As the last remnants of the day’s heat began to give way to the night’s freezing cold, Valdan was thankful for the heat provided by their fire. Of course, it was Sylvie who’d built the fire in the first place, but he didn’t see any reason to thank her for something he could have done himself. Sure, his fire would just consist of dead twigs and leaves, instead of entire tree trunks, but that wasn’t the point.

After several days of travelling the two of them had left the realm of Vandan and were back in the surrounding lands where everything was human-sized. They hadn’t met many humans yet, though, because they were journeying through the inhospitable mountainous region that lay east of their homeland. Here it was always cold, often snowing, and the steep climbs made Sylvie complain to no end. Valdan didn’t care: he wanted to see what lay beyond the mountains, and if it made his bratty sister complain – well, that was a plus.

While the enormous fire blazed brightly, Valdan waited for Sylvie to return from her ‘hunting trip’. She never took very long, and tonight she’d manage to capture three very large black bears – enough for a nice supper for herself – and some sort of pheasant or ptarmigan-like bird for Valdan. She had brought her own provisions along, carrying them in her rucksack, but she didn’t want to use them when there was other food available. She scraped out a few coals for Valdan to cook his food on, and soon afterwards they were eating their first supper away from the comfortable environment of their own land.

“This is just perfect!” Sylvie remarked, as she struggled to chew the unsavoury bear-meat. “I mean, could this waste of a trip get any worse? Valdan, I swear, if you don’t get us somewhere nice and…and warm soon, I’m going to…”

“Oh, shut up! Just leave me and go back if you don’t like it here! Then I won’t have to listen to your whining.”

She gave him such a glare that he was almost certain she was about to physically injure him. But she ate on in silence, leaving him to wonder if she was planning to pay him back for that sometime. Eventually, the flames died down and the embers began to die, and the two of them had to find somewhere to sleep.

For Sylvie this was no problem. Already wearing a warm fur coat, gloves and trousers, she had also brought a thick blanket along, and could use her rucksack as a pillow. Her large body size kept her from losing heat as well, but for Valdan this was a problem, even though he was just as warmly dressed. He unrolled his mattress as far from his sister as possible, making her snicker with amusement.

“You’re not really going to sleep over there, all alone, are you?” she said. “What if another bear comes for a visit?”

“I’m not scared of bears,” he retorted. “Besides, where else am I supposed to sleep? Next to you? Don’t be an idiot!”

“Oh, I see! You’re scared I’m going to roll over you in my sleep! Well, Your Tinyness, looks like I’m going to have to take extra measures to keep you safe, just like Mummy said I should.”

She got up and crawled over to where he was lying. Valdan groaned inwardly when he saw he grasping hand coming towards him. What is she going to do to him now, he wondered. He wanted to protest, but decided it was smarter to keep his mouth shut, or else she might do something even more humiliating to him. She wrapped herself up in her blanket and held her elder brother firmly between her hands.

“Nothing to say, hmm?” she giggled. “You’ve finally realized Big Sister is always right, haven’t you? Good. You just keep being a quiet, obedient little mouse, and do what I say from now on, and we’ll get along great. Now, I’m going to keep you safe and close, where the big, bad bears won’t be able to get you. Nighty-night, baby brother!”

Sylvie reached in underneath her coat, found an inner pocket, and tucked him snugly into it. After waiting a few minutes to make sure he wasn’t trying to escape, she lay back, looked up at the clear, starry skies for a little while, then closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Despite being trapped next to his sister’s body, Valdan couldn’t deny that it was pleasingly warm and comfortable in her pocket. He wanted nothing more to lie down and catch some sleep, but his sense of pride was too strong.

“I’m not her little puppet – she can’t make my decisions for me!” he insisted to himself. “If I want to sleep outside, by myself, without her ‘protection’, I will do it!”

He waited not more than fifteen minutes before he began to feel her chest moving rhythmically beneath him. She had gone to sleep, and he could escape. He struggled to find a way out, feeling almost suffocated beneath the thick layer of fur above him, eventually emerging right beneath her neck. A fortuitous full moon meant that he had plenty of light to see by. Taking care not to touch her exposed skin, he clambered across her chest and lowered himself down her shoulder. Her huge, childlike face overshadowed him; her expression was calm and peaceful, and little wisps of frosty breath escaped from her nostrils and mouth every now and then.

The fire had completely died out, and the cold was overwhelming, but Valdan stubbornly made his way to his mattress. Suddenly he remembered that there were bears in the area, and he went and fetched his sword from his things. When he turned around, however, he froze in his tracks, and he felt a chill running through him.

A shadowy shape had appeared out of nowhere, he was sure of it. About thirty yards away there were two pine trees with a gap between them, through which one could see the sky. But something was standing there now, standing absolutely still. Something big. When he moved forward a step, he could have sworn that the shadow moved forward as well, for it grew a tiny bit larger. Then he realized that he was completely exposed, directly in the moon’s light, and that whatever it was, it was probably watching him.

Though he was good in a hunt, Valdan had never killed anything larger than a deer before, and that shadow looked twice, maybe thrice his height. He was all of a sudden deathly afraid, and he looked longingly back at the sleeping Sylvie, whose protection he had unwisely abandoned. He began to creep slowly back towards her, keeping his eyes on the shadowy unknown beast, when, without any warning, a bloodcurdling growl broke the silence. Valdan dropped his sword and ran at full speed back to Sylvie – and, for once, he was glad that she had awoken.

“What…what was that?” she muttered sleepily. “Valdan…what…what are you…”

“Something’s out there!” he yelled, running right up to her face. “Wake up, Sylvie! There’s something there!”

Sylvie was completely awake now but, rather than listen to her brother’s pleas, she snatched him up and began to scold him.

“So,” she said snootily, “little Mr. Scaredy-Cat needs my help after all! After sneaking out like a naughty little boy, too! You are definitely getting punished…”

“Whatever! Look, we don’t have time for this! There’s some kind of creature out there!”

“Where? I can’t see anything.”

“Over there, by the trees! It’s…hey, it’s gone!”

Sure enough, he could no longer see the hulking shadow. The clearing between the trees was empty again, and nothing was moving about in the moonlight. He searched in vain, but eventually had to admit defeat. Sylvie was looking really cross with him, and he tried to explain, but she silenced him with a fingertip.

“I really ought to teach you a lesson for running away like that,” she said, “but I guess whatever you saw has already done so. The next time you disobey me, I’m not going to bother helping you, understood? Now, are you going to lie still in my pocket, or would rather sleep beneath my butt?”

“Listen, I’m sorry, but there really was…”

“Just shut up, Valdan! You don’t have to tell me how scared you are of everything. Now go to sleep!”

She stuffed him roughly into the same pocket and lay down again. This time it took her a little longer to fall asleep, since she was so exasperated by his behaviour. Valdan also struggled to drift off; he was absolutely furious at her and banged his fists against her chest beneath him, even though he knew she couldn’t feel him beneath her clothing. But he stayed put this time, and at last the two of them went to sleep.

So it was that neither of them saw the massive snow-troll stroll past them. The beast was searching for the little human it had seen running around in the moonlight, before the giantess’s movement had scared it away temporarily. There was no human here now, and the troll, since it was only the size of a kitten compared to Sylvie, left her alone and wandered back into the forest.

Two days later Sylvie found herself standing on top of a high hill, looking out over a snow-covered river valley. Across the valley lay yet more hills, getting gradually higher and higher, until they became the Cairnaon Mountains, which even she had to admit were pretty high. But she was tired: tired of having to climb about all day, while her little pest of a brother got a free ride in her pocket; tired of sleeping on cold hard ground every night, and eating whatever vile beast was easiest to catch that day. She wanted to go home, and sleep in her warm bed again, and take a warm bath too, and eat fresh bread and juicy apples at every meal.

She took Valdan out of her pocket, holding on to his feet, and dangled him upside-down at arm’s length. The slope of the hill was 200 feet below him, and he felt a sudden attack of dizziness. Above him Sylvie’s arm reached over to her distant shoulder, but she spun him around and showed him the view.

“See that?” she said irritably. “More nothingness! That’s all there ever is – more nothingness! This is it, Valdan – tomorrow, I’m turning around, and we’re going back. The two of us are going back home, and I won’t hear a single word of complaining from you!”

“No…” he began to argue, but at that moment she let go, and he was falling through the air. He was so scared he couldn’t even scream, but a split second later he fell into the soft hollow of her gloved hand. He lay gasping as she brought him higher, and watched as her face gradually filled his view.

“Oops,” she said, without a hint of apology. “I almost forgot how fragile you are, baby brother. Not that I would have missed you if you fell, of course. You’re so small and useless anyway. Well, I’d best start building the fire, and find some food, and do everything else you’re too small and weak to do.”

Back into her pocket she put him, and there he stayed, except when she took him out for supper and toilet duties. Valdan could sense that his sister’s tolerance for him had reached its end, and he could say the same about himself. While Sylvie slept that night, he stayed awake, debating in his mind what he should do, going over and over each possibility.

“If I stay with Sylvie, I’ll always be in her shadow. She’ll never let me be my own person, no matter what Mom and Dad say to her. But, if I leave her now, I’ll never see them again, or Belena…but at least I’ll be away from Sylvie. I can look after myself in the wild, I know I can. And as soon as I’m over those mountains, there’ll be more people to meet. I can make my own life there, and I won’t have to worry about Sylvie finding me ever again.”

By the time he’d reached this conclusion the night was almost over. The sky was beginning to brighten in the east, and he carefully crept out of her pocket, just like he’d done before. He fetched his sword, but decided to leave all his other effects, since they’d only slow him down. Taking one last look at his sleeping sister, he turned and headed down into the valley. As he did he wished Sylvie well: though they all but hated each other, he knew she was a good person in her own way, and he didn’t want anything bad to happen to her.

He was running down a steep snowy slope when all of a sudden he tripped, lost his balance, and stumbled. He began to roll down the slope, crying out in pain, until he reached the bottom and plunged into an ice-cold stream. The shock nearly caused him to faint; as it was, it was several minutes before his senses came back again, and by that time the stream had grown in size and speed.

Valdan futilely tried to reach the riverbank, but the current was too strong, and his muscles had been crippled by the intensely cold water. It took all his energy just to keep his head above water. He was about to make one final push for the shore when he saw the river coming to a sudden stop right ahead.

“A waterfall,” he thought, and his soul sank. “It can’t be…but it is. Maybe…maybe Sylvie will save me…no, how could she? I left her behind, and she’ll never know how her baby brother died…” The cold proved too much to handle, and he passed out, right before plunging over a hundred-foot cliff in a torrent of raging drops.

At the bottom of the waterfall was a large lake, and it was along its shores that two young boys were preparing to catch the day’s fish. They belonged to one of the many mountain tribes, about whom almost nothing was known to the more ‘civilized’ people of the western lands. Still, they shared common ancestry with the men of Elgon, and their languages were strikingly similar.

These two boys happened to be the sons of the chief of the nearby village. Rett, the eldest, was seventeen, and his younger brother Knut was twelve. They were both expert hunters and fishers, but something other than fish was attracting their attention that morning. They both stared at the object as it floated by, and wondered if it had come down the waterfall.

“It…it looks like a body,” Knut exclaimed. “Is…is it…dead?”

“I don’t know…no, wait! Look! It’s moving an arm! Quick, give me the net!”

Rett took the net by one end and tossed the other end as far into the water as he could. The floating body’s arm got entangled in the cords, and the two boys pulled with all their strength. They were surprised to see that it was another boy, about the same age as Rett. He was dressed in fur clothes like they were, though his were considerably finer-looking, and he had a sword attached to his belt. They dragged him onto the shore and tried to revive him, but got only a few faint signs of life.

“Almost dead,” Knut whispered. “What do we do?”

“I…I guess we take him back to the village. Maybe a warm fire will help him, or some food…”

“But where does he come from? There aren’t no villages upstream, and he doesn’t look like one of us anyhow.”

“Don’t know. Maybe if we can wake him up, he’ll tell us.”

They half-dragged, half-carried the unconscious Valdan back to their village, hoping it wasn’t too late to save him from death.