The sanctuary
Mebet’s guide led him to a distant sanctuary which he had heard about but never visited. Initially Mebet was afraid that he would never catch up with his shadow or, on the contrary, that the shadow would move slowly and Mebet would never manage to arrive before the new moon came and his time was up. The shadow however proved a good guide, it moved at the same pace Mebet did, and it even tried to help him of its own accord – it was the first to rise when Mebet had stopped to rest.
The shadow also left tracks, though these were convex marks in the snow, not impressions. These tracks grew ever less visible with each day, and Mebet understood that he was running out of time. He rushed on with little thought for himself, at so frantic a pace that the skin lining his right ski be
