Flight of Frost and Aurora

Chapter 50

Mother Carmilla needed to descend from the heavens to fulfill her sacred duty of ushering in spring. This important task involved melting the ice and snow, awakening the animals from their hibernation, and warming the frozen ground to restore its fertility. The journey would take a week, an unavoidable undertaking; failure to complete it would disrupt the seasonal balance in the village. Little did she realize that this year's journey would be unlike any other and would lead to unforeseen troubles for the sisters.

She had just completed her task of filling the valley with vibrant flowers and rousing the bears from their slumber when she felt the unmistakable presence of Madame Katia. There she stood, a smug smile plastered across her face. Camilla instinctively knew that Katia's smugness was never a good omen.

"What do you want?" Camilla scoffed, irritation lacing her voice. "I'm far too busy to entertain your sadistic whims. If you dare to destroy my flowers after I've just nurtured them into existence, I swear I'll summon the roots to drag you underground."

Katia merely laughed, her amusement echoing in the air.

"Did you really think I wouldn't find out?" she sneered, her eyes glinting with malice.

"Discover what? That you're actually a man? Huh... For once, Rosamund had a correct theory."

"No! I am not a man!" she screeched.

"Oh dear, then I suppose you're just an ugly woman after all."

"I'm referring to your children abandoning the heavens and becoming human again."

Carmilla paused, her worst fear coming to fruition. Katia had finally figured out that Alastor and Vagatha had transformed back into humans, rendering them vulnerable to her.

"I'll admit, for the longest time, I didn't recognize them. The changes that come with age had obscured their identities, but there was something about them that felt distinctly off. I just couldn't pinpoint who they were—until now."

She revealed the medallion adorned with a snowflake symbol.

"I knew it was only a matter of time before you two would slip up! Just a moment of distraction, and they wandered away from the heavens, back to earth—where I can finally complete what I started a decade ago!"

"You will not go anywhere near them!" Carmilla growled, her voice low and fierce. "You have no right! It's not their time to die!"

"Please, I am a servant of death itself. I decide who lives and who dies, and I have determined that no two little brats who made a fool out of me should be allowed to survive!"

"Not if I can help it! And not if Rosmund can help either!"

"There's nothing you two can do for them anymore. They're human; you can't interfere! But I understand how a mother's love can sometimes compel a woman to defy the very laws of nature. So, I have a little plan to keep you meddling mothers out of my way!"

"What are you— Ah!"

In an instant, Carmilla felt a sharp bite on her leg as Katia's serpent struck. Its fangs were laced with a potent toxin stolen from Lord Zestial. While it would kill any human instantly, for an immortal like Carmilla, it would only induce a state of indefinite paralysis.

As soon as Toomas sank his teeth into her, Carmilla felt her body stiffen, as if it were turning to stone. She was paralyzed—unable to move or speak—overwhelmed by an icy pain that coursed through her. It was a torment more dreadful than being frozen alive. In an instant, she collapsed, her body falling lifelessly to the ground.

"I believe I'll keep you in the underworld for a while, at least until Zestial returns. It could be quite some time, especially since he's visiting the Western Isles, which are currently plagued by poverty and famine. With your absence, Rosmaund will have to shoulder the responsibilities for Spring and Summer, leaving her too distracted to keep an eye on your little brats."