The way her mood and expression shifted confused the yearling, he began to think that maybe he was way off in his interpretation of her movement and words. Maybe he had just been gripped by the cold and the frightening task that she had put before him? Yes, that must have been the case because when she touched him and smiled she didn’t look so cold anymore and his confidence in her love for him rose once more. It was clear to him now that she neither expected him nor wanted him to fall to his death. He felt safe again with her by his side.

Amazed he watched her dance with the monster that was the glacier. Her sure footing and the way she stared death in the eye without flinching had him real impressed and his jaw even dropped in disbelief. How was she so brave? He himself had traveled far and wide and sure it lay braveness in such an feat, but he was a bit ashamed to admit even to himself that his travel, no matter how long and tiring, had been pretty easy. It had been just a few times were he’d been in any real danger.

The cold wind embraced the yearling and his mind drifted to Aviya. If she’d been hear with him, Tamlin knew that his will to impress her would have greatly suppressed his fear of the gaping mouths of the glacier. Even the thought of her white face and smoky body gave him a bit of strength and as Snö pranced back towards him he swallowed his unease and gazed at his sister with a new, confident look in his eyes. Her varnished frame came to a stop before him and Tamlin vowed silently to never show weakness before her again. He wanted her to be proud of him - almost as much as he wanted Mauja to be.

"Okay, let’s do this!" he spoke and flashed a smile.

He darted past her and in a series of bucks he started up the side of the crevice. He snorted loudly and the sound traveled down in the blue shimmering pit - echoed like there were a hundred bucking colts about. He didn’t keep as close to the edge as Snö had, but when he didn’t fall his confidence grew bigger and with a challenging whinny directed towards his sister he continued in a straight line - deeper into the hazardous icy landscape.

He galloped over hills of snow, danced around big and small cervices, he even took to jumping over one of the really small ones. And all the while his confidence grew and as it did he ventured closer and closer to the edges of the glimmering pits. He didn’t think a second that the danger of this place was so real that if he kept playing with it he would eventually get burned - it was just a matter of time.

"This is great fun, sis! I can’t understand why I was so afraid at first!" the colt exclaimed and looked back at Snö. "Let’s race with the devil - shall we?!"