Icebound

PART 1

I woke up in a strange situation. My left arm was pressed up against my torso as I laid on it. It was almost completely numb. My right arm was stretched out to the side. My cheek was touching something cold, damp, and solid. I shifted my position, trying to move away from the cold surface, but it seemed to be everywhere I felt. What was I on? I couldn’t tell, it was very dark.

I tried to look around, but darkness was everywhere. I pressed my hands against the cold surface and pushed myself to a sitting position, still unable to see anything.

Somewhere, nearby, I heard voices. I turned my head in that direction and suddenly felt an icy gust of wind against my face. I cringed, turning my head back to the side again. The voices grew closer.

“Hey,” the voice said, one I didn’t recognize, “Hey, you? Do you know where we are?”

I didn’t respond. I didn’t even know if the voice was talking to me. It was a feminine voice, soft and careful. It seemed to come from a teenager, or a young woman.

“I’m talking to you,” the girl said again, this time closer.

“Me?” I asked. Then I almost gasped at the sound of my own voice. I had a slight European accent, a voice of a youth, just like the girl. Although my voice was more masculine.

“Yes, you,” the girl said, “Open your eyes, you halfwit.”

I opened my eyes, not realizing previously that they had been closed. That was the cause of the darkness. How had I not realized that my eyes were closed? It seemed like they were open before.

When I opened my eyes, the light of a cloudy blue sky stung them and I squinted. In front of me stood a short blond girl, about sixteen years old. She had freckles and a gray suit of snow clothe: a coat, gloves, snow pants, boots, and a scarf.

“Hello?” I asked.

“Hi, hello,” the girl said with an impatient tone, “Nice to meet you, now do you have any idea where we are?”

I looked around for the first time and gaped at my surroundings. Everything was either white or light blue. I couldn’t see any rocks or plants in sight, only frozen fields of ice and huge glaciers floating in frosty-blue lakes. It stretched on like that for as long as I could see. There weren’t even any mountains or structures in the distance.

I rose to my feet, getting a better feel for the place nearby. I was higher than most of the area, on top of a large slab of ice that seemed to protrude from the ground. I had woken up on the very edge of the slab, a couple feet from a huge icy cliff. I stepped away from the ledge.

“I’ll take that as a no,” the girl said.

“Yeah,” I said, once again surprised by the sound of my voice, “Do you know where we are?”

“Of course I don’t! Why would I ask you if I already knew?” she said, “Honestly, you need to think before you say something dumb.”

“Sorry,” I said.

The girl looked around some more as I had done. I tried to remember how I had gotten here, but couldn't seem to figure it out. In fact, I couldn’t really remember anything recent in my life. Where was I last? What was this place? Where did I come from? Then, a question came to mind that was far more unsettling than the others; who am I?

“Excuse me,” I said to the girl. She turned to face me again. “Do you know what my name is?”

“Yep,” she said, “Says right there on your coat. Looks like your name is Otto.”

I looked down and realized that I had similar clothing as the girl. On my thick warm coat, there was a small leather badge stitched in that said “Otto” on it. I looked up to see a similar badge on her shirt.

“Reath,” I read. That was her name. I had never heard that name. In fact, I didn’t ever remember hearing the name “Otto” either. Strange.

“That’s my name,” Reath said. “Don’t know how I got it. None of us do.”

“Us?” I asked. “There are more people?”

“Sure,” Reath said, gesturing towards a huge white formation about two-hundred yards away from where I was, “Four more down there. None of them have a clue what’s going on.”

I stood there for a second, trying my best to recall any memories, even just one. I came up blank and ended up groaning out loud.

“You okay, kid?” Reath said.

“No,” I admitted, “I can’t remember anything. It’s like my memory was stolen.”

“You’re nothing unique,” Reath said, “The rest of us are like that, too.”

“What the heck?” I whispered to myself. I wasn’t sure if she heard.

“Look,” Reath said, pointing again in a different direction. I followed her finger to a small spot of darker colors that stood out like a chocolate chip in whipped cream. It was far away, but I could barely make out the humanoid shape. It looked like another person sleeping on the ice.

“Who is that?” I asked, then immediately felt dumb for asking yet another stupid question.

“You think I know?” Reath asked, offended, “I don’t know anything. But, it does look like another person. I’ll go wake them up. You go back to the cave.”

Reath walked away from me and towards the other person further away. I was left alone again. I glanced over my shoulder to where Reath had said the other people were. I assumed that was the cave she mentioned. Maybe the people there would have answers.

I turned and began walking towards the icy monument. While I did, several gushes of bitter wind washed past me and made me shiver. I discovered that my coat had a hood on it, so I put it on. It helped a lot.

I tried one last time to find a single memory in my head. My mind was filled with information, like how to speak English, how to do algebra, and how to write an essay, but I couldn’t get a single solid memory out of my head. I couldn’t remember where any of my knowledge had come from. I felt like I should be sad, or even worried, but I just felt the urge to continue, whatever that meant. For the moment, my memories weren’t important to me.

My heavy boots stomped against the sleek ice as I walked closer and closer to my destination. I was pretty sure we were in some sort of tundra, maybe Antarctica? But there was no snow, just ice. Ice everywhere.

When I got to the shiny white formation, I saw no cave at first. I stared at it for a second, then walked to the other side of the massive thing. It took about a minute just to walk around the structure.

Sure enough, there was a huge opening to a large cave within the towering formation of ice. The single room I walked in to was big enough to fit several dozen people comfortably. But right now, there were only four, like Reath had said.

“Another one?” An Asian boy said while sitting against the icy back of the cave. I looked at him first, he had short black hair and a wiry build, with his arms currently folded across his chest. Stitched onto his thick gray coat was a badge that said “Enon”.

“Looks like we have quite the group of stranded, confused teenagers,” Another boy said. This one was very tall. Maybe six feet and three inches, but he looked to be eighteen years old at most. He was also extremely muscular, as if he had worked out at a gym every day of his life. The name tag on his chest said “Thiggy”.

The other two people were girls. One of them, whose name was Vifi, was a short Indian girl with her hood up and arms behind her head as she laid against a rock in the center of the room. The other one, Xasi, looked Japanese. She was the only one standing up straight, but her head was down and her eyes looked worried. I noticed that all the names I had heard so far seemed odd for some reason. What kind of name was Vifi? Or Thiggy?

“Take a seat, Otto” Thiggy said, gesturing towards a spot on the wall. “It is nice to meet you.”

“What do you think is going on?” I asked.

“Not sure,” Thiggy said, “We’ve been talking for quite some time now, and our best guess is that we got in some kind of crash and our concussions left us confused.”

“That seems a little far-fetched,” I said.

“You got any better ideas?” Enon said from his spot on the wall.

I shrugged, suddenly in the mood for a conversation. “Maybe,” I said, thinking of a possibility on the spot, “We were all purposeful stranded here by someone else, someone who didn’t like us. They wiped our memories somehow, then stuck us in the middle of nowhere in the frozen tundra.”

Thiggy seemed to think the idea had merit, but Enon shook his head, “If they wanted us stranded in the middle of nowhere,” the Asian boy said, “Why wouldn’t they have just killed us?”

“Not sure,” I said, “Maybe they didn’t want to deal with a bunch of bodies.”

“They could have killed us, and then left us in the tundra,” Enon said.

“Well what do you think?” I asked.

“I don’t,” Enon said, “There’s not much to think about. None of us have any memory or any clue what’s going on. We simply don’t have enough information to guess.”

“I guess so,” I said, ending the debate. I knew right then that Enon wasn’t the kind of guy to argue with. Thiggy, on the other hand, was someone that seemed friendly enough to talk to. I wasn’t sure about Xasi or Vifi. They still kept quiet.

“What about you?” I asked Vifi as I sat down against the moist icy floor. The longer I could keep a chat going, the longer I could ignore the gaping hole in my memory.

Vifi didn’t move from her position, she just smiled towards the ceiling and spoke in a faint Indian accent, “None of this is real.”

I stopped, furrowing my brow. That was the strangest theory yet, “What do you mean?”

“It’s a dream,” Vifi said. “I’ll wake up any time now, I always do.”

“Excuse me?” Enon said, “I’m pretty sure I would know if I was a figment of your subconscious. This isn’t a dream.”

That time, I could agree with him. I felt absolutely real. There was no way I was just a figment of Vifi’s dream.

“Whatever,” Vifi said, “I’ll just laugh when I wake up.”

“Okay,” I said, moving on to Xasi. Right before I asked her the same question, I saw her worried expression again. Her arms were folded protectively and her eyes portrayed terror. They darted back and forth, then settled on me.

I looked away awkwardly, but she started speaking, “I don’t care, I just want to get out of this place.”

“And go where?” Enon said, “There’s nothing within a thousand miles, and none of us even remember what our house or family looks like.”

I suddenly disliked Enon a little more for mentioning that fact. That was the fact I had done my best to ignore until now. I felt like I had a family somewhere, but I had no idea what they looked like, where they were, or if they were still alive or not.

Three more people emerged through the entrance of the cave. I shook away my thoughts and looked at the newcomers. I recognized the one leading the small trio as Reath, the girl who had woken me up and told me where to find the others. The other two people were unfamiliar.

“I’m back,” Reath said, “Have you nitwits found out anything useful yet?”

“I’m afraid not,” Thiggy said, rubbing his forehead.

“Figures,” Reath said, “I see Otto found his way over here, I’m surprised he didn’t fall into a pit and die on the way.”

“What?” I objected. I had no idea she thought so little of me.

“It’s a joke, you dunce,” Reath said, “Anyway, this is Sven and Nerani. I can’t find any others.”

I observed the new faces. Nerani was a tall brunette girl with pale white skin and an annoyed look on her face, as if she was trying to figure out her past, but just ended up frustrated. The other kid, Sven, was also American. He had thick brown hair that hung down over his forehead and acne that speckled his face. He looked as if he couldn’t care less about the terrible situation they were in. He flipped his hair over his brown eyes and scanned the room.

“What’s wrong with you guys?” Nerani asked, looking at us, “You look like a bunch of depressed losers.”

“What else would we be doing?” Enon asked.

“I’m not depressed,” Vifi said, still lounging against an icy lump, “I’m just sleeping.”

“Nobody cares,” Enon said, “For the last time, this isn’t a stupid dream.”

Vifi didn’t answer, she just smiled again.

“What do you expect us to do?” I asked Nerani, “We’re stranded in the middle of Antarctica with nothing but jackets and amnesia.”

“So you just sit here and starve to death?” Nerani said, “We’re never going to get out of this place if we sit in a cave all day.”

“Did you check what was in the jackets?” Enon said, looking at me. “We have lighters, compasses, and pocket knives.”

“Knives?” Xasi said curiously, reaching into her coat and pulling out a small silver army knife. She tossed it onto the ground as if terrified of it.

“What is wrong with you?” Enon said, sitting up and watching Xasi’s childishness.

“What do you think?” Xasi yelled, “I woke up in the middle of nowhere with no memory, no food, and no familiar people. I’d say I have plenty of reasons to freak out.”

“If we are in Antarctica,” Nerani said, changing the subject, “there’s got to be structures somewhere. We can find people and figure out what’s going on, maybe even escape this place.”

“I’m not sure if you’ve looked outside,” Enon said, “But there’s nothing but ice for as far as you can see. We would have to walk for days to get anywhere.”

“Then let’s start now,” Nerani said.

“We can't survive off the things we have for that long,” I said. “We’ll starve to death. Even if we find something like a bunch of penguins to cook and eat, we won’t be able to cook them. Do you see any wood around here?”

“Then what do you suggest we do, genius?” Nerani asked.

I thought about the question for a moment, which seemed to trigger her impatience. I didn't really know what to do. I knew we couldn’t survive off of what we had while trying to find some kind of tourist site or Antarctic base. However, I knew that we wouldn’t have a chance if we stayed here. Maybe Nerani had a point, doing nothing would ensure we die.

“Fine,” I said, “You’re right, but I don’t think we’ll live long.”

“Good,” Nerani said, then looked at the others.

Thiggy shrugged, “Better than staying here and dying in a cave.”

“I’ll come along,” Enon said, “But only because I want to watch you fools scramble to survive.”

“Okay, good,” Nerani said. It was obvious that she considered herself the leader in this situation, “Anyone else?”

“I’m coming,” Xasi said.

“I agreed with you from the start,” Reath said.

Nerani looked at the boy standing next to her, “Sven?”

“That’s not my name,” The boy said. His voice was deep and careless. I wasn’t sure if he was really smart and lazy, or just dumb and lazy.

“Then what is your name?” Nerani asked.

“I don’t know,” he said, “It ain't Sven, I know that.”

“Okay, fine,” Nerani said, “But we’re going to call you Sven because we don’t know your real name. Are you coming?”

Sven sniffed, “Sure, whatever.”

Everyone turned their gaze to Vifi, the only one who had not agreed yet. She looked around at the group with curiosity and shrugged, “I’ll wake up soon, but I guess I can watch the fun first.”

“Good,” Nerani said, “Let’s go.”

“Now?” I asked.

“When do you suggest we leave?” Reath said, then motioned for the others to follow her out of the cave. I didn’t reply, I just got up and started walking towards the exit. The others got up and did the same. Reath was in the front, but Nerani quickly took her place to lead the group.

The direction we started in was decided randomly, it seemed. Nerani looked around at the seemingly endless expanse of ice and started walking towards the horizon. Nobody objected, we didn’t know what to do.

As I walked with the group of eight teenagers, I started thinking about the possibilities. The more I thought about it, the more the situation seemed like a test. All the people in our group seemed to have different personalities and different views about the situation. Most of them didn’t actually seem very friendly, but I considered getting to know Thiggy and Reath more.

The scenery changed dramatically around us with every passing minute as we walked, but it always stayed a solid white-blue color. I saw arches of ice and massive craters and pits. Lakes with floating icebergs were very common, as well as caves and other massive icy structures. Whoever put us here, I was very glad they left us with thick winter coats, because we would have all frozen to death within the first hour without them.

When we approached a large flat expanse of ice in a clearing, Nerani stopped us for a break. I wasn’t sure how long we had been walking. Maybe three hours? More than that?

Despite the long walk, my legs weren’t actually tired, but based on the looks of exhaustion from the other teenagers, they didn’t feel the same. I sat down and looked across the clearing we were in. It was flat, unlike the rest of the terrain we had traveled through.

Curious, I leaned down and stared into the ground, I couldn’t spot a singular imperfection in the flatness of the ice, not a single bump or dent. Deep within the ice, however, I noticed faint cracks and bubbles. I wondered if the area we had picked for a resting spot was actually safe.

“We’ll stop here for a few minutes,” Nerani said, “Then we can keep going. I’ll go on ahead and climb that giant glacier thing while you guys rest. Maybe I can find something besides ice and water in the distance. Does someone want to come with me?

Nobody replied. I wasn’t really tired at the moment, but that didn’t mean I didn’t want a break. Plus, who would want to go with Nerani on a hike up a glacier? She wasn’t exactly the most enjoyable person to be around.

“Sven,” Nerani said, pointing at the teenager, “You’re coming with me. We all need to stay with one another in case one of us gets hurt.”

Sven sighed and rose to his feet, then flipped his long hair off his face. Nerani waited for Sven to walk past her, observing the rest of us as if deciding what to tell us to do.

Nerani almost said something to us, then held it back and turned around to follow Sven.

Suddenly, a deep rumble came from the ice below us. We all froze in place, looking down.

“Nobody move!” Nerani said, holding her hands out to the side as if to stabilize herself.

“This ice is like a mile thick,” Enon said, knocking against the ice below him with his knuckles, “You think it’s gonna break or something?”

Another, louder rumble came from the depths of the ice and I swore I saw a shadow moving below me. Then, an explosion of ice and water shot up from the ground right where Sven was standing. Nerani, being the closest one to Sven and the blast, shrieked and fell back towards the rest of us. I was pretty sure Sven screamed for a short moment, but the sound was drowned out by the icy water that engulfed him.

I closed my eyes and tensed up as the wave of water crashed down from the explosion. In one moment, I was thoroughly drenched with half-frozen water that stung my skin with its coldness. That would certainly make it more difficult to survive comfortably in the frozen tundra

I heard shouts all around me as the wave of water washed over us. Most of the shouts became gurgles under the liquid.

When everything cleared and the shouting stopped, I was finally able to rub the water off of my tightly closed eyes and open them to look around. Ripples of the wave were still traveling behind us and in front of us, freezing over the ice to become a new flat layer of frozen water. I looked around at the others, not completely sure what had just happened. Even if we were on a fragile frozen lake, that wouldn’t have happened if one of us broke through, right? Giant explosions of ice and water were not a normal occurrence. I knew right then that the things going on here were far from normal.

“Where’s Sven?” Reath asked with horror in her voice. I had almost forgotten about him. He was nowhere to be seen.

“He went under,” Nerani muttered, “As if the water pulled him in.”

PART 2

“What just happened!?” Enon yelled, standing up and shivering.

“You think we know?” Reath asked.

“We have to get out of this place,” I said, only thinking about survival at this point. There was no point in questioning the oddities around us anymore.

“Finally,” Reath said, “He says something smart.”

I got up and scrambled back onto the not-flat ice. Right when I left the dangerous area, another deep rumble was heard from below the surface of the ice. The rest of the group quickly followed me to safer land.

“Did you see that?” Reath said, pointing down.

“See what?” Enon said.

“I thought I saw something.”

“I saw it,” I said, although I couldn’t actually see anything at the time. I assumed she saw the same massive shadow I had seen beneath the ice. Apparently it had moved again.

“What happened to Sven?” Xasi asked in a horrified tone.

“Dead, probably,” Enon said, “Or dying. This place isn’t safe. Whatever just happened, it wasn’t natural. Something pulled him under.”

Because of that comment, we all scooted a little further from the flat ground. I stared into the thick ice below my feet, trying to get another glimpse of the moving shadow, but I couldn’t.

“Dang! I am freezing,” Vifi complained, “This is quite the vivid dream.”

“When was the last time you got drenched in a dream?” Enon said, “It doesn’t happen. This isn’t a dream.”

Vifi laughed, which seemed like the last thing someone should be doing at this point. But considering her point of view, I wasn’t actually surprised. Someone had most likely just died.

I turned to look at Nerani. She was silent, staring at the ground and folding her arms around herself for warmth. It looked like she had just seen a ghost. Maybe she had caught a glimpse of the shadowy figure up close during the chaos, I assumed it was the thing that had pulled Sven under the ice.

“What do we do now?” Thiggy asked.

There was a short pause in conversation that seemed to last several minutes. Finally, Nerani answered, straightening her posture and assuming the position of leader again.

“We keep going,” she said, “We can’t afford to lose any more members of our group, so we stay away from large flat areas. We’ve been safe so far in the rougher areas.”

Nobody said anything after that, we just started walking, away from the place where the shadow had gotten Sven. Nerani led us around the massive expanse of land. It took us nearly twice as long to walk around it as it would have taken to walk through it.

When we did reach the other side, we all climbed the glacier that Nerani had mentioned earlier. From the top, I was able to see a vast amount of land in all directions. From the looks of it, the peak we were at was one of the tallest in the area, so we could see over most large ice formations. I spotted several dozen pits of ice nearby, lots of caves and craters, too. For the most part, it just looked like the same boring stuff we had seen all day. Except for one thing barely visible in the distance.

“Look,” Xasi said, pointing towards the thing I had just spotted. It was a large crater far away with a small icy lake in the middle. Around it, I could see hundreds, maybe thousands, of small white forms moving to and fro.

“I see it,” Nerani said, “That’s our next destination, we have to get food before we die out here.”

“What are they?” I asked, squinting to focus better on the blobs of white.

“Penguins,” Nerani replied, “I can barely see that much, although it looks like a weird kind of penguin. There’s no black on them, just white.”

“Strange,” Thiggy said as he cupped his hands above his eyes to see better in the diminishing light of day.

“It’ll probably be nighttime when we get there,” I said, judging the position of the dim sun through the clouds as it sank towards the horizon.

“There are caves everywhere,” Nerani said, “We can find one and stay there for the night.”

“This is fun,” Vifi said, “Quite the adventure, isn't it?”

Everyone ignored her, which seemed to be a satisfying result for her.

We started walking, first climbing down the peak we were on. We stayed away from pits, lakes, and areas that seemed at all flat just to be certain. Hunger started to bite at my stomach as the journey stretched into the night. I wasn’t exactly sure how late it was, but our plan was to find a cave somewhere on the way to the penguin pit.

As the sun dipped out of sight, stars filled the air. I stared up at them while I walked, trying to find constellations. I couldn't find any that were familiar, even though I remembered what some of them looked like. That was the strange part about my missing memory; I had basic knowledge that I had learned somewhere, but no idea where it came from.

Northern lights started to appear in the dark sky and light up the night, starting on the darkest edges of the horizon and creeping across the blackness like colorful snakes.

I used the wonderful sights above me as a distraction for my hunger and thirst, but it wasn’t effective for long. The others felt the same. I could see it in their eyes, but they didn't mention it.

Somewhere within the mysteriously gained knowledge that filled my head, I knew that people could survive for multiple days without sustenance. We were nowhere near that point, but it was already becoming miserable.

Finally, the time came for us to stop for the night. I rounded a corner and almost felt all better when the massive colony of penguins came into view.

“Finally,” I said.

“Hooray,” Enon exclaimed, “We found some potentially edible food, now how are we going to cook it?”

“We can figure it out in the morning,” Nerani said, “If it comes down to it, we could eat it raw.”

The idea sickened me, but I couldn’t disagree. All I wanted was to have something to eat, no matter how gross it was.

“Cave,” Xasi said, pointing to a nearby hole in an icy hill. It was just on the other side of the penguin pit, a short walk compared to what we had already done today. I looked down into the crater full of birds. They looked like penguins, but something about them was off. They didn’t have any black or blue on them, just plain white, and their feathers were a lot poofier. My memory was empty at the moment, but at least I knew what a penguin looked like, and these did not look like normal penguins.

I ignored the subject of the penguins and instead started walking towards the cave Xasi had pointed out. The others had already started hiking, so I was a little behind and had to speed walk to catch up. The colony of birds chirped and quacked as we passed by them. Many of them dipped into the water and came out with tiny silvery fish. I immediately considered catching and eating the fish in the morning, or as a late-night meal, but we had no way to catch them without stealing them from a penguin. Plus, they were so small, they probably didn’t even have much meat on them.

I stepped into the cave we had chosen and scanned its interior. It was much like the other cave, but a little smaller. There was a second cave that was attached to it in the back, however, so that was nice.

I quickly made my way to the smaller room and took off my jacket. Surprisingly, it had already dried, I hadn’t even noticed that it was dry during the long hike over here. When I got drenched, I had worried about my jacket freezing and becoming useless to me, but that hadn’t happened.

The others found spots to sleep for the night without saying anything. We used our coats as blankets and slept on the ice. It wasn’t comfortable, but it would do for the night.

I curled up with my hands and arms close to my head and tried to fall asleep. When no sleep came for several minutes, I started to think about my current situation. I had woken up with no memory around a bunch of unfamiliar teenagers. We all had identical coats and strange names on our chests. Everything was made of ice and water, and the stars looked weird, not to mention the strange thing that had pulled Sven under the water. I specifically avoided thinking about what that could’ve been.

I started thinking about how the next day could go. I wasn’t sure if the others accepted it, but I knew we weren’t actually in Antarctica. This had to be some sort of trick or test. For all I knew, it could be a dream of mine. A really twisted, strange dream that was somehow perfectly vivid and realistic. Tomorrow, we might find even more unexplainable oddities. Our plan was to catch some penguins and find a way to earth them in the morning, but something told me that wouldn’t go very well.

I sat there for what seemed like hours, too absorbed in my own thoughts to actually fall asleep. My body was somewhat exhausted after the long and strenuous hike with few breaks, but my mind couldn’t just fall asleep after all that had happened today.

“Is anyone else having a hard time falling asleep?” Thiggy asked with a friendly tone. The fact that someone else was still awake surprised me, but I supposed he could’ve been in the same predicament I was in, not able to fall asleep because of the events of the day.

“You’re not alone,” Reath said from somewhere within the cave.

“Yep,” I said, confirming that I felt the same. One at a time, everyone else chimed in with comments about how they couldn’t fall asleep or that they didn’t feel tired. I couldn’t help but notice how odd that was. Not a single one of us had fallen asleep after what had to be at least three hours. What time was it? It was past midnight for sure.

I heard the sounds of someone getting up and opened my eyes to see Enon moving with the glow of the northern lights.

“I’m gonna go grab a chicken,” he said, “Because I’m famished.”

“They’re penguins,” Reath said.

“Who cares?” Enon said, stretching his legs, “They’re food, and that’s all I care about.”

I couldn’t help but agree with him. Enon wasn’t the nicest fellow, but I admired his attitude and intelligence sometimes. I got up and noticed that my arms had fallen asleep. I moved them around in the dim light and stretched them until the numbness retreated. “I’m coming with you,” I said.

“Well, sleep ain't coming to me,” Thiggy said, getting up, “So I guess I'll come along with you.”

“Anyone else?” Enon said.

“Me,” Xasi chimed in, eager to do something.

“Oh, what the heck,” Neneari said, “I guess I’ll come.”

“I have a new theory,” Reath said, still lying down in her corner of the cave, “I don’t think falling asleep is possible.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Enon said, “It’s only been a few hours, I’m sure we’ll get tired eventually.”

“Think about it,” Reath said, “This is obviously not a normal place we’re in. I don't think there’s a single place on Earth that looks like this. We woke up with our memory gone. There is something very wrong with our brains. Not a single one of us has even gotten a little bit tired yet and I can already see the start of the sunrise. That’s not normal.”

There was a pause. I considered the theory, it sure would explain a few things. “I have to agree with Reath,” Thiggy said, “I was honestly thinking the same thing while I sat there trying to fall asleep.”

“Whatever,” Enon said, dropping the subject. He strode out of the cave and I silently walked after him. When I exited the cave, I had to squint until my eyes adjusted to the colorful light of the aurora borealis. The waves of rainbow light danced across the sky above me everywhere I looked, reflecting off the shiny surfaces of the ice to create a spectacular view. I doubted that I had ever seen anything more beautiful in my life, even before my memory vanished.

My attention turned to the colony of penguins. They had all fallen asleep for the night, something I wasn’t sure was possible for us. They floated in the icy water as they slept, the bottom half of their small avian bodies under the surface. They were huddled together for warmth as they slept, all with their eyes closed.

“This’ll be easy,” Enon said, approaching the edge of the crater and carefully scooting down it.

“Maybe we should be a bit quieter,” I suggested, close behind him, “This place has been really weird so far. For all we know, these penguins could be vicious carnivores.”

“Luckily,” Enon said, “I’m a vicious carnivore at the moment too, and I happen to be bigger than a stupid little penguin, so I’ll think I’ll do fine.”

I looked back to see the rest of my group scooting down the crater to follow, including Vifi. Apparently they had convinced her to come with them before they left.

The curve of the crater lessened as I approached the lake in the middle. The penguins still sat there, oblivious to the hungry teenagers sneaking up on them. I stopped at the edge of the lake, waiting for the others to catch up to us. The penguins were just a few feet in front of us, but we would have to step into the icy water in order to catch one of them.

I held my breath as Enon reached his foot out to take the first step. Right when he did, the ripples in the water seemed to wake all the penguins up at the same time. A hundred squawks and quacks filled the air as the penguins tried to flee. Enon immediately lunged forward with two more steps and seized one of the birds as it started to take flight. I stumbled back from the lake’s edge as the rest of the penguins flew out of the water and over my head. More than one of them hit me as it flew. That was another confirmation that there weren’t penguins; they could fly.

“I got one!” Enon shouted through the chaos of flapping wings and bird noises. Shortly after he said the words, I heard a deep rumble coming from beneath the ice, a rumble that sounded all too familiar. Whatever had taken Sven, there was another one here, or perhaps the same one.

“Run!” I yelled. I didn’t actually have to tell them, though. When I shouted the command and turned around, the rest of the group was already fleeing from the crater. I did the same, catching up to them quickly with surprising running speed.

Behind me, an explosion of ice and water filled the air again and I was hit with another freezing wave. This time, however, the explosion was followed by a thunderous roar, like a thousand lions screaming in rage as they hunted a group of game.

I kept running, the terror of what could possibly be behind me forcing my legs to move as fast as humanly possible. At times like this, running was all one could do. I didn’t run into the cave, that would corner me. I just picked a direction and kept sprinting.

The sound of the monster quieted slightly behind me, telling me that it had gone for someone else. I was able to slow my desperate running for a moment to look over my shoulder.

The horror I saw was twice as terrifying as I had imagined. It resembled a massive snake, as wide as a piano and as long as a… I couldn’t even think of anything that long. The creature had to be at least half a mile in length. Its long slender body was the same color and substance as the ice is slithered on; super light blue, with a reflective surface that mirrored the colorful sky above it. I could almost see through it to the other side, as if it really was made of pure ice. I didn’t even see any organs.

The thing that disturbed me the most, however, was the head. At first, I thought it didn’t really have a head, but that was wrong. It just wasn’t any shape one might assume a head would be. It was more like a slightly thicker part of the body at the front that was ninety-percent mouth. I didn’t see any other facial features on its head besides the giant mouth.

The creature roared again and I almost plugged my ears. Its mouth was filled with several layers of transparent icy teeth that spun like razors as it slithered quickly towards its next prey, which happened to be Vifi.

I turned my head just before the monster devoured the girl. She stood no chance against the thing. I immediately felt a little spike of guilt for not helping her, but what could I do? Jump in the way of the mouth? I doubted that would even slow it down.

The sound of ice against ice behind me shifted directions, and I could tell it was coming my direction. I broke out into a full sprint again, but knew that the snake-thing was much faster than any human.

My heart pounded faster and faster in my chest as I ran for my life. A roar pierced the air only a hundred yards behind me, telling me that it was getting closer fast. I was forced to think of a plan, and to think of one fast.

This was the second time we had encountered a snake monster, assuming the thing that ate Sven was one of these things. Both times, it seemed to come out and attack after something moved abruptly. I didn’t see any eyes on the thing, so maybe it sensed vibrations as it slithered, detecting movement.

I thought of a quick plan as I ran, but I wasn’t even sure it would work. The snake grew closer and closer by the second, but I kept running until I approached one of the large pits in the ground. Without stopping to look into the large hole, I jumped in.

I fell for a full second and landed hard against a slanted surface of ice. Pain shot up my legs as I struck the floor, fell onto my back, and slipped further into a tunnel.

Above me, I caught a glimpse of the cloudy sky before I went too far into the dark tunnel. I saw Xasi jump into the pit after me with a scream, then the ice snake came from the side with incredible speed and caught her in midair.

Then, I couldn’t see anything. The tunnel I was in went deeper and deeper, then eventually started rising, slowing me down. It felt like one of those enclosed tube slides at playgrounds that kept you in the dark while you slid down. Although Xasi and Vifi had just been eaten by a giant unnatural ice monster, so I wasn’t really able to enjoy the ride.

The icy tunnel rose more and more, slowing me down, then it started to dip again, going deeper beneath the ice. Before that could happen, I planted my feet on a rough edge of the tunnel floor to stop myself.

I immediately went quiet and listened to the sounds on the surface. I had to be at least fifty feet underground, but I was pretty sure the snakes could sense vibrations through ice that was that thick. Sure enough, I could barely hear the beast above me slithering around the spot where it had last detected me.

I stayed absolutely silent as it listened and waited for me to move. I didn’t move, not until I sat there in the icy tunnel for nearly five minutes. I heard the snake finally start to slither away from where I was, giving up on me. It had finally decided to settle for two teenagers and leave for now. At least, that was what I thought.

I sat there in silence for at least five more minutes. I wanted to be absolutely sure that the beast had left. The last thing I wanted was to reach the surface again and be ambushed and devoured by a snake monster.

After the wait, I released my foothold and slipped backwards to a lower elevation again, towards the hole where I had entered. I only moved a bit before stopping again and listening. Still no movement up above.

I decided that if I didn’t get out of this tunnel in the next ten minutes, the others might leave without me. I needed to get out before they left, and I was pretty sure the snake was gone by now.

I looked up through the tunnel towards the place I had come in. I could barely see light that reflected off the ice to reach my eyes. I pulled out the pocket knife in my coat pocket and started stabbing it into the ice to get more grip as I climbed the slippery ascent.

The steepness of the tunnel increased and I had to put more and more effort into holding on. I was really hoping that the others didn’t think I was dead and left.

I had to spend at least a full minute kicking the ice to create each foothold as I climbed. The ascent eventually turned into a near-vertical climb. I realized that these tunnels probably came from the giant ice snakes.

“Otto!” Thiggy said from above me, I looked up to see the large, muscular kid smiling down at me. I was relieved to see that they hadn’t left me yet.

“Hey,” I said, smiling back, “This is harder than it looks, can I get a little help?”

Nerani came into view next, “Why on Earth did you go down there?” she said.

“So I wouldn’t die,” I said, “And it worked. Now can I please get a hand or something?”

“Sure,” Thiggy said. He knelt down beside the hole and reached out towards me. I had to grip onto the ice with my knife and carefully kick another step into the wall before I was able to reach his outstretched hand. When I grabbed tightly onto his wrist, he heaved me up and out of the hole with impressive strength.

“How did jumping into a snake hole save you from a snake?” Reath asked. I turned to see her behind Nerani. Enon was with them too. I was glad to see that nobody else had died after I hid.

“They’re blind,” I said. “Both times we’ve seen them attack, it was right after we made too much movement. I jumped into the hole and held still. It stopped right above me and waited, but couldn’t sense me. I’m pretty sure they see with movement.”

“Pretty smart,” Reath said. I was actually surprised to hear the compliment coming from her, of all people.

“Alright,” Enon said, “We’re all glad he’s not dead, but we still lost two more people in our group.”

There was a short silence to accompany the sad comment. I looked down at my feet, feeling slightly responsible for Xasi’s death. Because I had jumped into the hole, the snake went for the next closest target, I hadn’t even known that Xasi was close by.

“But,” Enon continued, “Getting all weepy won't do us any good. We’re still stranded in a stupid tundra with our brains messed up. Now, let’s find a way to eat this puffin thing.”

As much as it hurt to agree with Enon, I knew he was right. We needed to keep going. When I looked down at the strange bird he was still holding, my hunger reminded me of just how long it had been since I had eaten.

“You held on to that during the entire commotion?” Reath asked, seeming just as surprised as I was.

“Why not?” Enon said, “I killed the thing before it could escape, so it wasn’t too difficult to keep a grip on it. Plus, the snake went the opposite direction that I ran, so I wasn’t in much danger.”

“So,” I said, hunger filling my thoughts, “Are we gonna eat it raw or what?”

“Nope,” Nerani said, “I found wood.”

“What?” Reath and I said at the exact same time.

“Yeah,” Nerani said, “While I ran, I climbed up a big icy hill because I thought it might be harder for the snake thing to slither up a slope. From the top, I spotted a cabin about a mile away in that direction.” She pointed off into the distance. When I followed her finger with my gaze, I couldn’t see the cabin, but I did see the sun peaking over the horizon. It was officially morning, and none of us had slept. I still wasn’t at all tired, which meant that Reath’s theory was correct.

Without any more conversation, we started following Nerani towards the cabin. I was sure the others had to be as hungry as I was. We were all eager to get the bird cooked, so we could eat it.

I looked at the bird in Enon’s arms as we hiked. It was about as big as a chicken, maybe a little bigger. He had called it a puffin instead of a penguin, which was probably more accurate. They certainly weren’t penguins or arctic chickens. They could fly.

Before long, the cabin came into view. I was almost surprised to see it so soon, being accustomed to very long walks before getting anywhere.

The cabin was large, maybe two or three stories tall. The exterior was made from thick, carved logs placed horizontally. Square windows were placed equidistant on the top two floors. There was no light visible from inside the windows, even though they were open. The roof wasn’t a traditional slanted triangle shape, but instead just a flat top covered in a thick sheet of ice.

“Wood!” Reath said, “Finally. I never knew I would be so happy to see wood.”

“So, what?” Enon said, “Are we just gonna burn the place down to cook a puffin?”

“No,” Nerani said, “All we need is enough wood for a good campfire. We can bring the lumber out here to burn it.”

“It could be inhabited,” Thiggy said.

“If it is, we will be polite.” Nerani said, “If it’s not, we can take what we need, cook the bird, and maybe even stay here for a while. Who knows? Maybe we can loot the place and find some useful tools and supplies.”

I walked up to the base of the building and observed it up close. It sure looked abandoned. Thin layers of ice and frost covered the outside.

I walked halfway around the building and found the front door. I didn’t even hesitate before stepping in. I was planning to knock just in case, but the door was wide open, which left the interior just as cold as the exterior. The rest of my group was close behind me.

“Anybody home?” I called out, stepping over crushed chairs and tattered rugs. Those would burn nicely.

“Doesn't look like it,” Nerani said from behind me, “Enon and Otto, scout the place out to see if you can find anything useful. Some campfire poles or kitchen knives would be great. The rest of you, start gathering wood for a fire. We can pull one of these rugs outside to cook on it.”

Once again, nobody questioned her leadership. I could tell that Enon didn’t necessarily like being told what to do, but he didn’t want to become the leader, so he kept his frustration quiet.

I looked around the large entry room, then found a large staircase leading to the second floor. I started climbing it.

Enon followed behind me as I made it to the higher floor and entered what looked like an abandoned bedroom. A big one.

“Do you ever get tired of her bossing us around,” Enon said.

I shrugged, “I guess so. I don’t really like it, but we are in a desperate situation here, so we need a leader. She seems to be the only one of us that cares about that job.”

After searching the room for a few minutes and finding nothing useful, I went on to the next room. This one was an entertainment room of some sort. Couches were placed along one wall, facing the opposite wall. I could tell that there used to be a TV there because of the wires and bolts in the floor, but it wasn’t there anymore.

“What if she dies?” Enon asked.

“Nerani?” I said.

“Yeah, Do you think we’ll do better or worse without her?”

“What do you mean?” I said, turning to face him. His expression showed that he was in deep thought.

“She always decides things without anybody else’s opinion. Maybe if we all decided things together, we would accomplish more.”

“So, you’re saying we don’t need a leader?”

“Maybe,” he said. I couldn’t think of anything else to say, and he didn’t continue his thought, so the discussion was over. I thought about what he said. It felt a little dark to consider what we’d do if our leader were to die, but maybe he was right. We certainly weren’t going to sacrifice Nerani just because we didn’t need a leader, but maybe next time she decides what to do without our opinion, we could speak up and agree on something together.

I stepped into the next room and froze in place. It was a kitchen; the room that would probably contain the most useful equipment. However, in the center of the room, on a simple wooden dining chair, sat a man in a white cloak, sitting completely still.

“Ah,” I said, feeling a bit awkward “Hey, uh…”

“Who are you,” Enon said in a harsh tone. I cringed a bit at his aggression.

The man made no response to either of our words, he didn’t even turn to look at us. He didn’t even shift in his seat. I considered the possibility that he was dead, but he was breathing.

“Hello?” I asked. Nothing.

I slowly stepped around the room to face him. Once again, he made no movement or recognition that I was even here.

“What the heck?” Enon said, standing next to me to look at the man’s face. He had a white cloak that covered his entire body except for his face, which was obscured by the shadow of his hood. When I leaned in to see his facial features, I couldn’t make out a single thing. I could tell he had a head and face, but they seemed to be completely made of shadows. He didn’t even have a mouth or eyes.

I stepped back in horror, staring at the thing that sat before me. It wasn’t even a man, what was it?

“Of all the strange things in this stupid tundra,” Enon said, “This is definitely the weirdest.” He hadn’t jumped back after observing the creature's face like I had, he was just staring at it with curiosity and confusion.

Then, he poked it.

I almost gasped when his finger hit the figure’s cloak and sank in a bit. I got ready to run, expecting the thing to attack or retaliate in some way, but nothing happened. It just sat there, motionless, except for its steady breathing.

“What are you doing?” I said, probably too loud, “That was not smart.”

“What?” Enon asked, “What else would we do with it?”

“Nothing,” I said, “Leave it alone. It could be some sort of creepy monster thing, like the snakes. Provoking it was not a good idea.”

“Whatever,” Enon said, “Let’s go tell the others.”

I couldn’t have agreed more. Something about the humanoid creature seemed wrong; even haunted. I felt a strong urge to leave the room. But before I did, I grabbed a large kitchen knife out of a knife block, as Nerani had requested.

We walked out of the room, through the large cabin hallway, and back down the stairs to the main floor to find the others gathering wooden planks and poles.

“You find anything?” Nerani asked as we approached.

“You could say that,” Enon said. I handed the kitchen knife to Nerani, who then passed it on to Thiggy.

“Anything besides a knife?”

“Yeah,” I said, “This place isn’t as uninhabited as we thought.”

Nerani seemed surprised, “Oh, who’s here?”

“It sure ain’t human,” Enon said.

“Hmm…” Nerani thought out loud, “Well, I guess I can’t say I’m surprised. What is it then?”

“Not sure,” I said, “It looked like a man at first, just sitting still in the kitchen. He has a white cloak that obscures his face, but when we got close, we saw that he didn’t really have a face. It’s just a head made of shadows.” Explaining the creature disturbed me a little, but I knew it was important to explain.

“A head made of shadows, huh?” Nerani repeated skeptically. Behind her, Thiggy perked up at the comment, but he didn’t say anything.

“Yep,” Enon said, “It was literally just sitting there, doing nothing but breathing, even when I poked it.”

“You poked it?” Nerani said, almost a shout.

“Shut up,” Enon said, “I know it wasn't smart, who cares? Nothing happened anyway.”

“Should we go check it out?” Thiggy asked.

“I would advise not to,” I said, “It didn’t do anything, but it looked like some sort of ghost. It can’t be safe.”

There was a pause in the conversation, as if people were considering my warning.

“Well,” Nerani eventually said, “If it didn’t do anything last time you provoked it, I think it’s safe to go and look at it again.”

I was about to argue further, but figured it was useless. Investigating strange things could get us killed, but we could probably learn more about our strange situation at the same time. I still preferred that they didn’t check out the shadow man, but I knew I couldn’t convince them otherwise, “Fine,” I eventually said, “Just, don’t poke it again.”

Nerani seemed to be satisfied with that answer, because she smiled at me and started walking towards the stairs. Enon and Thiggy followed, eager to check out the strange creature. I looked out the front door to see Reath setting up a pyramid of wood on a rug she had laid out. I was pretty sure she hadn’t heard any of the conversation, because she seemed oblivious.

I stood there for a minute, not sure what to do, before Reath finished what she was doing and came inside.

“Where did everyone go?” she asked.

I sighed, “They went to check out a creepy ghost dude I found in the kitchen.”

Reath got a look of skepticism, as if she thought I was making a stupid joke. After just a moment, however, her expression shifted when she realized that I was telling the truth. “Why didn’t you go with them?” She asked.

“Because,” I said, “It’s a creepy ghost dude. It looks like the kind of thing you would find in a horror movie, but when Enon and I found it, it was just sitting there, motionless.”

Reath didn’t seem to know how to react to what I was saying, she stood there for a bit, confused, then looked at me again. “Where is it?” she asked.

“Up in the kitchen,” I said, “But I wouldn’t advise going up there. The thing looks dangerous.”

“It wasn’t even there,” Nerani said behind me, coming back down the stairs with Enon and Thiggy.”

“What?” I asked, suddenly worried, “Where did it go?”

“For all I know,” Nerani said, “It was never there in the first place.”

“It’s like it just disappeared,” Enon said, a look of confusion on his face, “After we left.”

“That means it’s somewhere else,” I said, frantically looking around, expecting to see a murderous shadow man hiding behind a bookshelf or doorway.

Enon yelped behind me as I was looking around. I spun just in time to see the shadow man dip from the planks in the ceiling and touch Enon’s shoulder. I stumbled back in horror. Everyone else in the room did likewise, everyone except for Enon.

When the shadowy man’s hand came into contact with Enon’s shoulder, a wave of light blue ice started from the touch and spread quickly through Enon’s body, completely encasing him with ice.

After just two seconds, Enon looked like a bluish-white statue, frozen with a terrified expression. Right after he was completely encased, the cloaked man fell from the ceiling and landed on his feet to face the rest of us. The hand he had used to freeze Enon was glowing with soft blue light.

“Run!” Nerani yelled.

I didn’t have to be told, I was on my feet and sprinting towards the door in a second. The monster took chase immediately. We were all headed for the exit, so he wasn’t really going for anyone in particular. He was faster than all of us, just like the ice snake. I was pretty sure we could make it outside before he got any of us. But what would we do after that?

There was nothing I could do to stop the creature from catching us after we left the cabin, so I just kept running. Maybe after we escaped the building, we could split up again.

I leaped out the door and frantically picked a direction to start sprinting, but I immediately tripped over a pile of wood and fell hard against the icy tundra floor.

The ice smacked against my face when I hit the ground and a slap of pain shot through my cheek, but I didn’t care about pain. I had bigger problems.

I turned onto my back and crawled backwards away from the cabin, looking in horror at our pursuer. As I looked back, however, I paused. I was shocked to see that the shadow man was no longer chasing us.

Nerani and Thiggy were still running for their lives, but Reath had stopped to look at the shadow man just like I had. It was just standing there, staring at us from the doorway of the cabin with its faceless head. He had no eyes, but I could feel his hateful gaze upon me.

“Stop,” I shouted to the others, “It’s not chasing us anymore.”

The two of them slowed to a stop, confused. Nerani, nearly a hundred yards away now, turned to see what I was looking at. For some reason, the creature had just stopped, as if it couldn’t leave the cabin.

The situation immediately calmed, but my heart still pounded in my chest. At any moment, I felt like the thing would jump out and grab me, but it didn’t. It didn’t even move.

“What is it doing?” Reath asked, staring in confusion at the creature.

“It’s doing…” I said slowly, “absolutely nothing.”

“Do you think it can leave the cabin?” Thiggy asked.

“It can’t,” Nerani said, “Whoever put it there made sure it couldn’t leave the building. I’m pretty sure we’re safe out here.”

“Well then,” I said, still trying to believe what I was seeing, “What do we do?”

Nerani shrugged, “We have all our wood and lighters, we can start a fire here where Reath set it up and cook the bird.”

“What about Enon?” Reath said.

“What about him?” Nerani said with a cold tone, “He’s dead, and he’s not the first.”

“Wasn’t he just covered in ice?” Reath asked.

“No,” I said, looking at Enon’s frozen body behind the shadow man. It was still stuck in the same terrified position like a statue. It was slightly transparent, “He is ice.”

Nobody continued the conversation. Enon was dead. We were down to just four members of our original group of eight. A realization dawned on me as the rest of our day stretched on; whoever put us out here wanted us to die, one at a time, as we explored deadly situation after deadly situation.

The only question that still lingered in my mind was why?

PART 3

We prepared the bird, cooked it over a good fire, and ate it in complete silence, all while the faceless stare of the shadow man loomed over us.

The meal, which was a poorly cooked wild puffin creature, was magnificent. I still had no clear memory of my past, but I was certain that I had never been so painfully hungry in my entire life.

When the bird was gone, except for the bones and other inedible parts, we all sat there in silence for another few minutes. I stared right into the hood of the creature that waited by the door. It made no reaction when I did, it just stood there, doing nothing but breathing.

Thiggy finally stood up from his spot on the large rug, “That,” he said, “Was a fantastic bird.”

“I’ve never heard anything so agreeable in my life,” Reath said, “My short life, of about two days.”

“The birds are just another part of the test,” I said.

Everyone went silent for a moment and looked at me, “What test?” Nerani eventually asked.

“It’s obvious, isn’t it?” I said, “This is some sort of test to see what we do. I’m not sure if it’s a test we can all survive, but I’m certain by now that it is some sort of trial. The snakes and the shadow man, they are perfect examples of ways we can die here. They want us to die; one at a time, I think, until the test ends.”

“I’ve been thinking the same thing, actually,” Thiggy said, “The further we go, the more dangerous things get.”

“Then we head back,” Nerani said, “To where it’s safer.”

I shook my head, “Not gonna work. Whoever has the resources to put us through this elaborate test isn’t an idiot. Things will still continue to get more dangerous.”

“And how exactly does the bird fit into all of this?” Nerani asked, cocking her head to the side as she sat on the ice.

“They want us to die,” I said, “But they don’t want us all to starve to death, that wouldn’t be good enough for them. They gave us a flock of birds to eat, but they made sure that obtaining the birds would be deadly.”

“What if,” Reath theorized, “This isn’t really a test? What if it’s just a simulation they put us through so they can watch us for entertainment? Like a movie.”

“It seems ridiculous,” Thiggy said, “But I think that could be possible too. We would be the best actors in the world if we didn’t even know we were acting.”

At first, I thought the idea was stupid, but I had to give it at least a little bit of credit. I already assumed the people who put us here were potentially evil, but Reath’s idea just made them seem like monsters.

“If either of those theories are correct,” Nerani said, not fully convinced, “There is nothing we can do about it but continue.”

“Continue how?” Reath asked, “Keep hiking for days at a time?”

“Something tells me we don’t have multiple days left,” I said.

Again, there was a thoughtful silence. I looked around the group, suddenly feeling like the leader for some reason. We were just teenagers, who in the world would do something like this to us? I wished I could get to know the people in my group better, but I knew that doing so would just make it more depressing when they died.

“Well,” I said, thinking of a way to provide hope, “If this is a test, there has to be a way to succeed, right?”

“Okay, genius,” Reath said sarcastically, “What do you suggest?”

“The further we travel, the harder things get. Maybe there’s a way out of this place after all, we just need to keep going and survive until we make it there.”

Nerani stood up and looked right at me, “At this point, I seriously doubt that, but we have nothing else to do but sit here and see if ghost-man eventually kills us.”

I smiled at the comment, even though she agreed with me in a very backwards way.

“Let’s go,” Nerani said, motioning for Reath to stand up, then pointing off in the distance, “This way.”

We started walking, leaving the smoldering fire, the leftover puffin, and the haunted cabin behind us. The sun crept through the sky above us throughout the day as we walked.

Nobody talked. There were only four of us left, and each of us had seen the deaths of four other members of our group. I wanted to start up a conversation on several occasions, but I didn’t know what to say.

Hunger slowly crept back into my mind as the hours passed. My legs stung with a constant dull exhaustion during the entire day, but it was never enough to make me give up. The breaks we took were short and relatively silent.

We passed by dozens of caves and flat clearings that we purposefully avoided. It took effort not to approach another colony of white birds as we walked, we couldn’t afford another ice snake attack. Once even, we spotted another wooden structure off in the distance, although this one looked like a mansion; nearly twice as big as the first one we saw.

We hiked past the mansion, keeping our distance, and kept walking until the sun approached the horizon.

Later in the day, Nerani walked ahead of us for the umpteenth time to climb a peak and look into the distance, but this time, she actually looked back at us and shouted something.

“I see something new,” she yelled. The sound of words actually startled me, barely anyone had said anything since we left the cabin where Enon died.

“It’s about time,” Reath said, “What is it, and how will it kill us this time?”

“I…” Nerani paused, still shouting from a nearby peak, “I’m not exactly sure. I think it might be the end of the tundra.”

“What!?” I exclaimed, immediately running towards the bottom of the peak Nerani was on. I found a good pathway and climbed the short ascent. When I got to the top, Nerani was just standing there, staring off into the distance. I followed her gaze to a breathtaking sight.

Nearly a mile ahead of us, the tundra turned into a grassland. Tall, uncut grass filled the plains for as far as I could see. Flowers dotted the beautiful scene, and I could make out several small towns and civilizations in the distance. Was this it? Was this the end of the test? Were we finally saved, or would this just be another way to die a horrible death?

My hopes didn’t rise for long, however, when I noticed what separated the tundra from the grassland. A massive canyon, nearly fifty yards across, marked the border between the two terrains. It was the final, deadly challenge to make it safely to the grassland.

“What is it?” Nerani asked.

“The last test,” I replied without hesitation, “This is it.”

“Wow,” Reath said from behind me, “Could you be any less solemn?”

“Not sure,” I said, suddenly realizing how ominous my comment had been.

“My gosh,” Nerani whispered.

“Well,” I said in a sarcastically cheerful tone, “Let’s go see if it’s friendly.”

“Do we have any other choice?” Reath asked.

“Yes,” I said, “We can start going back, but this might be the only way for us to survive. If we find a way to get across, we might be safe on the other side.”

With that assumption, we climbed back down the icy peak and started walking towards the massive chasm. I dreaded the arrival of the final test during the entire walk, but it was our only hope of safety.

The sun dipped below the horizon again just before we arrived, scattering ribbons of rainbow light across the sky. This time, I ignored their beauty and instead stared at the edge of the cliff right in front of us.

All four of us approached the chasm together, looking down to see how deep it was. At first, I was surprised to see that it wasn’t endlessly deep, as I had assumed. The reality, however, was far more terrifying. At the bottom of the chasm, nearly two-hundred yards straight down, was a writhing river of ice snakes.

I almost jumped back in horror when I saw the creatures, memories of what had happened to Xasi, Vifi, and Sven filling my mind. There was no water at the bottom, none that I could see. There were just hundreds upon hundreds of massive ice snakes wriggling and slithering over each other. It was a swarm.

“Stay still,” Nerani ordered, “They can sense movement.”

I was a little proud of myself when Nerani brought up my theory as if it were a fact, but I didn’t comment about it.

“What do we do now?” Reath asked.

“You act like we know,” I said.

“I’m just looking for ideas,” Reath said.

“Well, first, we should start by being a little quieter,” I replied.

“I can’t see a way to cross this,” Thiggy said, “Are you sure this is the last part of the test? It looks to me like an uncrossable border preventing us from escaping.”

“There has to be a way,” I said, lowering the volume of my voice to make the others do the same, “We can get wood to build a bridge at the nearest cabin.”

“And deal with another freaky ghost man?” Reath asked skeptically, “No thanks.”

“It’s the only way,” I replied, “We would have to build the bridge somewhere else to avoid making too much noise, then bring it over here. It might make too much noise when we drop it to the other side, but we can start running right when that happens. Hopefully, they can’t go on the grass.”

“This is ridiculous,” Nerani said, almost a shout. I cringed at the volume of her voice, “This is stupid, I can’t take this anymore.”

“What do you think we should do?” I whispered, glancing down at the snakes again to make sure none of them had heard her. The sound of their slithering and writhing was probably enough to keep them deaf to our noises up here, assuming they could even hear sound. I was glad to see that none of them seemed to notice us.

“I’m done,” Nerani continued, as if she hadn’t heard me, “I am going to find a cold, dark place to curl up until I die. Whoever put us here is trying very hard to kill us, so there’s no point in trying to survive.”

I just stood there, shocked. After all that we had been through, she was giving up now? She had tried so hard to be our leader, to make sure everyone was safe and working hard. But now, those efforts were gone, she had given in to the stress.

A loud hiss suddenly pierced the air before I could say anything else to Nerani. All four of us froze in place, completely still. The hiss lasted a full five seconds, then sounds of ice against ice came from the chasm wall closest to us.

I very slowly peeked over the side one more time to see the snake who had sensed us. It was slithering up the cliff, crunching layers of ice on the wall as it did so. It was moving straight up, and it was going fast.

I didn’t even say anything. I took a few steps back, the horror of my life being in danger returning to me, and then I ran.

I didn’t turn to look over my shoulder as I sprinted with all my strength. A familiar sound of exploding ice crashed into my ears and I knew the monster had reached the surface. Another ear-splitting hiss sounded through the night sky.

I frantically looked around for the nearest snake pit to hide in, but there were none within three hundred yards. I still ran for the closest one, even if the odds of me making it there in time were slim.

“Keep running!” Nerani screamed from right behind me. I managed to slip one quick peek over my shoulder to see Thiggy, Reath, and Nerani following very close behind me, heading for the same hole in the ground.

Behind them, I caught a glimpse of our pursuer. This snake had to be nearly twice as big as the first one, its gaping mouth approaching us with relentless speed. I looked straight ahead again to focus on my running.

“There are more of them coming!” Nerani said. I heard the sounds of several more hisses and screeches coming from the chasm. There was no way we could get out of this and I knew it.

Reath shrieked behind me, but her cry of terror was quickly cut off. I knew immediately what had happened to her, and I did not want to look behind me.

I kept running, despite my legs screaming at me to give up. I felt like I was out of energy before I even started running, but there was no way I could stop. The ice snake kept chasing us, hungry for its next meal.

Then, the creature stopped. I heard the slithering cease suddenly and the hisses come to an end. I ran a little further, then looked behind me one more time.

Nerani and Thiggy ran past me when I slowed, but they soon turned and saw what I was witnessing.

The ice snake had stopped in place, curled up in fear only twenty paces in front of me. The other snakes started fleeing back towards the chasm. What was going on?

Then, I saw the strangest thing in my life. One of the giant formations of ice near us, nearly twety times as big as the mansion we had passed earlier, shifted in its position. I stepped back, having a hard time believing my eyes and the massive object moved, stirred, then got up.

I had to crane my neck to see the rising form as it stretched towards the sky. Arms and legs became noticeable, revealing the icy structure as a living creature; a behemoth.

When it finally stopped rising towards the sky, I could barely make out its head in the clouds. It had no facial features except for its eyes, which were massive glowing blue pits in its head. The monster had to be at least two-thousand feet tall, probably taller. And the entire thing was made of pure ice.

It turned its head towards us and stared for a short moment as we stood there in shock. Then, it started moving again, stepping forward with a thunderous stomp that shook the ground. The ice snake hissed one final time in terror as the frozen giant's hand flew through the air and grabbed it.

I watched, frozen with terror, as the behemoth lifted the writhing snake high into the air, then reeled back, throwing the monster like a baseball. The snake flew violently through the air and into the distance, easily clearing a whole mile in just a few seconds. I could see it break the sound barrier as it soared out of view.

Then, it was gone. The giant, monstrous ice snake that I was sure would kill me just a minute ago was gone, just like that. The giant had simply plucked it off the ground and hurled it into the clouds like it was a piece of garbage.

Then, the giant turned to look at us.

“Okay,” Nerani said, “I’d rather get eaten by the snake.”

I looked behind me to see the nearest pit we had run to, it was now only a hundred yards away. I could make it.

“C’mon!” I screamed, waving my hand and running towards the snake pit again. Thiggy and Nerani didn’t hesitate to follow.

The behemoth let out a dull, booming groan that knocked me off my feet shortly after I had started running again and I fell hard against the solid ice.

When I looked up, I saw that Thiggy had somehow stayed on his feet after the blast of sound, for he was still running towards the hole. I painfully got onto my hands and knees to watch him run, he was almost there.

Thiggy shouted something inaudible right before he got to the snake pit. Then, a huge shadow fell over him and I looked up to see the ice giant’s foot looming overhead. It came down quickly, smashing into the ground right where Thiggy had been. The shockwave seemed to rattle all the bones in my body and I rolled onto my back.

Above me, I saw the colossus looming overhead. It bellowed triumphantly, a sound that seemed to shake the very core of the Earth. Then, another massive head came into view behind it, then another. Was every single mountain in this frozen tundra alive?

I exhaled, coughing on my own breath, as the three icy giants started to move above us. They didn’t fight each other, all they wanted was us.

“The test,” Nerani said. I didn’t look to see her laying on the ground close by, “is to see who can survive the longest.”

I didn’t know what to say back. She kept talking.

“There are three tests,” she said, “This is the first. Whoever survives the longest moves on to the next test.”

“How do you know this?” I said, watching the giants above us preparing to crush again.

“My memory never left, like it was supposed to,” she explained, “The tests commonly have flaws. I was one of them, I knew all along what we were supposed to do, that’s why I would never be allowed to win.”

I looked at her, knowing that my life would end any second. She was staring at me.

“Good luck, Otto,” Nerani said, “On the second test.”

I was speechless, my mind was having a hard time processing what she had said. The second test? What was it for? Why was I in it? In a brief explanation, Nerani had answered so many questions about why I was here. But the answers just seemed to bring up more questions, questions that I didn’t have time to think about.

Then, a massive, furious fist slammed down on us from above, and everything went black.

EPILOGUE

I opened my eyes to see a low, tile ceiling with a bright rectangular light hanging down above my face. It was as if I had simply blinked when the ice giants crushed me, everything had gone black for what seemed like just one second, then I woke up somewhere completely different. Was this the second test?

I felt around with my hands, noticing that I was on something soft and comfortable. A bed, perhaps?

I found myself able to sit up and look around the room. It was a small room, very small, with nothing but a bed, a camera in a corner of the ceiling, and a steel sliding door.

It was completely silent, except for the sound of my breathing. I felt something that itched at the back of my head and I reached up to scratch it, but stopped when I felt what it was. A long, thick, metal cord hung from the back of my head, attached like a wire to my skull. Was I some sort of cyborg? I expected my memory to flood back in when I woke up, but that didn’t happen. I was still just as confused as before, maybe even more so.

The door slid open and a kind-faced woman stepped into the room with a notepad and a white uniform. Before she closed the door, I could see a large hallway outside that was buzzing with people. It was a major contrast to the silence I had just been in previously. When the woman shut the door, the sounds disappeared.

“How do you feel, Otto?” The woman asked.

“Like I shouldn’t be alive,” I replied.

“That’s normal, trust me,” she was silent for a short moment, and I once again felt at the large cord that connected my head to the wall.

“Well, congratulations, Otto,” the woman said, “You have passed the first test, which puts you in the top one hundred candidates. I’m sure you have many questions, and I can answer a few of them, but a lot of things need to stay secretive in order for the next test to work properly.”

“Can I have some food?” I asked without hesitation. My hunger had not left me when I had woken up.

The woman smiled, “Surely, I will lead you to the cafeteria shortly after the other candidates have left the building.”

“Other candidates?” I asked.

“Yes,” she said, seeming to consider something, “I think you are allowed to know that much. This simulation was the first of three tests. The entire time you traveled through the tundra and ran for your life, you were actually asleep in this room. It’s like a dream, but we controlled what you could see, and the other kids were with you in the dream. That is what the oneiric cord in your head was for. Don’t worry, it’s not permanent, we can take it off for a short moment before you eat.”

“That doesn’t answer my question,” I said, “What do you mean by other candidates?”

“We have your memories safely held,” the woman said, “You may have them when the trials are over. But for now, I will tell you that you willingly signed up for these tests along with almost one thousand other teenagers. You were able to sign up for the trials only because you have an IQ of over 130 and you qualified for the entry test. With one thousand people, there were one hundred groups of ten people, like your group. Although about twenty percent of the candidates couldn’t handle the simulation, so they didn’t actually appear in the dream. The ones in your group that you never saw were named Rofu and Entra.”

“So,” I said, gathering my thoughts, “I won, so I’m moving on to the next test?”

“Correct.”

“Are you going to wipe my memories again before I start it?”

“No, not again. You will remember everything from the first test and everything from this conversation. Any other questions?”

I thought about it for a bit, “What’s my real name?” I eventually said.

The woman looked shocked for a bit, then returned to happy and cheerful, “I’m not supposed to tell you that. How did you figure out that Otto isn’t your real name?”

I shrugged, “Our names,” I said, “They were too weird. I figured they had to be some sort of code names for the tests.”

“Well, that would be correct. All of your names were made from numbers. “Otto” is for the number two. Although, I don’t think I can explain further. If I say your real name, it would mess up your memory wipe a bit. We’re not exactly sure why.”

I nodded, not sure what else to do, “What are the tests for?” I asked.

The woman smiled, “That, I can’t tell you. But trust me when I say it is for something very important. Now, I think all the other candidates have left the building, I’ll show you to the cafeteria.”

I slid off the bed and followed as the woman opened the door and stepped out. The hallway was much less crowded than when I last saw it. They had cleared all of it out in such a short amount of time.

There were some people I saw in the hallway, however. Kids, like me. All of them were being led by a man or woman with a similar white uniform. I assumed they were other people who had passed the first test to move on to the second.

As I walked down the hallway, I stared in awe at how many rooms there were. So many steel doors that probably led into rooms like the one I had been in. Several of the kids shot me looks, thinking the same things about me that I was thinking about them. We were competitors, even if I didn’t know why.

I kept walking until my guide stopped me in front of a large open doorway. “Here we are,” the woman said, “Eat up, then we can start the next test. When you are done, stay at your table. I will find you and take you back to your room once all the other candidates have finished as well.”

“Okay,” I said, then exhaled deeply and went in to get something to eat before the next test.