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Time and again, he knocked the careful arrangement he’d already constructed with his hand and was forced to start over again.

Finally, his father woke.

‘What are you doing, Erann?’ his father queried, yawning. Sitting back, with his wounded leg extended before him, taking a rest from his endeavours, he spoke.

‘Sereh came to me, in my dreams. We must make some symbols, two of them, and then we’ll be returned to the glacier. But, they’re complicated, and our link threatened to break multiple times. But, hopefully, I’ll be able to do what needs to be done.’

‘I told you, Erann. This is where we needed to be,’ his father exclaimed, exuberant. Erann felt the ghost of smile on his lips. The task had seemed overwhelming before his father woke. Now his enthusiasm infected Erann.

‘Explain it to me, and I’ll build a picture in my mind as well.’ Erann closed his eyes and slowly built the image Sereh had explained.

‘The first feels simple enough. But the second one is far more complex. It’s about half as big again as the first symbol. It consists of spirals, running from a central point. Twenty of them. At its heart, is a small circular shape, from which these spirals run, out towards the edges. They must be the same size. Across the pattern, there must be pebbles or stones. They must be off centre, and not touching the right side of the symbol at all. There are five of them. And then, for every fifth swirl, halfway down, there must be a section that veers aside, not quite complete, like a dragon claw has flicked through snow. The two shapes need to be side by side.’

‘Well done, Erann, I have the images in my mind as well. Now we can practise together.’

They spent a long time working with pebbles, some large, some small, even pouring out the contents of Erann’s backpack for some lengths of clothing.

Eventually, exhausted, Erann sat back. His back ached from bending over, and so far, he’d not felt as though there had been any sensation he had made the correct symbol, as Sereh had promised.

‘I need to rest.’ He yawned, aware he’d not slept long before Sereh had come to him. Absent-mindedly, he placed a small strip of twisted cloth down beside the symbol he’d been making. He blinked. A breeze swirl around his face. He gasped in surprise, and so did Ramon.

‘Did you feel that?’

‘Absolutely. We must have rendered that one correctly, at last. We should stop now, and start again when we’re rested. Here, drink this. But be careful, don’t disturb what we’ve done.’

By touch alone, Erann reached for the battered mug of warm water his father had collected from the stream earlier. Erann gratefully gulped it down. He’d been so caught up in what he was doing, he’d had nothing to eat or drink all day. He was exhausted and yet, escape was close.

‘I can’t sleep,’ he announced. ‘I need to carry on.’

‘Then move aside from the symbol we’ve made. We can’t risk disturbing it. Come this way, follow my voice. I’ll collect more rocks and pebbles. I think we’ve used them all.’

Erann groaned as he attempted to stand. His back ached from where he’d spent the day bending over as he worked. His father’s chuckle floated eerily through the dark space.

‘I know how you feel, son, but I’m much older than you.’

Staggering to his feet, Erann scraped some of the lichen from the wall above his head, and stuffed it into his mouth. It tasted of nothing. He forced himself to swallow. Yet, as soon as it he’d swallowed it, he felt invigorated and even more keen to resume.

‘I dreamed of your mother last night,’ Ramon stated, once Erann had reached his father’s side. ‘It was a very realistic dream. I’m wondering if it was a bit like the dreams you’ve been having of Sereh. Anyway, I took a chance and told her to meet us on Vatna Jokull. We’ll see how realistic the dream was when we leave here.’ His father laughed joyfully. ‘Gods, it’ll be good to see her again.’

Erann smiled. His father wasn’t wrong. It would be good to see everyone, and he’d only been trapped for a short time. His father had been here for rotations.

All day they worked, moving rocks and pebbles around in the hope they’d somehow fit. It was incredibly frustrating, and finally, Erann had to give up without the same sense of accomplishment as the day before. He was bone-tired, his hands shaking and too many times he’d disturbed the elements he’d already made. If only he could see.

‘This is impossible,’ he cried, wincing as his voice echoed back to him.

His father sighed.

‘We should stop, and start again tomorrow.’

‘It’s so close,’ Erann complained. ‘If only we could see, then we’d be free.’

‘It’ll come, son. Don’t be so hard on yourself. We should eat, drink and sleep.’

Erann nodded, and then grunted in agreement because his father wouldn’t be able to see.

‘You’re right. Now, be careful so as not to disturb our success from yesterday.’

He yawned, he didn’t want to sleep, and yet his eyes were closing of their own accord.