earkjnaelrgja i keep forgetting I'm uploading this... my stupid Yahoo mixes up all my reviews so I can't reply to anyone because it lumps every review i've gotten for VVuL together and I don't know who I've already replied to or what... UGH!

Anyway, I hope everyone is staying safe with the snow and ice coming around lately..


Von Verlust und Liebe

Chapter Nine: Ice Castle in Ryven


Ludwig raced down the hall, hoping his run would go unheard by anyone else in the castle. He finally arrived at the door, previously mentioned by Toris. If worse came to worse, he was walking into the dragon's lair. However, that meant he would be able to face the creature head on and hopefully take it down.

He broke open the door to reveal a young man with sandy blonde hair and ocean blue eyes staring up at the ceiling while resting beside a fire, which wasn't melting the ice it rested in.

Said man looked up at Ludwig, "Who are you? Some new person he got? Sucks to be you. You might be here for a long time. I'm Alfred F. Jones!"

"Alfred?" so this was the fairy that Arthur was looking for. But … there were no wings.

"Yeah, you got a name?" The fairy sat up and began rubbing his hands together to warm them by the fire.

Ludwig remembered the small bag he'd been handed full of warming stones for all possible escapees. He reached for it and plucked one from the bag, "Here, it's a gift."

Alfred caught the stone and an odd smile came over his face, "A warming stone … you're not a captured victim are you?"

Ludwig shook his head, "No, I'm not and I'm here to get you out. Do you know where A Feliciano Vargas may be being kept?"

The fairy slipped the stone into his pocket and stood up, "That guy? The one with the broken necklace and the weird hair? Brother to that weird kid I met a long time ago?"

"Yes …" Ludwig didn't know why, but his heart skipped a beat.

"He's not here anymore … sorry, dude …" Alfred shrugged, grabbed a small cloth and setting some things inside it to carry the stuff out with.

Ludwig felt anger wash over him, "What do you mean 'he's not here'?"

"He managed to escape a few weeks ago… haven't seen him since."

The Gartyrarren didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Feliciano had escaped? Into the wintery nothingness? He would freeze out there! He … probably already had.

"Dude was serious about getting out. Said he was going south." Alfred explained.

Ludwig nodded, "Okay, thank you. Let's get you out of here. Are there any other prisoners?"

"Just one, but he likes it here. Besides, he's treated like royalty here … especially since he is … he wouldn't want to leave." Alfred muttered.

"Okay." Ludwig walked to the door, only to have Alfred grab him and place a hand over his mouth.

"He'll be back soon, dear older sister. When that happens, I'll talk to him again." A female voice echoed down the hall.

"A-are you sure about that? You still want to marry him?" another feminine voice asked.

"Of course! He's perfect and strong and we will make strong, glorious children. A lot better than the brat his lover now carries."

"Oh … promise me you won't do anything to him or the baby? You know how protective Ivan is …"

Silence followed as the footsteps echoed further down the hall, "Fine. For now. The child is innocent, but the mermaid has to die."

"Natalia!"

The voices disappeared and Alfred let out a sigh, "That's the only reason I've been safe for so long … Ivan managed to kidnap himself the king of the mermaids sometime before your friend came along … He usually toys with us, torture and what were not uncommon. However, Yao comes along and at first, stayed in the room with the rest of the victims, but then after some time, he began leaving me alone and then Yao was moved to a different room entirely.

"Did you know all mermaids, no matter what gender, can get pregnant? Yao explained it to me. Their species has become so far and few between that their ancestors looked into alternative methods of reproduction. They found the magic and now it's ingrained into their being. Males with other males, females and males and even two females … I found it pretty cool, you know? 'Cause Arthur was once looking into magic like that." Alfred rambled, grabbing up his pack.

"Well, my point is, that's why it's useless trying to convince Yao to leave, so … yeah, let's go. Yekaterina and Natalia should be gone now, so we should hurry."

Ludwig nodded and slowly opened the door to make sure the coast was clear, before sneaking out with the fairy. He tiptoed down the hall with Alfred and finally made it to the last hall, where the opening to the outside was.

It was almost too easy. Ludwig had a sudden feeling of dread, "Go, just make a break for it, don't turn back!" he shoved Alfred toward the exit.

Alfred yelped, "What about y-"

"Just go now!" Ludwig shouted just as the halls began to shake. Alfred frowned, but nodded and took off down the hall into the snowy outside.

As Alfred disappeared, a rather large off white, almost cream colored dragon made his appearance. The large beast with amethyst eyes let out a loud roar and reared back his head. Ludwig recognized this behavior and drew his sword and bit his lip. As long as Alfred made it out. As predicted, the dragon opened his massive maw.

Ludwig quickly ducked behind an ice statue as the dragon let out a huge torrent of snow and ice.

The knight waited it out, before hurrying out from the hiding spot and ducking under the dragon's head to take a slice at his arm. The sword, specially designed for such combat, sliced easily into the flesh, right through the scales.

Ivan let out a roar, and hissed, rearing back on his hind legs. He turned and swung his large tail, hitting Ludwig in the chest. The Gartyrarren knight was flung into a wall. He coughed hard, trying to gain back his breath. He struggled to stand up, cursing himself for forgetting to watch for the tails. Had he seriously been out of battle that long? It had been at least three months since his last encounter with anything dangerous, like this.

Ludwig bit his lip and managed to dodge another blast of freezing snow and ice the dragon let forth, but once again was not wary of the tail. He was swept off of his feet and had the breath knocked out of him again. The tail whipped up high and was falling back down to smash into the knight. He raised his sword but everything froze when a voice called out.

"Stop!" Ivan stopped, Ludwig stopped and both turned to look to the side.

A young looking man with long black hair stood in the entrance to the hall. He wore a long red robe and he had the telltale features of the merpeople in the east, thin bodies, slanted eyes and lightly tanned skin.

Was this the Yao that Alfred spoke of?

"Ivan … let him go." The man spoke softly, but firmly.

The dragon looked at Ludwig, sniffed the air, growled, then walked over to Yao and surrounded him, growling in a softly, almost purr.

Yao let his hand rest on Ivan's head, "You have no need to get into a fight. It's pointless and you'll get hurt." The merman, in human form, rested his hand against the large bleeding wound in the dragon's arm.

Warm dark eyes looked up and were instantly cold, "You, leave now. You've done enough damage here."

Ludwig nodded and picked himself up off the floor and stumbled from the castle. The group that was standing there, getting ready to leave, looked up and Arthur rushed over to him.

"I can't thank you enough for going through with this mission. You've done more good than you'll ever know."

Ludwig nodded and noticed that Toris and two other Snow Fairies were with the group, already pushing through into the labyrinth to escape.

The small group quickly made their way through the labyrinth. Once on the outside, Ludwig turned back to look at the castle. Two cream colored dragons rested on the top of the castle, both smaller than the one he fought.

They growled lowly and slipped away.

"Well, Alfred told me about your friend … are you …?" Arthur left the sentence unfinished.

Ludwig sighed, "I have to go south … find out if he survived the snow."

"I see." Arthur said, "I thank you again. This mission might not have been a success without you. You have my gratitude. Do let me know sometime in the future how I can repay you."

The knight nodded and said his goodbyes before turning to the direction of south. With the warming stone, Ludwig found it easier to traverse the snow and desolate areas.

About two months passed before he found his way out of Ryven and into the southern areas. This is where he lost Feliciano's trail. No one had seen that particular tanned man with golden eyes because several men and women fit the description.

He spent several months in the islands, searching, looking, trying anything to pick up a trail. With the knowledge that Feliciano had made it that far, and was not frozen, he had forced himself to continue on.


~Lady Pyrien