Book 3 · Water - Ice Land
The Ice Pirate of Devil Lake
Former harbours stand marooned in the ice. One man has mounted his sailing ship on giant blades and refuses to give up the sea.
The Land
An almost completely frozen sea with islands and old harbour works, plus Devil Lake, an immense glacial lake. Only a few meltwater streams still run.
The Society
People have withdrawn from the former sea. Transport runs on sledges and runners along safe ice routes. Nobody believes in the old guardian tradition any more.
The Guardian
The Ice Pirate. His family were sailors and traders. When the sea froze, the trade routes collapsed - scarcity and isolation made him a pirate, not malice. "By the way, I am the guardian." - "You are a pirate." - "The one does not rule out the other."
The Trial
Thin ice, fog, cracking underfoot. Sina senses which path will hold before she can explain why. She has to learn to state what she perceives - otherwise nobody crosses Devil Lake.
In focus
Only once the trial is solved does the bladed ship carry the four across the ice towards Cloud Mountain.