Frost and Snow

Prologue

Thank you for taking an interest in my story. I'm currently in the process of rewriting this (as it is a first draft and a bit chaotic) and I would love hear your feedback. If there are any questions you feel are left unanswered or if there is anything else that feels off, please tell me.

Prologue

As I pulled my hood over my head to hide my face in the shadow it provided I could see the next village appear on the horizon. I willed my horse to go faster; one hand on the reins, the other on the hilt of my sword. It was a small village, one like so many in this land, but somehow I felt it was different. Something was odd about this village; a memory was trying to struggle to the surface, yet I could not quite grasp it.

The closer I came to it, the more I got a sense of familiarity. But when I was about to figure out the meaning of this all, the memory was pulled back from me, frozen in a dark corner of my mind.

“Go forth and create chaos among the villages of the River Region.” The deep voice of the Snow Witch echoed in my head and strengthened my resolve; her command was one I had to obey. Failure to do so was something that resulted in agony; I had learned the hard way that her grasp on us was unbreakable.

And when I arrived at the village and gracefully jumped from my horse on the ground I felt something beginning to unravel. As I took the reins in my hand and strode through the village, the reaction that the citizens had was wrong. Of course, I could almost smell their fear in the air and such a thing was only logical when seeing a monster like myself. What was unusual was the surprise and disbelief I saw on their faces.

I stood still at the village’s only square and something snapped in my mind. I could not move and my arms fell limply at my side.

“Astre? Is that you?” A woman walked up to me and I saw the same surprise and disbelief in her eyes, but there was also recognition. Did I know this woman? That familiar feeling found me again. I wanted to speak, but I could not find my voice.

“Astre? Astre, what have they done to you?” The woman was now crying and I could not help but feel that I should comfort her. Inside my head I could hear the Snow Witch yell at me, demanding bloodshed, her orders but whispers in the dark.

“Look at you, you have become so pale. You are like the snow, so white and cold. And your eyes, they are like a lake frozen over. My girl had eyes the color of autumn, but I know it is you, Astre, I know it is you.” A soft hand touched my cheek and suddenly I felt oddly out of place in my armor.

“Stay away from her, Elle, she is a minion of the Snow Witch now!” More people had gathered around me, and all had that look of recognition, but they did not approve of this woman getting so close to me. “It might be a trap, she’ll kill you! She does not remember us!”

I did not remember my life before the Snow Witch had made me her own, but I had been here before. These people knew me, and my body knew these people and this place. And somewhere in my mind there was a part that held all the memories I had of the life I had before.

“Astre, are you in there?” A hint of sadness had entered her voice that had been hopeful and I could no longer face the woman. Looking down I stared at my hands and took of the leather riding gloves; the skin was ghostly pale and the blue veins below were clearly visible.

Suddenly the Snow Witch screamed inside my head; she sounded furious, mad and angry that I did not do what she had ordered. I think those standing around me could hear it too, for they all took a few steps backward, shocked.

My hand grabbed the cold hilt of my sword and pulled it out of its sheath in a fluid motion, the tip only inches away from the woman’s throat. Fear, disbelieve, hopelessness; those were emotions I could understand and saw often in the eyes of my victims and I smirked.

“Please, Astre, you are the only one I have left, you cannot do this to me…” The woman pleaded, her hands clasped before her chest in prayer, her eyes closed. The gesture was so human and even though I had seen it many times, I hesitated.

A memory flashed before my eyes; it was spring, flowers were blooming, the scent of freshly baked bread was in the air and I was laughing. I dropped my sword as more memories began flooding my vision, the Snow Witch was now shrieking and if my blood was not frozen my ears would be bleeding. I covered my ears with my hands and fell to my knees, desperate to make it stop.

The Snow Witch’s grasp on me wavered as the memories fought a battle to banish her from my mind.  And in a moment that seemed to take an eternity I was engulfed in a white light as the memories of my life before took over and the last remaining sliver of the Witch’s presence faded, blasted away by a brightness like I had never witnessed before.

Perhaps it was the intensity of the moment that made me pass out, but before a gentle blackness took over my mind it felt as if the back of my head came into contact with something hard. I fell down unto the snow and the last thing I saw before I could no longer keep my eyes open was the woman.

I felt myself smile. Of course this place and these people were familiar; with my memories no longer locked away I could see. “Mother…” I whispered before I drifted off, away from the waking world.