Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight

“No! No, no, no!” Hanna shouted, watching water rise up from the ice faster than she could process. “Stop, stop, stop!” Hanna flew above the water and froze what was under her in an attempt to contain the water. The icy plates continued to move and drift apart. DJ and Lui jumped to their feet and ran, but there was no good place to run to escape the rapidly rising floodwaters. They were soon swimming in the freezing water, icy platforms all broken apart. Seeing her friends in dire need again, Hanna froze a block large enough for them to climb up onto. “You two need to get out of here!” Hanna shouted over the noise of rushing water and rain as she landed next to them. She reached around and took a red satchel off her belt. Unzipping the bag, she pulled out an orange flare gun and loaded it. Covering one of her ears, she raised the gun to the sky, pulled the hammer, and fired, sending off the flare with a loud pop in the drizzle. 

“Here,” she handed the satchel and gun to DJ. “As soon as the plane gets here, get on it and get out! Get as far away from the center as you can!” She handed her phone to Lui. “Can you hold on to this for me?” 

“Sure.” Lui gave her a questioning look, but took the phone. 

“Thanks,” Hanna said with a quick smile before drawing her sword and flying back toward the source of the rupture. 

Hanna swerved between the walls of water as she flew, soaked by all the water falling back to the earth, but the geyser was still going strong. With the chunks of half melted ice now pushed away, it looked like a massive fountain in the middle of the ocean. Once she was close enough, she stopped and fluttered in place in the air. Hanna took a shaky breath and held her blade in front of her, closing her eyes to focus. The sword glowed with blue light. The glow grew brighter as Hanna took another deep breath. You’ve got this. You can do this. They’re counting on you. Just focus. Focus. One more deep breath. As the glow of her sword reached its brightest, she opened her eyes, took a large gulp of air, and dove into the waters below. 

“Hanna!” Lui shouted, watching her. “She went under!” Lui turned back to DJ. 

“I saw,” DJ responded. “Do you trust her?” 

“Of course,” Lui answered without hesitation. 

“Then we have to go,” DJ pointed to the amphibious seaplane flying low over the turbulent waves and through the storm, heading straight for them. 

How they managed to get on board the small plane amid the rocky seas, large clumps of ice, torrential wind, and heavy rain was anyone’s guess. Once they were on board, the plane veered high into the sky, though that did not yet place them out of danger. 

DJ made his way to the pilot, a woman with gray hair and sunglasses. She said something in Russian, but all DJ caught was “Hanna”. He pointed to the geyser. “We need to get away from that,” DJ said, hoping she knew at least a little English. He pointed away. Zhenya frowned and nodded, turning the aircraft. Lui stayed by the open door, watching the dark waves below. Not a moment later, a globe of blue light exploded out from under the waves, turning everything to ice as it expanded. The rough waves, the walls of water, the rain, and last of all the geyser itself, all turned to solid ice. The plane jolted as the ice globe hit the tail end of it and hail battered the metal siding. Zhenya started shouting something. Though DJ had no idea what she was saying, he could see her trying to turn. It didn’t look like the plane wanted to listen. “I got it!” DJ shouted, instantly rushing back to the open door. 

“What’s wrong?” Lui asked

“Tail’s frozen,” DJ answered. He grabbed hold of the door and leaned out, one foot on a float. With a beam of light energy, DJ was able to melt the ice around the tail, nearly losing his grip in the process. 

Lui pulled DJ back inside as the plane turned. “You okay?” he asked. DJ nodded, clutching his still injured arm with a grimace.  

Once the last of the rain and hail finished falling from the sky, the sun illuminated the crystal surface below. Everywhere they looked was now solid ice again and not choppy waves. The plane flew as low as it could without hitting any of the odd ice structures from where the water had been shooting into the air when it froze. DJ and Lui both looked out from the open door of the plane. “There!” Lui shouted, pointing to something black amid all the crystal ice and snow. Zhenya found a safe place to land close by, which was not an easy feat in and of itself. By the time DJ and Lui found Hanna again, she was clawing herself out of a layer of ice just inside the pillar that was once the geyser. They chipped and melted the rest of the ice away as she stumbled out coughing. “I’m okay, I’m okay,” Hanna insisted, though it was clear all her energy was gone. Hanna sat on the ice to catch her breath. “Did that work?” Hanna asked with a huff. “Was it enough?” 

“It looked like it from the air,” Lui said, handing her phone back. 

DJ nodded. “I don’t know if any of those waves made landfall. I’m sure there will be some impact, but not nearly as much if you hadn’t frozen everything over again when you did. Think of all the lives you saved.” DJ smiled at her, “Kind of impressive, really.” 

“Heh, thanks,” Hanna said with a tired laugh. “As long as everyone’s safe.” 

“Can we get out of here now?” Lui asked. “We need a place to recoup. Someplace warm, preferably.” 

DJ and Hanna both nodded. Zhenya walked up to the trio with her arms folded against the cold. 

“Are you okay?” she asked Hanna in Russian. 

Hanna nodded. “Yes, just tired,” Hanna responded in Russian. “Can you get us to Iceland?” 

Zhenya shook her head. “Not from here. I had to switch planes in Svalbard.” 

Hanna sighed. “Whatever, let’s just get out of here,” she said in English as she stood up. She wobbled a bit at first, but ultimately insisted she was perfectly capable of walking back to the plane without help. “We need to make a pitstop in Svalbard before we can get you home,” Hanna said once everyone was loaded into the plane and back in the air. 

“That’s fine,” DJ answered. “It’s been quite the adventure already. I’m sure we could all use the rest.” 

Hanna nodded, looking out at the ice structures as they flew by. I did that? I didn’t mean to… I just wanted it to stop. I wanted it all to stop…

“...not for Hanna,” Lui was in the middle of saying before Hanna realized he was talking. “How did you find us, anyway?” Lui asked, turning to her. 

“Oh.” Hanna took out the tracking device she had forgotten about, doubtful it would work after being underwater. “I followed your phone’s signal,” Hanna explained.

“My phone?” Lui asked, confusion on his face. “Iul still has my phone.”