Planteria

Chapter 7

After the party, and too much cake, I was back on the road again, or the mountain, so to speak. After the warmth of what Kaiden called a house, I was colder than a Fire Wielder in winter. Still, I needed to find that flower. I went up and down little hills in the mountains and stayed along the rivers but still didn't find the Angel Dew. I guess I'm not worthy, but I still have to keep trying.

Trudging through the snow was cold and dull, so I tried to remember all I had read about the Never Mountains. One book said that it only snowed at night, even if it rained during the day, which I thought was odd. Something else is that the mountains are foggy. The book was right about that one. One time, Alexa told me that one of her friends was told that the mountains weren't made of rock but pure ice and snow. I didn't see how that tidbit of information was helpful to me, but it is rather interesting. Another time, my mother told me a story about these creatures called Frostcubs. She said they were taller than a Kalia tree when they stood on two feet. Their fangs looked like icicles, and they had senses better than any other animal known to any of the three races. Mother said they were ferocious, and once they caught a scent, they never stopped hunting. With that happy thought, I kept walking.

As I was looking for a place to stay for the night, I saw a nice-looking cave. I started walking towards the cave but then remembered that FrostCubs like making their nests in caves. I started going backward. But I saw the shape of a bear through the fog emerging from its shelter. I slowly began backing away, but the form started towards me. I turned and tried to run back the way I came, but I was knee-deep in snow, and the bear was much faster. It caught up to me in seconds, and I tripped and fell. I curled up in the snow and closed my eyes, ready to be bit any second. Then something licked my cheek. I opened my eyes a crack and saw that the bear was licking my face! It stopped, sniffed me a bit, then went back to licking me. I got up and very slowly made my way to the cave so that the fog would stop obscuring my vision, and I would be able to see the Frostcub more clearly. When I got to the cave, I cleared the ice and snow from my eyes, turned around, and finally got a good look at the Frostcub.

He looked like a bear but was just slightly smaller. His ears were more like dogs, as they flopped down over his head instead of being up like an ordinary bear's. His fur was white with a silver sheen to it, and he had huge, webbed paws that were probably what made him able to walk over the snow so well.

He cocked his giant head to the side and looked at me.

"Hi," I said, feeling a bit odd to be talking to a bear. "Sorry I'm invading your cave, I just need a place to stay for the night."

"Arooo!" he replied.

"Okay... does that mean I can stay? Or should I leave?" I asked.

"Woof!" he said. Then he walked over to a cave corner with leaves and branches. He looked at me, then looked at it. Back at me. Back at it.

"It's okay if I stay here?" I asked again.

The Frostcub nodded.

"Thank you," I said, walking over to the pile and sitting, putting my bag down beside me. I then realized that I was talking to a bear, and he understood me, and that wasn't normal, but too late to turn back, right?

"Do you have a name, something I can call you?"

The bear looked at me, then he went over to the back wall and nosed a part of it. So I went over to the wall.

"What is it?"

He nosed it again. I looked closely at where he was trying to point and saw a name etched in the ice. It was put there by one of the three races, though I wonder which one.

"Alfbern," I said, reading the name on the wall. I turned to him. "Is this your name?"

Alfbern nodded.