Immortal Heirs

Chapter 7

We'd traveled the rest of the day and following night far too slowly for my taste. After putting a comfortable distance from the Skinwalkers cave between us, I had switched from Dusana to Xioses and later to Seere. Each hound could only spare so much energy before another would come forth and take over the task.  

I still felt indescribably empty inside. My fire fed my confidence, fed my power, and it was gone, snatched away by some banished fool who would taste my flames soon enough. We had been gone 7 days now and the fear of failing was blatant in everyone's mind. However, we were a mere quarter of a day's travel to the cave of the Water and the itch of determination was setting in.

We rode hard, the harlequins racing to their limits, my hounds working tirelessly to heal me as much as they could. Soul-fire fruit was thought to be extinct, dying out with the Skinwalker population. Their lack of magic cuts hundreds of year from their lifespan, and once their trace has been removed from clan bloodlines, we'd wiped out all of their culture, including their herbal inclinations. Too much danger lay with leaving their creations to grow, so we'd burn them all to ash.

"Kas, how are you feeling?" Taron asked as he rode nest to me, Seere was slightly smaller than the harlequins so his gaze peered down at me. I shook my head, my lips set in a hard line. "Don't concern yourself with me, we're nearly there."

"Don't be stubborn Kasdeya, I'm concerned." I sighed and grit my teeth, I didn't want to talk about it, I was broken, a shell of an immortal heir. I'd been the most powerful all my life, never lost in a fight, never backed down from a challenge, fought for my right to be queen. This was the most horrific thing that could have occurred; and in a time of such desperate measures.

"I'll be fine when we reach the water. Look ahead!" I shouted. A lone mountain lay before us, in the middle of the tundra. This one was different. The entire mountain was gleaming white, not rocky and grey like the rest. The cold seemed to diminish as we rode closer much to my relief as I shed my cloak. The sun shone down on the slope, making the white glimmer with magical power.

We halted our brigade at the base of the mountain. "Wow. The magical presence here is incredible," Kai gasped as we peered up at the mountain peak.

"Any guesses as to how we get in?" Taron asked, the slope was unflawed, no ledges to climb, no patches to make footholds. Kai waved his hand at the surrounding ice, but nothing happened. He tried again, stronger, but still the ice did not obey his commands.

"What is happening?"

"The Water expels all magical power that could pose a threat. We continue as magic-less immortals," I read from the map the elder had given us. I gulped; going into this without the help of magic gave me a bad feeling. Whatever lay ahead was going into this with an advantage.

"No need for the Kai, I found the entrance." Ren waved us to the west of the mountain where a single rectangle had been cut from the mountainside. I walked up to the door of ice; frosted, but warm and placed my hand on the door. All at once I was sucked into the door and with a surprised yelp; I fell into past the ice wall and into the cave. I hit the ground and rolled over, it was dark; the only light was what could shine through the ice. I could hear pounding on the outside.

"Kas!"

"Are you ok? Kas!" I rushed to the door and pounded on the ice, it did not budge.

"Taron! Kai! Ren!" I shouted, the pounding grew louder but the ice held firm. I had no clue how I had gotten in, but now I was trapped and without a single ounce of power.

"I am ok, but I can't go through the wall. The water's power is keeping me from leaving. I'm going to look for it; I feel that may be my only way to escape!" I shouted through the ice.