Red Snow

9

I was the third one to get to the sign after Jova and Reesha. Qiwi struggled through the snow; she shivered like a snake's rattle. She had told me many times that she wasn't ready for the weather. I think she was really trying to say that she wasn't ready for the mission.

"Kota, my paws will freeze. You said it yourself; the fryse dryet's lair is colder than ice. I've never been warm since I came to the North Pole and I'm sure it's much colder in the palace." She called out to me as we trekked up the hill.

"Qiwi, you'll be fine. It's probably not that cold. You'll get used to it. And the cold will give you incentive to run faster."

She growled.

I stopped at the top of the hill and waited for Qiwi. She claimed that she wasn't suit for the mission, but I had faith in her. She was as fast as a bullet, more agile than a whip and had the reflexes of a rubber band. Her random freak outs might be a problem, or they could help her get out of a pickle.

I would have chosen Thrush to come with us, but he wasn't terribly fast. He also had trouble with keeping his furry rump where it belonged. I considered Barb; she was getting much better. She was really fast and was the smallest of my trainee group, but I was afraid she would chicken out or complain about something.

Qiwi could take care of herself. For the mission, she had gotten a white scarf from Mrs. Claus. The white stood for purity, and with no other colors in meant extra purity. I didn't understand why Qiwi had gotten a scarf that represented purity, but Mrs. Claus has her ways.

"Is everyone here?" Reesha asked. Qiwi was looking through her scarf one last time to check for everything.

Everyone nodded.

"Let's review the plan." Jova said. "It's real simple, but the trick will be getting out once we have Mika. We'll follow that frost horse brain, then we bust her out of the jail someway. Kota and Reesha will carry her if she needs help walking. Chances are she's been hurt badly." I flinched. If they've hurt her . . .

"To find our way back through the maze, I have glow stones." Jova pulled a small sack of rocks out of his scarf. When he untied them, they glowed a wintery blue. "I have this and five other bags; probably a thousand or so stones, but place them very sparsely. They glow when they are near each other. If we place them far enough apart, they won't glow when we aren't there. They'll look like any other rock."

Jova handed out the bags and kept two in his scarf.

"Alright. Ready everyone?" Reesha asked. We all nodded. I had to swallow a knot of fear and anticipation down my throat.

Reesha pulled a light blue portal orb from her scarf. With a single turn it flew from her mouth and straight towards the North Pole's sign. It popped open, turning the air around it into a swirling vortex of blue, black and white. If I looked hard enough through it I could see stars. I looked at Qiwi to see her reaction. It was priceless.

"Unknown location," Reesha said. "Ice wolf's lair."

The portal seemed to recognize the address, because it activated. It pulsed a bit harder and the colors swirled faster.

"Watch them go through." I whispered to Qiwi.

Reesha hopped through, then Jova.

Qiwi looked very nervous.

"It's okay. Just jump through. It's hard to keep your balance, but try. Especially at the end." I said reassuringly.

Qiwi carefully stepped up to the portal. She counted to three, then held her breath and jumped in. I followed her closely, just as the portal was starting to close.