An Inferno of Ice - The Storm Series, Book 1

Part 5

My plan works out better than expected. As I continue my travels, getting ever closer to the looming shadows of the Moonspire Mountain Range, more and more people in the cities I pass through contemplate leaving. Perhaps planting that seed has been one of the greatest ideas I've had since arriving. The last settlement before the very base of the mountains is called Wintervale. As I sit exhaustedly before a cooking fire, I am pleased to note that most of the conversations around me revolve around possible vacation spots and transportation. Those reluctant to leave will no doubt be taken care of by emergency personnel if the planet is in any real danger of destruction. Hopefully it won't come to that, though. A look at my map tells me that all that stands between me and the Frost palace is a near vertical cliff. Looking up at it in real life, it seems all the more impossible. The sheer vastness threatens to take my breath away. The road leading out of Wintervale slopes steeply up the precarious wall, twisting and turning out of sight as it ascends ever higher. Making it up there will be difficult enough, not to mention the unknown challenges I'll face once I reach the top in order to enter the palace. Just thinking of everything I still have left to do makes me want to curl into a ball and sleep forever. But I can't. The people of Icelandia are depending on me, even though they may not know it. The Infernal Court is depending on me. I am depending on me. From this close, the palace looms high above, its reflective walls gleaming in dazzling shades of blue, purple, and silver as the moons shine down upon it. Turrets and spires jut proudly into the sky like majestic sentinels standing guard over their kingdom. Giving a resolved sigh, I rise wearily back to my feet and search for an inn to get some rest. I am entirely unaware of the dark eyes that follow me. Once the suns reappear to start another day, I set off up the treacherous mountain path, at some points having to cling Desperately to anything I can grasp so as not to slip and tumble down the steep incline. As altitudes change, breathing becomes progressively difficult. Impossibly, the temperature somehow drops even more. Even through my protective layers, the sharp, thin air seems determined to pierce through to my bones. That first night on the mountain is miserable. I end up finding a shallow cave in the ice wall to take shelter from The hostile wind, but I don't dare light a fire for fear that it'll bring everything above me collapsing onto my head. So I settle for allowing sparks to dance between my fingers, holding them above me as I lay curled in my sleeping bag so that I may imagine that they are stars. If I try hard enough, I can almost picture that I am back on my own home planet, safe and warm and entirely Unafraid. However, that illusion is shattered as I hear a faint noise from outside. I sit up quickly, tucking my hands out of sight as I strain my eyes for any glimpse of movement. And suddenly, there it is. At first, the only thing I see is a hulking shadow that blocks out what little Moonlight there had been. And then I see the gleam of two eyes staring right back into mine above the unmistakable glint of bared teeth. Whatever animal it is, it has fur of purest white, and is so big that it would undoubtedly come up to my shoulder if I were standing at full height right now. Everything in my body goes still. I don't blink, I don't breathe, I'm not even sure if my heart beats as I look up at it. My mind takes this opportunity to inform me rather unhelpfully that I am completely and utterly trapped, surrounded on all sides by impenetrable ice. I have absolutely nowhere to run if this creature decides to attack. Within me, I feel my core of magic flare. My fire will protect me if needed, but I tell myself even as this unknown animal takes a step closer that I will use it only as a last resort. I don't wish to harm it, even if That's exactly what it wants to do to me. For all I know, this cave could be its home. Just as it lowers itself into a threatening crouch, a sharp sound reaches me over the wind. It almost sounds like a whistle, one that a person might use to call a pet. The creature's head turns instantly in the direction of the sound, which comes again a few seconds later. In a flash, The animal leaps up and is gone before I have a chance to catch my breath. Shaking from the adrenaline of what could have so easily happened, I quickly pack my things and decide to find another place to sleep. Before I leave the cave, I cautiously scan the area for any signs that it could still be lingering nearby for an ambush. Once the coast is clear, I push my tired body onward. From above me, I do not see the loan figure that watches me retreat, one hand buried in the creature's white fur as his slight smile is concealed behind a mask of intricate purple and blue ice. If I had thought to look up, I would have seen him run his other hand through his own hair, which is black but streaked with palest, starkest white.