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.The angle between the crevasse's route and the tip of Brianna's talisman steadily increased.By the time they had ascended the glacier far enough to see the dark silhouette of the ice wall looming above the rim, the silver spear pointed almost directiy at the side of the canyon.Tavis stopped and gathered the others close."Avner, where would you say that ice hut is in relation to us?"Despite Avner's obvious discomfort, the mere fact that the scout had condescended to ask him a question caused the boy's eyes to light.It was only the third time Tavis had spoken to him since learning how the youth had abandoned Morten and the earls to the ogre ambush."It'd be about th-there," Avner said.He pointed almost directly up the crevasse.'They were b-building it right on the edge, at the b-b-b-bottom of the ice wall."Avner's arm and Brianna's talisman were pointing in completely different directions."Goboka's keeping Brianna someplace else," Tavis said."He built the ice hut to lure us up this crevasse.""Isn't that wh-what I said?" demanded Earl Dobbin."You sh-should have t-turned back when I suggested it!"Tavis shook his head."The trap was already sprung," he said."By then, a pack of ogres was in the crevasse, coming up after us."The earl's eyes widened in alarm."And you said nothing?" he yelled.'You're in this with the ogres!""Keep your voice down," ordered Morten.The bodyguard placed his tremendous bulk in front of the earl and eyed Tavis."You said you have a plan.What is it?""How much time have you spent under glaciers?"Morten frowned, as did everyone else."I try to keep my head above the snow," the bodyguard grunted.'Why?""Because if Goboka's using the ice hut as a decoy, heneeds someplace else to hide Brianna," the scout explained."And I have an idea where to look."Before Morten could ask more questions, Tavis continued upstream, stopping about two hundred sloshing paces later.It was here that the meltwater stream flowed into the crevasse, trickling out of an ice cave near the bottom of the rift.A chill breeze seeped from the mouth of the grotto, gnawing at Tavis's soaked legs with its stinging breath.Noting that the tip of Brianna's talisman was pointing directly into the cavern, Tavis stooped over to peer inside.The passage was about five feet in diameter, as smooth as glass and about half filled with the swift, silent currents of the meltwater stream.The first few paces of the cave gleamed with the same cool radiance as the canyon walls.But as the grotto snaked its way toward the glacier's heart, the blue light gave way to an inky gloom more chilling than death."We'll need to light a torch," Tavis said."I've got something better," offered Basil.The verbeeg reached into his satchel and withdrew a small poplar stick carved with a single rune.A brilliant yellow radiance shined from the tip of the wand, filling the bottom of the crevasse with a flickering light of gold."It won't go out, even if it's soaked."Fearing the bright light would let the ogres know their position, Tavis grabbed the wand and stuck it under his cloak."I'm not g-going in there," objected Earl Dobbin."Then stay here and fight the ogres," growled Morten.The bodyguard's gaze was fixed on Brianna's talisman, which continued to point unerringly into the ice cave."I'll follow Tavis in there—after he answers a couple of questions."Tavis nodded."If you wish.""First, howd you know we'd find a cavern here?" Morten narrowed his eyes, still distrustful of the scout."Have you been here before?""No," Tavis replied."But crevasses don't usually have streams.""Then where'd all this come from?" the bodyguard demanded, kicking at the icy meltwater."Do you know what a nunatak is?" the scout asked.Morten shook his head, but Basil had a ready answer."It's a projection of rock protruding above the glacier surface," the verbeeg said."It gathers heat from the sun, which tends to melt the surrounding ice and create a hollow area around the stone.""Right," Tavis said."And what happens to all that water?""It flows away," Morten growled."What else?""Right again, but it doesn't run over the top of the glacier," Tavis explained."It's already below the surface when it melts, so it seeps down and melts a path under the ice.So when I saw a stream in the bottom of this crevasse, I knew there had to be an ice cave somewhere up here.Next question?"The bodyguard did not hesitate before replying."You said earlier you knew where to look for Brianna.Tell me.""If you want," the scout said."I think Goboka's keeping her in a nunatak hollow—perhaps even one that feeds this stream."Morten raised his brow."How can you know that?""Because she'll freeze if he leaves her in the open," Tavis replied."And it would be more difficult to lure us into an ambush if we saw his warriors building a second ice hut or digging a snow cave.The hollow of a large nunatak offers the best natural shelter.""It s-seems to me a small c-crevasse would do as well," said Earl Dobbin."I've been on enough glaciers to know there are plenty of those."Tavis shook his head."After the trouble he took to kidnap her, the shaman won't risk Brianna's life on something so unpredictable," the scout said."Even crevasses thathave stayed open for decades can close in an instant" The earl cast a nervous glance at the icy walls of theirown crevasse, but no one else showed any concernabout the risk that their own rift would close."Besides, a nunatak hollow should be warmer than acrevasse," Basil added."At night, the stone will releasemuch of the heat it absorbs from the sun during the day." "And you think you can find the right nunatak bygoing into this ice cave?" Morten addressed his questionto Tavis.The scout gestured to Brianna's talisman, which continued to point into the cavern."What do you think?"Morten nodded, then checked to be sure the rope and other gear hanging from his belt were secure."I suppose it's our best chance," he said [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]