Upon the wintry landscape of AnoE a young lay beside a large black boulder submerged within the frozen snowy ground. The morning was cold and unforgiving, wild breaths of raw wind blew fiercely, whispering past the tall trees of the icy valley. frozen leaves dangled from the lifeless twisted maze of dead branches shielding away all traces of light. The charcoal smeared sky growled savagely as tiny snowflakes rained from the heavens above, like misty clouds of white confetti dancing through the breaths of wind.
The brisk chill of coldness brushed gently against the girl's pale skin, as she was blanketed in a think veil of icy snow. She murmured quietly as a blinding light illuminated around her fragile body, and disappeared as quickly as it had appeared within a matter of seconds in an explosion of white light. Finally, after a long one hundred years the curse had been lifted.
Darkness began to encase the land. The glimmering stars twinkled like tiny shimmering crystals filling the night sky, fighting determinedly to sparkle through the hazy dull patches of threaded grey clouds. Fiercely the bitter breaths of wind brushed against the frozen leaves, as they chimed together like an eerie melody drifting off into the night.
A lone crow black like burnt coal almost completely blended within the shadows of darkness, was perched somberly upon the withering ice drenched branches creaking within the wind above the girl's head. All but the birds bright golden eyes were visible, glowing in the darkness like sparkling embers of life in a dark dying world.
The crow shrewdly hopped from the contorted maze of dying branches, tugging on the tangled knots of the girl's dark hair within its barbed beak. Its overgrown polished talons rested on her shoulder, still yanking strands of hair within its black beak. With no luck of being able to wake her the crow loudly screeched "Auroraaa" a piercing echo that sounded almost human. Hearing the muffled call of her name Aurora jerked forward, wide eyed and gasping frantically. Stale breaths of air burnt the back of her throat like a choking poison, her pale fingers scratched at the air and knocked the bird tumbling forcibly into the fallen snow below. Anxiously Aurora pushed herself up from the frosty snow, shakily balancing her weight upon the slippery ice covered rock. Lengths of messy brown hair knotted below her shoulders, blowing wildly away in the wind.
The young teenager appeared of little importance, her clothes where old and torn, the light colors of the cotton fabrics faded, and heavily stained with thick smudges of dirt. Her blue eyes like radiant sapphires, fixated at the surroundings that appeared so unfamiliar from everything she had remembered and known.
It was dark and cold, everything was covered in ice, that glistened and sparkled under the rays of dimmed moonlight. Aurora shuffled her worn leather boots tiresomely through the thick snow, brushing past the crows ruffled black feathers submerged underneath a thin blanketing of snow. The bizarre feeling of the frosty wet feather skimming lightly against the skin of her ankle unexpectedly, startled her. Aurora jumped, stumbling clumsily she crushed its wing sprawled out under the snow, hearing nothing but a bloodcurdling crunch of fragile bones breaking beneath her footstep. The bird shrieked sharply the deafening sound of its cry echoing into the silent night. Auroras stomach churned. Her hand reached instantly over her mouth, pressing against her pale pink lips and shielding away a sickening expression. Injured the bird shrilled terrifyingly thrashing its body fearfully through the snow. Aurora reached to scoop up the frightened dying bird, its razor sharp beak snapped violently at her finger in defence. Beaded droplets of bright red blood drained from her fingertip, dripping over the bird's beak and staining upon the pure white snow in tiny pools of crimson red.
She ignored the pain of her throbbing finger, droplets of blood still quaintly trailed from her fingertips. A sole tear rolled down her flushed cheek as she gently lifted the dainty bird up in her palm. In a ruffled nest of messy feathers, the cold bird was still and lifeless. Aurora raised her arm clearing away the warm collection of tears running down her face, and like a dream the bird sprang full of life darting into the air. She stood astonished. Only seconds before the bird was lying lifeless, dead in her hands, and now was diving energetically through the gloom darkness, its eyes blazing bright like burning embers of golden orange fire. It dashed joyfully camouflaging within the shadows, merrily singing as it darted through a small exposed opening between the maze of branches and trees.
Like a fence overgrown tangles of neglected dying forestry weaved into one another, yet near the far corner of the barricade was a tiny gap where the branches had grown outwards. It was a small gap leaving barely any space for Aurora to crawl through without the sharp thorned vines that strangled around the trunks of the branches piercing within her skin. Aurora dragged her knees through the dense snow. Her hands burnt as she pressed them down into the freezing earth, each movement felt more numb and tiresome then the last. The black bird scarcely visible through the darkness still swooped down calling and encouraging Aurora to follow him.
Aurora crawled from the end of the small tunnel, the crow perched upon her shoulder its golden eyes blazing through the darkness like sparkles of hope. The land was deathly silent, painted in icy white crystals of snow that sparkled below the dim shadows of moonlight. The moon filled the dark sky cloaked by silhouettes of dusky grey clouds threaded across the night sky, towering trees soared into the sky coated in ice, everything was blanketing by winter.
Shivering Aurora placed her numb hands into the thin fur lined pockets of her coat, and with a surprised expression she pulled out a necklace. At the end of the long strand of tangled leather was a large irregular sharped crystal that glowed wondrously in her palm, glittering like a mirror reflecting the rays of sun sparkling against clear water. The corner of her lip curved into a slight smile as she paced the still shimmering crystal around her neck, it dangled falling below her heart, it was something she had risked, and gave up her life for. The crystal as insignificant as it appeared was crucial for maintaining the balance in a grave world that was overran with war and chaos.
