The White Rose

16. Frost Phantom

Talon rides a little ahead, his shoulders stiff and his sight in constant movement around them as though he expects something to jump out at them. Nura doesn't blame him, she's been unable to shake that feeling since being attacked by the Shadow Elf, but Talon didn't seem effected until now.

"What are you looking for?" Nura asks, her voice sounding far too loud amongst the quiet of the trees.

Talon glances back at her, a crease between his light brows. "There are ancient creatures in the Elven lands, creatures I don't wish to encounter." He turns his gaze back to the forest, a cold glint in his icy eyes. "Something is hunting us."

"What?" Nura gasps but Talon shakes his head.

"Hopefully once we reach the tree line it'll forget about us."

Nura urges her horse a little faster, the break in the trees ahead where the sun gleams seeming more like a ray of hope than anything else.

They halt at the top of a slope where the trees fall away and the road dips down towards fields of farms and splotches of snow. Mills and animals scatter across the land and in the far distance Nura can see the wall that many have tried to breach.

"Kepfew," Talon tells her and she glances at him. "We'll find Rephas there. And hopefully not die." He nudges his horse forward and they continue along the cobblestone road. Nura studies the land of sweeping hills and lush greenery that peeks out through the beginnings of the snow.

It's beautiful and so far removed from the sodden Human lands. Though the Human lands carry their own charms and beauty, the Elven lands are alive with life, a hum in the air like the land itself has its own song to sing alongside the wildlife and insects. The cottages and farms billow smoke from their chimneys, a few people brave the cold and clear pathways of snow. The shrill of children's laughter at one of the distant homesteads has Nura smiling. Life, so rich and pure, so full of everything wonderful and everything terrible.

"We'll find you a healer once we reach Kepfew," Talon tells her without looking in her direction.

"What about you?"

"I have a contact to meet." His back straightens. "Getting Rephas back won't be simple or easy. Hopefully he's..." Talon trails off and Nura raises a brow. He glances around, his horse tossing its head.

"Talon?" she asks.

"Hush," he hisses before he jumps down from his horse. "Take the reins." Talon shoves the reins into Nura's hands before she can question him. "Ride for Kepfew and don't look back."

"Talon," she begins, but a deep rumbling beneath the snow and dirt freezes her words.

"I said ride, Nura," he commands, his voice taking on a sharp edge. Talon flexes his hand and the air shimmers. An icy blade materialises in his hand and Nura swallows to see it, reminded of the way he beheaded the Witch Hunter.

The snow shifts before them and Nura watches with wide eyes as it rises and falls, like a sea creature would beneath the surface of the water. Except they're on land.

"Nura," Talon snaps and she kicks the horse into motion towards the high walls of Kepfew, leaving him in the snow. Alone.

Her breaths cloud the air before her face and she glances back at Talon as something large bursts from the snow in a shower of ice and dirt like an eruption from the Abyss. Fear chokes her as Talon leaps away from the monstrous thing.

The cold air scorches a painful path into her lungs as she watches the battle. Talon dodges the claws of the icy monster, tendrils of mist and fog swirling from its glistening body. Shards of ice and clumps of snow make up the beast. Nura has never seen anything like it.