Winter's Child

Chapter Three~Talvimora

Jack and Elodie crossed over into Talvimora with a literal storm. When one set foot onto the road leading to Talvimora, they were swept away with swirling winds and raging flurries of snow. Elodie held tightly to Jack's hand and covered her head with her free arm as the two were swept away.

They struggled to keep a firm footing as Jack led Elodie through the storm. Elodie gritted her teeth and she shivered repeatedly. She had never been in a storm as fierce as this. She was frightened. But she trusted Jack. She knew that he would get them both to safety. Holding onto that hope was what got her through the storm with him.

When the storm finally subsided, Elodie felt different. She no longer felt frightened or even...cold. The snow was still everywhere, covering the trees and ground like thick blankets, but, Elodie didn't feel cold. She felt neutral. Somewhere in the middle between cold and warm. She looked down at her hands. They were still pale and slightly blue at the tips. She glanced down at Jack's hands as well. His were the same. They had always been like that though, hadn't they? Perhaps Elodie had simply failed to notice.

Elodie studied the land in front of her with parted lips. Her light eyes were wide at the beauty around her. Lightly, snow danced soothingly down from the heavens, layering the earth in it's pure, colorless beauty. Trees were lined along the ground they walked. Far apart but, close enough to be considered a forest. Elodie recognized them as birch trees. Her father often spoke of their smooth, ivory bark. Elodie took the opportunity to slide her fingers over one, recognizing the same smoothness from the trees in her yard. Elodie looked up at the sound of tweeting birds, fluttering about above her head. From tree to tree, small chickadees flew to-and-fro, seemingly hopping across to different branches.

"Is this it?" Elodie asked softly, already in awe of the beauty of this place. "Is this your home?" Jack nodded.

"Part of it," he explained. "But, travelling between worlds isn't a one-step process. We have one more thing to do."

Elodie watched as Jack pointed to a larger tree. This one was different from the rest. This wasn't a birch tree. No, this was a large oak. Near the bottom of the trunk, there was a large hole that one could easily fit through. Jack once again took Elodie's hand as he led her over to the tree. Elodie watched carefully as Jack easily slipped through the hole, dragging her along with him.

Elodie held a hand above her head, feeling the smooth bark and being careful not to bump her head as they made their way through the seemingly endless tree. It was dark and Elodie couldn't see much. All she could see was what was directly in front of her. It seemed that she and Jack were descending wooden, spiralled stairs. They went on for quite sometime until finally, they reached the bottom.

"Are we almost there?" Elodie asked quietly, wondering how much further they would have to go and realizing how tired she was. Jack turned and gave her a reassuring smile.

"Yes, we're almost there," he assured. Finally, they made it out of the dark and back into the light again. Elodie shielded her eyes as the light blatantly invaded her vision. While her eyes adjusted, she heard the faint sounds of what sounded like a bustling village. When she could see clearly, she saw what indeed was a village. People talked and laughed, much like they did in her world, while hurrying this way and that with supplies. They all looked similar. Light hair, eyes and skin and light blue or cream colored tunics and dresses. What an odd place this was. The buildings were large and intimidating yet intricate in design. Everything was either dark-colored or light. There were no vibrant colours. Snow and ice layered the ground and trees there too. Winter seemed to be an ongoing theme in this land.

Further from the village, up on a tall hill, there sat a magnificent, mountainous castle that one could easily view from miles away. It was dark in colour and massive in size. Elodie was in awe of it's greatness and her eyes grew wide for the umpteenth time that day. This place was more incredible than she could have ever imagined. Extraordinary was too small a word to describe this land. It was truly unimaginable, astonishing and breathtaking.

Jack pulled Elodie from her thoughts as he continued to tug her through the village. Elodie kept her gaze down, quite aware of the strange or curious looks she was receiving as they passed through. What was that all about? She had to ask Jack. She looked similar to most of them, after all. Save for her clothing.

"Jack," she whispered, quite aware of the sudden hush of the crowd and the uprise of murmurings around them. "Why are they looking at me like that?" she asked cautiously.

"Just wait a moment, Ellie. It'll all make sense soon enough."

It didn't take long for Elodie to figure out where Jack was taking her. The two of them were heading straight for the large palace that sat atop the hill. Elodie was relieved when they crossed from the village into the small forest that sat in front of the castle. Through the forest, there was a twisted path that didn't look that wise to follow. It had many forks and turns and if one didn't know where they were going, they could easily become lost. Luckily, Jack did.

With the help of Jack's keen sense of direction, they easily found their way in no time. They hurried up the long, wide steps to the palace doors. They were over ten feet high at least. They were tall and narrow and, as they opened, they made a noise that sent shivers down one's spine.

Inside the palace doors, the room was dimly-lit. The ceilings were high. So high in fact, that Elodie could barely see the roof. The room stretched on for a long while and a straight path was laid out before them as they began walking. At the other end of the room and at the end of the path, a large, menacing throne sat. Sitting upon it was a tall, regal, cold man that Elodie had had a run in with once before. She recognized him immediately. It was North.

His gaze was hard and cold. Elodie couldn't take her eyes off him. He was beautiful. Even more so now that she had a clearer view of him. She had never used the word beautiful to describe a man before. The word was normally reserved for women or babies. But it suited this man better than even most women or children she had seen that she would describe that way. He was regally beautiful. He was too magnificent to touch or even come near.

North studied her with unchanging eyes. His expression remained hard and even though Elodie was normally good at reading people, with him, it was impossible. He was completely illegible. He slowly extended a fine-boned hand to her. She glanced uneasily at Jack and he gave her a simple nod. She silently gulped and gathered her courage in a breathe in and breathe out. Her heart raced in her chest as she ascended the steps to his throne and she had no idea why. She shouldn't be this nervous. She needed to pull herself together before her anxiety became noticeable.

She shakily placed her small hand in his when she reached the top of the steps. He gently pulled her nearer to him, as if to study her. Elodie couldn't help but watch him as his eyes quickly darted over every inch of her before returning to her face. He was still for a moment and Elodie watched as his eyes slowly changed. They shifted from their cool blue color to solid white. There was no iris or pupil, simply empty, emotionless eyes. Elodie was startled and didn't notice her grip on his hand tighten from minor fright. Was that a smirk? Did he notice? Probably. Elodie silently scolded herself and tried to calm down.

There was silence in the room. Not a word was uttered from Jack or any of what Elodie assumed to be servants who lingered nearby. Everyone was completely quiet. It bothered Elodie that they all knew what was going on and she hadn't a clue. She was beginning to feel like coming to this world was a mistake. After all, she didn't know any of these people's motives. What if they meant her harm? Perhaps it all wasn't as it seemed.

The longer Elodie stayed, the more her feeling of doubt grew. At the same time, however, she was awed by her surroundings and failed to see how a place so magnificent could be bad at all. She supposed that only time would tell. She just hoped that she would be able to find her way back.

At the same time as North's eyes turned white, her mind cleared like it had when she was in the first storm in her world. She heard a soft yet eerie voice echoing through her mind again. Clear and crisp, yet muffled and distant. Elodie shuddered. What did he have to say this time?