his head to the side. “Who?”

“Their daughter,” she replied and then nodded over toward the frozen.

He made a thoughtful noise as he looked over his shoulder at them. “If Koda deems it so.”

“What do you mean?” Suddenly energized by the new topic, Mira pushed her tired body up into a sitting position. Wild strands of blonde hair clung to the side of her face and a few ends poked at the side of her eye. She pushed them away. “I mean, he has to, right?”

“Perhaps, if it is meant to be to restore the balance.”

“But what if it’s not? Then what?”

Mending Heart silently considered this for some time. “I do not know. But I believe balance will be restored, one way or another.”

“How can balance be restored while keeping a family apart?” she asked. “How could He be okay with that?”

“It is not up to what we want or wish. It is Koda’s will, and the path is not always clear.”

“If only it was,” Mira groaned. “Why can’t everything just be spelled out so we know what to do. Why do our gods have to make everything so cryptic?”

The kodan left ear twitched. “The fish will never learn to swim if the river always carries it.”

Mira groaned and laid back down, unable to delegate higher brain function to the proposed statement. She closed her eyes, ready to let sleep sink her into deep unconsciousness, but rising voices around the fire pulled her away from sleep. She opened an eye and spied the frozen now standing and speaking fervently about something. Alma stood with them, crossing her arms over her chest as she listened. She then furrowed her brow and nodded. Suddenly, the norn turned and strode over to Mira and Mending Heart.

“Time to get up,” she said with a sharp gesture. “We’re moving out.”

“Moving out?” Mira whined as she pushed herself up. She had just started to relax and drift off, and now the promise of a much-needed sleep was being taken away from her. “What’s going on?”

“Our new friends have decided to risk the morning light to find their daughter. They’re insistent we leave now. Something seems to be happening, but they won’t explain what that is. They said they’ll take us to Deep and Troubled Waters once we reach wherever we’re heading today. They’re pretty worked up about it. We should get going as soon as possible,” she replied and then went over to where Ian and Azoricum were sleeping to wake them up.

Mira quickly rolled up her sleeping roll and strapped it to her pack. She stepped out into the morning light with the others, shielding her eyes from the blinding brightness as they started their trek. She was too tired to care where they were heading, and after some time, she certainly couldn’t tell you where they were. At some point during the morning, she looked up to gain her bearings and discovered the mountains on the right side of them. Why are we trekking south? she thought. We were heading north a moment ago, weren’t we?

A distant explosion startled Mira, thrusting her into full consciousness. Without thinking, she took off into a full sprint toward the sound. If anyone was hurt, she had to help. Any possible danger to herself never even crossed her mind. Her tired legs carried her through the snow as fast as they could, her pack bouncing up and down on her back. Her exhaustion neared deliriousness, and when she looked at the horizon, she swore she saw a gigantic raven descend from the clouds.

“Many Words!” Mending Heart called after her. His long kodan legs allowed him to catch up to her quickly. He reached out with his paw and grabbed her shoulder. “We do not know what sort of storm is out there. It’s best to stow your sails and suss it out before we sail right in.”

Mira yelped in surprise and reached out for him, using his arm to steady herself. She spun around, her tired and bloodshot eyes wild and wide. “But something exploded over there, and there’s this huge raven thing in the sky. At least I think there was. I don’t know. I’m so tired.” Pausing, she massaged the bridge of her nose. Her head started to pound from the sudden excitement and lack of sleep. “What if someone is hurt? We should go make sure.”

“Then wait for the others.” Mending Heart looked over his shoulder as the rest of the group caught up to them.

“What’s going on?” Ian asked. The archer scratched his chin as he looked off at the mountains. The scruff on his face had started to grow thick. He hadn’t bothered to use his straight razor in days. “What was that noise?”

Azoricum pointed at the horizon. “And what is that thing in the sky?”

Mira looked back over her shoulder where a dark object hovered in the distance. “Oh good. I’m not imagining things after all.”