Free Journey - Book II of the Five Worlds Trilogy by Al Sarrantonio Page B

Quickly!” the pirate said.
    Looking out through Shatz Abel’s legs, Dahn saw the two bears mere yards away now, to either side. Their eyes were cold as Pluto itself.
    The pirate reached down and Dalin thrust the flare into his hands.
    “What’s this? Well—fine, then!”
    In a moment there was a blinding light; when Dalin pulled his shielding hand away from his eyes he saw the pirate, roaring like a bear himself, running after the two shaggy white creatures, which were shambling off, shaking their heads against the light that had momentarily blinded them.
    The flare began to wear down.
    “Dalin! Quickly! Run that way!”
    Standing now, able to take in his surroundings for the first time, Dalin looked in the indicated direction and saw a slope of what looked like ice, dropping off the rocky plain they presently inhabited, a hundred yards away.
    “Run, damn you!” the pirate ordered.
    Without question to the pirate or himself, Dalin sprinted toward the slope; when he looked back he saw the pirate hightailing after him, the two white bears with the sputtering flare at their feet, shaking their heads and just now locking their cleared vision on Shatz Abel. With a thunderous roar from each of their mouths they gave chase.
    “Run, Sire, run!” Shatz Abel demanded.
    Dalin continued to run, ignoring the huffing pain in his chest.
    When he looked back once more, he was amazed and horrified to see that the bears had gained on Shatz Abel; their loping run had a terrible beauty to it.
    “Ruuuuuun!”
    Thirty yards from the icy slope, Dalin tripped and went down; when he pushed himself back to his feet, the pirate, running with all his might, had nearly reached him, with the furious bears close behind.
    “When you reach the edge—jump!” the pirate ordered.
    The bears snapping at their rumps, Dalin and Shatz Abel reached the end of the plateau and, with very little thought beyond momentary survival, jumped into what proved to be a deeper void than they had hoped.
    They were airborne; and as Dalin glanced back, his heart drove up into his throat: one of the bears had followed them over!
    Eyes still locked on them, the bear hit the slope first, splaying its legs and landing as a ready-made sled. The other white creature had stopped at the edge above and stood glaring at the proceedings below.
    With evident pain, Shatz Abel hit the ice, followed by Dalin, whose own rump absorbed some of the shock; immediately he began to try to control his flight, which proved impossible.
    The plain was a pure sheet of ice, steeper than it had appeared from above; the three figures—man, boy, and bear—slid uncontrollably down, picking up speed.
    Dalin peered desperately ahead; there was what seemed to be miles of ice to navigate before what looked like a growing tumble of rocks in the distance would stop their mad slide.
    “Dalin—you must try to stay to the right!” Shatz Abel shouted.
    Dalin glanced behind; the bear, far heavier than the two men combined, was picking up steady speed and gaining on them. Its ferocity seemed, if anything, to have increased.
    The pirate bellowed, “Curl your body—like this!” Dalin saw that the pirate had rolled partially onto his side, and was curling his body into a C.
    “Do what I’m doing, boy!”
    Dalin did as he was told; below them, the rocks drew closer, and the king now got the point: to the left, the rocks were coming sooner and looked more dangerous; if they could steer to the right, the slope ended more gradually.
    Dalin felt something like breath on his back; he turned quickly to see the white bear just behind, raising a paw to strike at him!
    Ducking low, Dalin curled himself into a tight C shape and the bear, unable to control himself, slowly slid past, staying to the left as the king and Shatz Abel moved incrementally right.
    The bear flailed with vehemence, trying to slow himself down or turn himself in the human’s direction—but before him the rocks inevitably loomed.
    Dalin