The book began with the creation of the ice people. It then recounted several wars and disputes. The book stated, "After the Third Fire War, the ice people decided that the great weapon, the instrument used to win the wars, was too powerful and dangerous to be in human hands. The rulers of the day determined it needed to disappear. There is no current knowledge of its existence or possible location. There are, however, rumors that a map was created to document its location in case it was ever needed again. If the map actually does exist, no one knows exactly where it is. Regardless, the news of the ice peoples' inability to locate the weapon was eventually leaked to the fire people. This knowledge prompted them to immediately launch an attack, starting a war that is still ongoing.The ice people have too long lived in hiding in order to survive. Now is the time for them to revive the military and launch a counterattack."
Pagoniá flipped the page and was astonished to discover those statements were the abrupt ending of the book. The fire people had a completely different version of the events, of course. When she had been going to school in her previous life among the fire people, she had been taught that the fire people had attacked in retaliation for bombings perpetrated by the ice people. She had never believed that explanation because the factories that had supposedly been bombed were beneficial to the ice people, even though the fire people owned them. There was no reason for the ice people to want them destroyed. Pagoniá assumed this clearly fictional story was part of the malicious propaganda spread constantly about ice people. This same kind of propaganda was used to encourage every judge to rule against any ice person on trial and to justify the fire people's routine bombing of any buildings or industry that were helpful to the ice people.
In the midst of her reflections, Pagoniá paused, letting out a gasp as she was struck by a thought. The book had mentioned the long held tradition of the ice people using asterisks to mark locations instead of Xs. There were asterisks on the lithograph she had seen earlier on her way to visit the queen!
"That's it!" she exclaimed. "That's how we win the war!" Pagoniá rushed out the door to find a servant. She spotted one immediately in the hallway outside her door.
"Do you know where the lithograph near the queen's chamber is? I thought it was really interesting, and I would love to take a closer look at it," she asked excitedly, hardly able to contain herself.
"Do you mean the one on display in the hallway leading to the queen's throne room?" the servant clarified.
"Yes, that is the one I mean," Pagoniá confirmed.
"I do apologize," the servant answered. "I cannot take you to it because it was stolen earlier today."
Feeling defeated by this news, Pagoniá went back to her room and slumped down into her reading chair.
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Short chapter. Do you think she is going to get the weapon? Again, please comment and vote.
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The Icy Quest
FantasíaPagonia has spent her whole life fearing ice people. But then, one day, her powers emerge and she discovers she is an ice person. Can she defeat the fire people? The cover does not belong to me. I allow fanfics as long as proper credit is given ex...
