Chapter Nine: Spirit Portal

"Are you sure you wouldn't like to come?" Lancelot asked. "It's the Northern Spirit Portal."

Elena shook her head. "I'm a spiritwalker, Lance. I can go see the Spirit Portal in the Spirit World any time I like." She patted his arm. "This might be the last peaceful day I get to spend with Mithian and Gwen, so you and Merlin go off on your little adventure. And please don't get lost; I've heard there are wolves and all sorts of nasty things out there."

He smiled softly. "Don't worry about me, Elena. I have a firebender to protect me!" She whacked at him. They both felt happier and lighter than they had the day before; Elena had managed to get into contact with her family at the Northern Air Temple. Although Lancelot still felt a desire to go see his home with his own eyes, at least they knew that Thomas the firebender had not been lying.

The trip to the Spirit Portal had become a bit more complicated when none of the Water Tribesmen were able to accompany them. Percival had wanted to, but being one of Olaf's chief guards had tied him up all day. "You really can't miss the portal," he told Lancelot. "Follow that path down into the next valley, and you'll know you're close when the ice and trees grow twisted. Be careful." Elyan had preferred to spend the day with Leon, the two earthbenders exploring the hidden depths of the Water Tribe city. Arthur, Lancelot supposed, was feeling too anxious about the council to go gallivanting around, and had chosen to stay behind.

In the end, only Merlin and Lancelot ended up going. Somehow they managed to find a suit of warmer clothes for Merlin to wear, which halted his moaning for a few minutes, and then headed out towards the path. Their three female companions were seated outside their hut with a few of the tribeswomen, talking about Lancelot did not know what. Gwen stood up and walked over to wish them well.

"Got everything you need? Food? Water? Warm enough?"

"I will never feel warm in this place," Merlin replied, his voice a little muffled, as he had pulled his coat up until it covered his nose. Gwen laughed, a beautiful sound that had Lancelot's heart beating quicker than normal. She looked lovely in a parka of white fur and blue cloth, her brown eyes sparkling in the morning sun. Lancelot had to stop himself from sighing at the mere sight of her.

"I'll see you both in a couple hours, then," the earthbender said. She gave Lancelot a shy smile, reaching out her hand for him to shake. "Make sure to come back in one piece."

As they walked away, dodging buffalo yaks and hurrying tribesmen, Merlin shot Gwen a curious look over his shoulder.

"She seems to like you," he said, his tone noncommittal.

Lancelot snuck his friend a sideways glance. He had not known Arthur and Gwen long, but he could tell they had been at least good friends, if not something more. Now, Gwen was drawing away from Arthur. Lancelot liked and respected the Fire Prince and did not wish him any kind of unhappiness, but he also liked Gwen a great deal. He supposed if she decided she preferred him over Arthur all by herself, he would not complain.

Of course, Merlin was Arthur's friend, so it was understandable he was having mixed feelings about the whole thing.

"She's a lovely woman," Lancelot said, trying to sound objective and failing. "I'm glad to be getting to know her."

Merlin nodded slowly and did not answer. They were coming up a rise above the city, and Lancelot looked back for a moment to admire the view. With the sun shining down brightly on the icy city, it was hard to look at, but he took in the fine architecture, filled with teeming life. The Water Tribe, it seemed, was a tight-knit group, which Lancelot liked. It reminded him of his home at the Temple.

Despite the fact that it was mostly a barren wilderness, the North Pole was really quite beautiful, Lancelot thought as they climbed the trail. Glaciers flowed down on every side, pushing between jagged hills towards the valleys below. Ice cliffs, reaching incredible heights, reared up around them. At one point on reaching the top of the first hill, they saw a large lake towards their left, surrounded by mountains. It was still far away, but there were huts and tents gathered on its shore, and Lancelot could see, further off, a group of turtle seals leaping in the water and climbing out again. It was a peaceful scene.

"I wonder why that lake doesn't freeze?" Merlin asked. "Everything else here does."

Lancelot shrugged. He had spent his whole life in the north, but that did not mean he understood this phenomenon.

"Let's keep going," he urged. "We should make the Spirit Portal within the hour."


Merlin rubbed his gloved hands together, realizing he was starting to heartily dislike the North Pole. "How are you not freezing in those clothes?" he demanded of Lancelot, who was walking easily and straight as opposed to Merlin's hunched and shivering posture. Merlin conjured a flame in his hand; it appeared, but sputtered weakly and went out. "My firebending's on the fritz, too."

"I keep warm through an airbending technique, actually," Lancelot replied. "Airbenders are able warm themselves with only a simple breathing exercise." He took in a couple of carefully measured breaths to demonstrate, and Merlin raised an eyebrow. "From what I remember about firebenders, you create fire using the sun and your own body heat. So, when you're in a cold climate, it's hard for you to firebend because you are simply too cold to produce anything."

Merlin burrowed his hands deeper into his armpits. "That's really unfair. You'd think it would be the other way around."

From his left, on top of a snow pile, came several low growls. Merlin flinched back, and saw two gray wolves peering down at them. He was quite used to wolves from living in the forests of the southern Earth Kingdom, but not having his firebending made him feel nervous.

Lancelot hissed and grabbed Merlin's arm, pulling him back from the wolves, who were edging forward on the snow pile as if ready to jump. "I didn't expect to see wolves during the day," he admitted under his breath.

"Put your hands up," Merlin ordered, raising his.

"Why?"

"Because it makes you look bigger, more intimidating!"

Lancelot looked confused, but he did it anyway. The wolves jumped down from their perch onto the main path, still snarling. Merlin and Lancelot started backing up quicker. "I don't think it's working," Lancelot muttered, thinking fast. "Maybe we could-"

Barks and howls came from behind them on the path, and they whirled around see three more wolves advancing on them. "Hrm, well, this could be a problem," Merlin squeaked. "And I am currently completely useless. Great."

At a bark from one of the larger wolves, probably the leader, the pack closed in. Lancelot, still holding Merlin's arm, whirled his arm around, dragging the two of them in a circle to raise a small whirlwind. The airbending move was not as powerful and effective without his staff, and wolves only flinched for a second before jumping forward again. Two of them launched at Merlin, sensing the weakest link, and three went after Lancelot.

Merlin was surprised and satisfied to discover that the little hand-to-hand combat he had learned in the Fire Nation guard still remained with him. He managed to kick one wolf away, but struggled with the other one, a bigger and stronger animal. He pushed its jaws away from him and circled around til his back was facing Lancelot. The airbender was leaping and spinning through the air, leading the wolves on a merry chase as they tried to catch something-anything-of him. Airbending seemed to lack a lot of offensive, deadly moves, but Merlin could not deny that it certainly looked cool.

He did not have much time to admire Lancelot's form, though, as the two wolves facing him regrouped and charged, one on either side. Panicked, Merlin dived to the side to avoid them, and felt the bigger wolf's jaws barely miss closing around his calf. The bigger one sprawled on the ground, but his smaller companion leaped neatly to land right on top of Merlin, claws scratching and jaw snapping. Merlin kicked out, blood pumping hot through his veins, trying to get a hold on the wolf's throat to keep from biting his face off. There was hardly any leverage, though, and the wolf's hind feet were keeping his legs pinned.

Letting out a cry of frustration and fear, Merlin punched at the wolf, willing for his firebending to work, willing for something to work.

There was a great WHOOOSH of noise like something coming up from behind, and a blast of air slammed into the wolf; Merlin stared in astonishment as it flew off of him and hit the far icewall, rebounding to the ground where it lay still. He glanced towards Lancelot, but the airbender was struggling with the last wolf. Then where had that blast of air come from? Had he just hit the wolf really, really, really hard? Somehow he doubted that, but he looked at his fist with some measure of respect.

Lancelot had, by this point, proven beyond Merlin's doubt that he was an excellent addition to their team by successfully routing the other wolves. Only one, the pack leader by the size of him, still stood several feet away, growling at the airbender as he backed away slowly. Lancelot stood firm, daring him to come back for more.

When the wolves finally raced away into the snow, Lancelot turned to Merlin, a strange expression on his face. "How did you do that?" he breathed.

"You mean you didn't do that?" Merlin questioned. When Lancelot shook his head firmly, Merlin hesitated. "Well, I must be stronger than I look," he said doubtfully.

Lancelot shook his head, moving towards the firebender. "No, Merlin, I don't think that was strength. That was definitely something else."

"Well, it must have been some kind of, uh, fire-less firebending then," Merlin said, "because otherwise, it would have to have been-"

"I know-"

"-and that's impossible."

"I know. But it looked like-"

"I'm a firebender, not an-"

"-airbending."

They stared at each other for a second, then Merlin laughed. "Look at us, like two eagle hawks in water! We don't have a clue what just happened! But you're an Air Nomad, you should know better than anyone that I cannot be an airbender."

Merlin turned around to continue following the path and missed Lancelot's contemplative expression.


Merlin had a small scratch on his arm that Lancelot was worried about, but he insisted they finish the trip to the Spirit Portal. Eventually the path started to slope down in the direction of the lake, and they started to see glimpses of it through the jagged ice rising around them. The two chatted for a bit about inconsequential things, but then Merlin grew curious, as was his wont. "So tell me about these Spirit Portals. I've never even heard of them! What are they?"

"No one really pays them much attention anymore," the airbender admitted. "I know about them because Elena mediates and travels to the the Spirit World quite often. She mentioned them, and so I looked them up. Most of the information on them is incredibly old and probably wrong, but from what I can understand, they used to be gates between the physical and spirit worlds. Nowadays, humans can only pass into the Spirit World through spirit traveling, but in the olden times, they say the portals were open and clear so that we could enter physically."

"How were they closed? And why?"

Lancelot turned around a bit while they were talking, as if he heard something, but the airbender answered without a significant change in expression.

"No one knows anymore. Not even the spirits, although Elena has asked. Spirits can sometimes pass through the portals into our world, but it's difficult even for them, and it makes them vulnerable." Again, Lancelot glanced behind him and around, a furrow starting in his brow. It was starting to make Merlin feel nervous, and he stumbled a bit in the snow, hoping Lancelot wasn't hearing the wolves coming back. He was still feeling jumpy after that unexpected attack.

"What is it?" Merlin asked nervously. "Do you see something?"

"The wind keeps bringing a strange sound to me," Lancelot confessed, turning his head in every direction. "Like a jangling noise."

Merlin immediately imagined all sorts of things that could make jangling noises: harnesses, keys, bells, cooking pans . . . chains . . . He gulped. "This place is eerie," he muttered, pulling his coat tighter around him. "Why did we come out here?"

Lancelot did not answer, still trying to pinpoint where the sound was coming from. Merlin realized he could not hear it too, a rhythmic clank clank clank underscored by what he was sure were running footsteps. The sound was coming closer and closer, but the ice and the cliffs around them made the noises echo in every direction, so Merlin could not have said whether the noise was approaching from before or behind . . . or somewhere else.

Spirits portals, he thought fearfully. Could it possibly be a spirit? A vengeful spirit from the other world? His breathing was speeding up, and he hoped to the high heavens that their previous fight had finally warmed him enough to let him produce fire.

"There!" Lancelot cried, pointing to where the snow rose to a low hill on his left, and Merlin jerked around to see a dark four-legged shape appear at the top and begin racing down towards them. The wolves were back! Fire ignited, almost by instinct, in his palm, and at his side Lancelot tensed.

Before Merlin could react more, the wolf had launched itself at him and tackled him to the ground. Expecting to have his throat torn out, Merlin gave a screech and threw out a blast of fire that, while quite impressive for such a cold climate, totally missed. But the wolf did not bite him. It was, in fact . . . licking him?

Hold up, his brain said, about ten seconds too late, that's not a wolf. Indeed, it was a gigantic, furry, brown dog.

Lancelot, Merlin could see, was laughing uncontrollably at Merlin's disgusted expression as the dog put saliva on every inch of his face. The jangling sound they had heard was coming from a collar the dog was wearing. And the footsteps, it seem, came from the dog's owner, who came on the top of the rise just after Merlin managed to push the enthusiastic, furry mutt off of him. "Halig!" she cried, then slid down the little hill to stumble over to the two benders, bending the snow to make the passage faster and easier. "I am so sorry! I managed to lose him for two seconds! Halig!"

The speaker was a young, pale girl with stringy dark hair. She wrung her hands nervously, even as Lancelot jumped to reassure her.

"We were a little startled, milady, but no harm done," Lancelot said, trying to pull Merlin to his feet while the huge dog jumped everywhere. "You have a very friendly dog there."

She gave a nervous laugh, not looking either of them in the eye. "Well, we wish he weren't so friendly with the wolves, but to be sure, at least he's not dangerous."

Merlin, having managed to right himself, regain his breath, and wipe most of the spit off of his mouth, was about to give the girl a piece of his mind, really he was. He was cold, tired, scratched, fearful, and had just been licked half to death. So, he rounded on her, took a deep breath . . . and she actually looked up at him.

She had deep, deep dark eyes.

He forgot what he was about to say. "Uh," he managed intelligently.

The dog, Halig, finally settled down a little bit at her side, and there was a moment of silence where Merlin stared dumbly at the girl and the girl stared nervously at Merlin.

"Er, we're glad you got your dog back," Lancelot finally said, figuring Merlin would not be joining the conversation soon. She jumped and blinked.

"Oh, of course. I really am so sorry! Is there anything I can do to make up for it?"

Merlin rejoined the conversation so fast his brain did not have time to catch up. "Oh, that's just Merlin! Er, I mean, that's just fine!"

He could feel himself blushing furiously. Lancelot was laughing again, but silently.

After a moment's pause, the girl gave a small, shy smile that made Merlin relax a little bit. Hopefully that meant she did not think the two were serial killers wandering the frozen wastes. "Well, let me know. My name is Freya, and I live down by the lake. Where are you two off to, anyway? I don't think I've seen you before." She was looking with some confusion at Lancelot's yellow and red garb.

"We're not from around here," Lancelot said, having regained his composure. "I'm from the Northern Air Temple, and we were just traveling to see the Spirit Portal."

Her eyes lit up. "You came with the Fire Prince and the Earth Princess!" When they nodded, her smile was much more enthusiastic. "Since we don't live in the city proper, we don't hear a lot about what's going on." Her look turned thoughtful. "If you are new to the Water Tribe, perhaps I could escort you to the Spirit Portal? I have been there many times. Halig could be our guard. Perhaps you could explain to me about all the things that have been happening beyond our shores."

The dog looked up when he heard his name and wriggled his rear end enthusiastically. Merlin, not trusting himself to say anything coherent or unembarrassing, merely looked at Lancelot, who smiled, trying not to smirk at Merlin's poleaxed expression. "We would be honored, milady."

Freya was not particularly talkative, it turned out, but she listened intently as Lancelot (and later Merlin, when his heart rate had slowed down) described the conditions in the world outside. She gasped at all the right parts when Merlin gave a thrilling retelling of their escape from Ba Sing Se, and asked a few pertinent questions when Lancelot briefly recounted their future plans. Halig bounded ahead, then came back to run behind again, his long pink tongue lolling out several inches. By the time they reached near the Spirit Portal, Merlin was thoroughly smitten-and he could not bring himself to care. He knew he was probably acting like a right fool every time she looked at him, feeling his heart speed up whenever they stepped close, admiring how she bent a small snow pile out of their way. He had not felt this way since he first met Morgana.

The path that Freya led them on ended by sloping down into a valley filled with twisted trees and strange ice formations. Merlin shivered a little at the convoluted shapes, thinking it looked like a whole army of people being tortured. The effect was very creepy, and he almost wished they had turned back. Then he saw the fascinated look in Lancelot's eye and decided to grin and bear it. Of course, if they had gone back after the wolf attack, he never would have met Freya, he thought as he eyed the slim girl out of the corner of his eye. She was traipsing through the roots and branches with the ease of someone who had done it many times, a small smile on her lips.

After they had been tromping through the trees for a few minutes, a strange purple light began shining through the trees, something that felt unnatural and out of place in this cold, white land. All the same, Merlin found himself compelled to move towards the light at an even faster pace than Lancelot, tripping on roots and branches in his attempt to reach it, Halig panting right at his heels. Freya panted out a soft "Wait!" but, for the first time since looking into her eyes, he had forgotten her.

At the center of the forest, an icy dome shot through with purple and red light sat waiting for them. There was no birdsong or sound of any kind as the three benders crept towards it. Despite his haste to get there, Merlin had never been so fascinated or repulsed by something in his life. He felt at once a strange urge to touch it and a desire to run in the other direction. It was beautiful and horrifying. He moved forward as in a trance, putting out his hand to reach the surface. He could feel a slight heat radiating from the dome, despite its icy look. Lancelot grabbed his arm, startling both Merlin and Freya.

"Um, Merlin? I wouldn't touch it if I were you."

Merlin pulled his hand back as if burned. "Why not?"

Lancelot shrugged, watching his face closely. "Just . . . you never know what might happen."

"It's a bit strange, isn't it?" Freya commented, watching their reactions. "I've touched it many times, myself. Nothing ever happens."

Merlin looked back at the dome. "You say there are only two of these in the world?"

"Yes, this one, and one at the South Pole."

Merlin's brow furrowed. "Then why do I feel like I've been here before? Seen this somewhere?"

Lancelot was not listening. He was peering around in the trees to his right, eyes narrowed. "What?" Merlin asked, following the airbender's gaze but seeing nothing. Halig, who had been nosing in the icy soil to their left, was now standing stock still, watching in the same direction as Lancelot.

The airbender shook his head. "I just-hang on, I think I see something."

He moved off into the forest, steps light and quick. Merlin was curious, but his eyes turned back to the dome of the Spirit Portal. He could again see Freya out of the corner of his eye, watching him curiously, but the purple light shining from the portal was entrancing, and he found himself reaching forward to touch the ice. He wondered what it would feel like, wondered what it would take to get the ice to crack, for the portal to open-

Just before his fingers reached the smooth surface, Halig started barking furiously, racing forward into the trees where Lancelot had disappeared. Merlin's hand dropped and he whipped around. Then, he heard a yell emanating from those same trees. Lancelot was nowhere to be seen.

"Lancelot?" he yelled, sprinting forward to where he had last seen his friend, with Freya at his heels. "Lancelot!"

There was no answer, but he found the airbender slumped on the ground behind a lightning-struck tree, unconscious. The dog was crouched a few feet away, growling. Heart pounding, Merlin shook Lancelot a bit and checked for injuries. He could see no blood or cuts anywhere.

"It's times like these that I wish I knew how to heal, but I'm only a spiritbender," Freya muttered. Merlin wondered briefly what that was, but most of his attention was focused on the prone airbender before him.

Abruptly, Lancelot sat up, his eyes wide. Merlin and Freya flinched back in surprise. "Lancelot, are you alright? What happened?" The airbender stared at him for several moments as if he did not quite understand the question. Merlin touched his head, fearing brain damage, when Lancelot responded. "No, I'm fine. I just slipped and hit my head."

"Did you see anyone?" Merlin asked, starting to feel unnerved by Lancelot's unblinking eyes.

"Oh, no, I was mistaken," he replied, voice strangely soft. "There was no one here."

Lancelot stood, with Merlin following. "Er, are you sure you're alright?" the firebender asked, worried. Lancelot looked towards the Spirit Portal, the purple light shining off of his dark eyes. Freya was now clutching Halig close as he growled softly at Lancelot. The airbender turned back to Merlin and smiled warmly.

"Never been better."


DUN DUN DUN.

Thanks for reading :)