Behind My Shadow - Book Three

34. My Wide-Eyed Gaze

I gasp as I shakily lift my face out of the pile of snow I just landed in.

Where...am I? I groggily look around. The light of a rising sun cresting the top of the mountains that surrounds me makes the snow glow blindingly. Whoa! I scramble up to my feet.

Did I just travel through another portal? I smile with amazement as I look around. It's crazy how many of these things are scattered around Raetri. I remember falling through different portals when I was lost in Ghost Hills. It's cool though, I think with a shake of my head, I can travel around the whole world in just a few seconds.

As it is, I wonder where in the world I am now.

I shiver and rub my hands over my arms as I look around. I'm in what looks like the middle of an enormous basin surrounded by snowy mountains; dotted between the looming mountains are dense thickets of evergreens, I can only imagine what hides in those woods.

I suddenly realize I'm standing in the middle of a frozen lake. Piles of snow are scattered over the smooth, icy surface so it's easy to believe I'm standing on solid ground and not a plate of frozen water.

I shiver again, I can see my breath on the air. Jeez, it's like this part of the world doesn't know it's summer everywhere else -

My train of thought suddenly crashes as I watch the snowcaps of the mountains shimmer mesmerizingly as the sun rises above them. My widened eyes swiftly narrow on the snowcaps though as now I realize they are rapidly melting.

Actually everything around me is thawing out. Quickly.

The snow falls from the trees like veils of crushed diamonds and the snow covering the ground rapidly shrinks before fanning out into large, glittering puddles. I yelp as the ice beneath me releases a resounding groan. Dark blue veins begin to spread beneath me as the ice rapidly thins.

OMG!

I anxiously take off running, trying to ignore how the ice loudly creaks beneath my thumping feet.

Suddenly the ice the shatters and I plunge into the fridge waters with a startled yelp.

I briefly sink into the dark depths before I frantically claw my way to the surface glowing with sunlight. I'm gasping and sputtering as I bob up, my hair falls free from its ponytail as I wildly paddle for shore.

As I crawl onto the sticky bank, I'm aware of the ground underfoot wildly trembling. What is it now -

I scream with alarm as I watch a flashflood pour down from the mountains. It crashes into the basin and wildly surges over me, wrenching me off my feet and throws me back and forth on the rough waves.

I desperately claw my way to the surface and finally manage to get above the most violent of the waves and now am swimming quickly to the jagged shoreline. I'm panting as I seize the low branches of a passing evergreen, some of the sticky needles fall off in my grip but I manage to haul myself out of the chilling rapids.

"Holy...holy cow," I whistle breathlessly, stooped over as I struggle to suck in enough oxygen, my hands on my hips as I pant. "Now what do... I do?" I straighten up with alarm as I suddenly remember the Amulet of Alice in my pocket. Omigod! Is it still there?! I frantically search my pajamas. Was it whisked away during either of my polar plunges?!

I sigh with relief as I procure the invaluable necklace. "Thank god," I breathe, kissing the necklace before I gingerly place it on a stone beneath the evergreen I stand under. Okay, now that everything is back on track, I gotta change into some fresh clothes, dry off, and start my seventh Labor.