"Because if Goboka's using the ice hut as a decoy, he needs 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, how'd 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 that have stayed open for decades can close in an instant."
The earl cast a nervous glance at the icy walls of their own crevasse, but no one else showed any concern about the risk that their own rift would close.
"Besides, a nunatak hollow should be warmer than a crevasse," Basil added. "At night, the stone will release much of the heat it absorbs from the sun during the day."
"And you think you can find the right nunatak by going into this ice cave?" Morten addressed his question to 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. "But if something happens-"
"We'll all die together," Tavis replied. "And all your threats won't save any of us."
The scout slipped Brianna's amulet into his cloak pocket, then crawled into the low cavern on his hands and knees. As impossible as it seemed, the meltwater inside the grotto felt even colder than that in the crevasse outside-perhaps because now both his arms and legs were submerged up to the elbows and thighs. The gentle breeze made matters worse, for its breath was as frigid as a frost giant's, cutting through Tavis's damp cloak like daggers of ice.
