Wind howled above their heads, screaming with barely restrained fury. It breathed down their necks, its mad mutterings whispered of icy wrath. Distantly, snow rose from cold, abandoned streets, and swept forward to settle high over their heads in a transparent barrier.

Pale blue glared icily at them. Mystral's white hair swirled about her face like angry snakes. In her hands, the ice orb shined. Its depths swirled and hidden beneath the haze a single white entity stood starkly against the ice. Pale red danced across its plumed surface.

"Mokona." Syaoran murmured, his voice tight. Mokona glanced up from Sakura's arms at the boy and nodded. The bun's mouth opened wide and Hien, Syaoran's sword, flew into Syaoran's waiting hand.

Kurogane gritted his teeth together. The energy amassing before them pushed at their defences warily. The ninja could almost see it; the power pulsing in the air and through Mystral's child body. This…this was magic, the likes of which he had never seen before. Princess Tomoyo's powers were great indeed, but they lacked the menace, the killing intent behind the witchery before him now. It was dangerous, and the thought nearly made him grin.

There was a crunch of snow from beside him.

Syaoran stepped forward, his sword by his side. His jaw was set, and his brown eyes were dark with determination.

"You have it." He stated, his voice rising to reach Mystral. The spirit titled her head to the side, her lips quirking into a little frown.

"The feather. Sakura-hime's feather. Please return it."

A pale hand glided over the ice orb, frost scraping off the surface revealing the clear, glassy surface below. The feather was suspended in the center of the orb. Mystral gazed deeply at it, then with a sweep of her hand the orb shimmered. It wavered in the air, suspended by nothing. Pale blue eyes steeled and Mystral's arms danced. Bright spell words swept around the spirit and the orb.

The orb vanished.

"No" Mystral said. "I cannot return it yet"

"It is not yours to keep!" Syaoran protested, the first stirrings of anger colouring his words.

"No" The snow child repeated, eyes downcast.

"But it's Sakura's precious memories!" Mokona cut in. "It belongs to Sakura!" The princess's arms tightened around Mokona.

"No" Mystral repeated and she looked up. Her eyes clashed with Syaoran's. The wind howled.

Syaoran swallowed tightly. With a steely hiss, Hien slid out of its sheath. The blade's surface glinted in the pale light, reflecting the rushing snow. The sheath fell, discarded to the ground. Slowly, the blade rose, and with a faint chink was levelled towards Mystral.

"I will take back the princess's feathers." Brown eyes darkened warningly. The blade gleamed. "No matter what." From behind him, there was a faint whisper of the boy's name.

"The orb is still there, Syaoran-kun" Fai said in hushed tones. "It is only hidden by her magic." Kurogane glanced sidelong at the mage who ignored him.

Syaoran nodded grimly.

Mystral gave a haughty smile. "My task is not completed" The smile grew dangerous. "I will not allow you to stop me"

With a screech, the wind crashed down towards them.

It rushed across the snow. Syaoran's eyes widened in alarm. In its wake great gouges were etched into the earth and stone.

Syaoran turned, his eyes catching Sakura's. He had to protect —

"Dodge it, boy!" Kurogane's voice whipped across the rising noise.

With a surprised yell, Syaoran flung himself to the side, the blades of wind slicing past. His arm stung.

He looked up hurriedly, eyes searching. Snow drifted in the air. Kurogane had dodged the same way and was leaning on Souhi, eyes narrowed. Syaoran looked around. Sakura. Where was she? The snow settled. Relief washed over Syaoran. Opposite of the boy and the ninja, Fai had grabbed Sakura and had taken them both out of harm's way. The mage met Syaoran's eyes.

"Don't worry about her." The mage mouthed. "Go get her feather"

Syaoran drew a breath then nodded. Tightening his grip of his sword, Syaoran stood and faced Mystral. The spirit's smile had darkened and her eyes held him in her silent challenge.

Spell words weaved in the air about her, and the wind howled in response. Above them, the clouds swirled, dark and heavy. Another gust of blade-like wind surged forward. Syaoran quickly dodged and dashed forward.

With a yell, he jumped and swung his sword down. The blade met ice. The hastily erected barrier cracked under the force of the blow. Syaoran gritted his teeth but quickly flung himself away when the wind came back with a vengeance. Mystral's smile had vanished. Her hands clutched the now visible orb.

She raised it above her head. The feather gleamed within the orb. Light flashed across the dark clouds. Accompanied by a great clap, lightning crashed down. It burnt the snow and the stone beneath, dark spiderweb burns scraped across the surface. White collapsed down from the heavens. Snow billowed and buffeted in a blinding wall of white.

Syaoran couldn't see anything but snow. The flakes bit at his exposed skin. He couldn't hear anything but the rush of the wind. He gritted his teeth, raised his sword, and closed his eyes. He waited. And waited.

His eyes flashed open, body moving quickly to the side. With a hiss, a large shard of ice sailed past, narrowly missing him. The snow had subsided somewhat. Syaoran could see more now. Mystral stood not far, hands tight around the orb she held in front of her.

Her hair flew wildly in the wind and sweat beaded on her forehead. Pale blue eyes were wide with anger and shock. Her hands tightened on the orb. Syaoran clenched his teeth and attacked. Mystral's eyes narrowed, and the beginnings of a spell swept through the air. Belatedly, Syaoran saw the ice crashing up from the ground. It was too fast, he wouldn't be able to —

Crack.

Silence.

Brown, and icy blue eyes widened. In the distance there was two muffled yells.

A gasp for breath. The orb slipped through numb fingers, dropping with a soft thump into the snow.

Drip. Drip. Drip…

Pale child hand's reached out and brushed wet ice. They slid across the slippery surface, up, up to brush at pale hair that clung to now sweaty skin.

Mystral's lips parted.

"Fai"

A/N: I am so sorry for this. For the cliffhanger and the late update. Dear god.

On another note, this chapter... I wrote while listening to songs from Tsubasa Chronicles Soundtracks. Actually now that I think about it, I've done that for nearly all my chapters. Huh. The two main ones for this were Ship of Fools and Catastrophe. I'm blabbering now, excuse me.

I hope you enjoyed reading Chapter 10 of Smiles of Snow and Ice!