Cold-Hearted

Cianna

They said she was like snow, beautiful, but cold. I never planned to track down this centuries old tale of the cold-hearted witch herself, yet, here I am, traveling to the land they now call Wynter. You see, a mysterious frost started seeping into our warm lands several months ago, and no one could figure out how her power had broken through the barrier. The crack started small but begin to spread, as if someone was willing it too. I hadn't given much thought to the incident since it had been centuries since Cianna Wynter released her wrath, but to be quite honest, I don't do well with the cold. I knew this frost had to be stopped, and since no one dared to cross the Boundary, I, naturally, volunteered myself for the mission. Oh, and for the fact my mischievous sister, Briar, had disappeared into her frozen world. I left our homeland of Eeranoke with only a week worth of supplies in my backpack. I figure if I hadn't found Briar by that time, I would slowly die with her. For if the stories were true, and Cianna had found her, Briar was all but lost now.

The snow crunched beneath my feet, and I swore to myself as another clump of snow fell from a branch onto my head. I pulled the backpack tighter, embracing what warmth the cloth brought to my back. I walked what seemed to be miles over this torturous icy ground. All around me was a snowy, white forest, each step I took looked like another footprint in powdery clouds. The land of Wynter would be quite beautiful had it not come at the price of innocent lives. It was said to be a place were crops were bountiful and flowers bloomed daily. A land where everyone praised their beloved king, a king murdered by his own daughter. A daughter, who was so powerful, couldn't control her frosted fury. I heard numerous stories of how she tortured the people of the land by freezing their blood, and how her icy temper spread so far, that she had frozen every sign of life— along with her own heart. Literally, her own heart. Legends say on that dreaded day, she reached inside her own chest, and pulled out her heart, freezing it into a block of ice so that nothing could stop her, not even herself.

While my mind drifted to all different stories about the land of Wynter, the only noise I had heard for miles was the sound of my chattering teeth. After trekking miles through desolate snow, I finally reach what seems to be the end of the forest. As I walk up the concrete stairs of an ancient doorway, an enormous tree grows in front of the clear path. From a distance, I can see an opening made of iron that reaches the top of the tallest trees, with intricate designs woven through out the frosty trees. It looks like an icy cathedral spreading throughout a darker part of the kingdom.

The silence ended when loud thuds echoed through the trees. Those thuds were attached to giant ice blocks that slightly resembled feet. The sight before me stopped me in my tracks as two large ice monsters appeared through the bushes. Their arms hung close the ground before forming into sharp, icy claws. They had no faces, just an open hole for the icicle shaped fangs. The first cold monster raised up his icy claw to punch the other, sending him flying back it into the tree that I was hiding behind. It happened so fast I barely had time to jump out of the way before being covered under the blanket of snow falling from the tree. The creatures continued to fight, and with each blow, shards of ice would fly in every direction. As I hid behind the tree, I tried to plan a way out of this white forest. Think, Emmett, think, I say to myself, pressing my numb hands to my head. Suddenly, the noise stopped. Ice was no longer flying around. I decide to take this moment of calmness to get a better view of my surroundings, seeking my nearest escape path.