For a moment, as the [i]Sword of Dawn[/i] finally entered the Narrow Gates, there was perfect silence against a watercolor tableau: a strip of orange overhead, a deep and perfect blue beneath, and two vast, endless planes of gray to either side, all woven together by a thread of deadly white.

Then there was a shout from behind her, and in nearly the same instant, the glowing sphere of ether exploded against a sudden shield of crystalline energy, throwing shards of magic light in all directions. 

The [i]Sword[/i] didn’t so much as rock beneath them, and Banou turned, equal parts awed and curious, to see the man who had tried to speak to her before, his eyes turned upward toward his creation. She watched, quiet as his expression flashed from surprise, to cautious satisfaction, and then again to instant horror as his paling expertly diverted the ether attack into the wall of the glacier less than twenty yards away. 

This time, there was no paling to cushion the blow. 

Banou had just enough time to scream the first word she’d spoken since they’d set out - [color=7ea7d8][b]“Brace!”[/b][/color] - as the first chunk of glacier broke away from the wall and plunged into the narrow channel before them, obliterating the thin layer of ice they’d been gliding along and throwing the [i]Sword of Dawn[/i] into a steep rear, its bow pointing skyward.

The young soldier leapt desperately forward even as she felt herself hurled back. Furious, she reached over her shoulder, and grabbed the haft of her ice spear, yanking so hard, she felt the leather straps tense than snap as she drove its point into the first surface she could find. It skittered uselessly over black metal, but it was just enough for her to grab the helm with her free hand and pull herself upright again as the [i]Sword[/i] righted a second later.

No sooner had she found her feet than her eyes fell on another barrage, threatening doom for their starboard side. Thinking quickly, Banou dropped her spear, pinned it beneath a foot, and grabbed the helm with both hands to pull hard to port. Hopefully, the others had heard and heeded her advice. Better everyone come out a bit nauseous than trapped under a glacier.

The [i]Sword[/i] seemed to make sickeningly slow progress. With the ice they’d been traveling over shattered into haphazard obstructions, she moved faster, but responded too sluggishly. They just narrowly avoided losing a starboard panel before Banou was hurriedly pushing the engines hard to avoid a second collision with the yet-undamaged glacier to their left. For a moment, the [i]Sword[/i] threatened to fishtail, attempting to wrench itself from her grip to join the ether blast in destroying itself against a vast wall of ice.

Growling, she wrenched it back again, hardly daring to breathe as she fought to straighten the racer once more. She could feel sweat dripping into her eyes despite the cold. Her arms ached with the effort of keeping the racer from driving too far to either side, from skipping over the still-falling chunks of ice, from dipping beneath the waves they threw in her wake. It was not a ship in the traditional sense, could not handle a tide that was never meant to -

[b][i]“Look out!”[/i][/b]

The soldier dared to lift her eyes, gray as the ice itself, from the helm for only a moment, already knowing what she would see, only now hearing the glaciers groan and crumble like thunder over the high whine in her ears. It seemed impossible, unfair even, that so much ice could fall and still leave the Gates so coldly pristine. It was as if a third wall had formed, falling from the sky instead of rising from the ocean. It was easily at least half the size of the [i]Sword[/i], nearly as wide as the narrow chasm itself. It bumped and scraped its way between the two walls, somewhat slowed by its size, but bringing another hailstorm in its wake. 

There was no going around this one. 

Almost without thinking, Banou stooped and plunged her spear between two prongs of the helm, burying the tip in the softer wall of the console behind it. She could already hear the engines chugging and straining, but hopefully, this wouldn’t take more than a second. Next, she quickly toggled the controls to seal the [i]Sword[/i]. She wasn’t sure when the thing had last made its dive, but they’d be taking on quite a bit more water if she did nothing. 

At the rear of the racer, she could hear the telltale mechanic whir as a sleek of thick black glass and metal began its journey aft to fore to seal the [i]Sword[/i] against a field of orange and white. Banou risked a backward glanced, swallowed a curse, and then yanked her spear free of the controls to push the racer forward into a dive.

A second later, the great chunk of ice struck the channel before them. 

Like a geyser, a great plume of ice and water roared into the air, forced higher and faster for the closeness of the glaciers. Torrential waves were sent crashing in both directions, surging several yards up the narrow channel, flushing the remainders of ice away like so much dust in a storm. The damaged glacier, its face still stunningly smooth, seemed itself to tremble, acquiesce, and then loose its final assault, adding to the cacophony of blue and gray and white. 

And then, as quickly as it had come, the torrent was gone, the water had settled, and there was silence, marred only by the almost peaceful lapping of waves against the ice. 

The [i]Sword of Dawn[/i] was nowhere to be seen.