If we don't get out of here soon, Mara thought, we'll freeze. Ben was trying to break away the ice that had collapsed into the entrance of the ice fissure, but the spoon he was improvising into a pick was an ineffective tool. They would have been better off staying away from the glacier until they had better equipment, but Mara had caught a glimpse of something deeper inside, so in they went.

The fissure was completely dark except for the dim beam of one of their flashlights, and Mara was directing that towards Ben's efforts on the collapsed ice. The fog of their breath didn't make seeing any easier.

"It doesn't look like that's working," Mara said. "Shouldn't we try building a fire or something?"

Ben set down his improvised tool and looked up at her, turning on his own flashlight. He opened his mouth to speak, but he never managed to say the words. All he did was point behind Mara. She turned around to see what he saw.

The massive jaws of a sea serpent were poised above Mara's head, trapped in an eternal prison of ice.