Book One – Chapter 17

Yu stared at the door. Willing Estingar to return faster.

 
But from what he heard, Estingar had not even made it into the common room. He got stuck in the walkway with the new arrivals, where he explained to the impatient borman that the acclimatising was not optional. The borman argued heavily, but Estingar did not match the heat. He just spoke, his voice unhurried. It was the first time that Yu heard him like that. Sincere.

“They’re injured, yes. Yes, I know … I see that. And I understand you ran for your life, for their lives, to get them here as fast as possible. But if you rush them into warmth, they’ll likely die. Yes. Die. They’ll die of shock … Of course it’s different for you … Stop. Listen. No. Stop now and listen. It’s not about fur or clothing. They don’t have your size. They don’t have your bulk. They don’t have muscle and fat like you, to protect them from the inside. Their bodies aren’t strong like yours. They can’t take the sudden shift in heat. And they’re injured. They’re weakened. That makes it worse. That is more reason to wait, you get that? Krynn, you know that … Or you don’t. Either way, I say when we enter. Trust me on this.”

Estingar then left for the common room, but only to gather towels. When he returned, he started advising the travellers to discard the layers of coats and tent cloth, but not to strip the unconscious ones of their clothes.

 
So. That would take a while.

“Then … I’ll wait,” Yu said. Again. Louder this time. Like that would make it easier.

Tirran said nothing. It did not seem like he would.

Yu wavered near the door, caught in the dull glow bleeding out through its seams.

Then he turned his face back to the storm, letting its sting scrape against the side of his beak. And then he stepped into the dark.

There Imbiad stood. At the edge of the platform, motionless in the flickering light of the orbs. Watching the white, where snow and sky and distance and night blurred into nothing.

Yu stopped beside him. For a while, he watched too.