"Boy is it cold." Naomi noted as she wrapped her arms around herself to ward off the cold. "Not that it wasn't implied by the name of 'Freeze'enberg or anything like that but still."
"Have I ever mentioned how much I hate the cold?" Luna asked as she shook out her wings. "They are not good for the wings."
"We won't be here for long." Elena told them all. "Just a quick trip to the castle to get the orb and we'll be on our way to the ruins." Together they left the boat at the Freezenberg docks and headed toward the castle.
Just inside the doorway the found Princess Hildegard, a friend of both Amber and Sofia's waiting for them. She looked a little disappointed which Elena didn't understand until she spoke. "I'm sorry, but we don't have this orb receptacle thing you're looking for." She revealed.
"What do you mean?" Isabel asked for clarification. "Do you mean it's not here in the castle or it's not in Freezenberg?"
"Oh it's here in Freezenberg alright, at least for now." Hildegard answered the Avaloran princess. "And some of our guards did find it initially but," She hesitated as if not sure how to explain it. "You see, they found it in an ice cavern not far from here." She started.
"I'm seeing a pattern here, again with the caves." Gabe noted wryly before getting shushed by Elena.
"They were ambushed by some woman and things that were described as 'floating shards of ice'." Hildegard explained to them. "Our royal sorcerer was with the party but when she tried to use magic on the woman she managed to deflect that. She's earned the name Spellbreaker around here because of that, and because we don't have another name for her."
"I've got a name for her." Naomi noted and when Elena gave her a half shocked, half disapproving look she held up her hands. "I was going to go with trouble. What were you thinking Elena?" She asked.
"Never mind." Elena answered with a shake of her head. "Is this 'Spellbreaker' still in the ice caves?" She asked Hildegard.
"We can only assume so." The princess of Freezenberg answered her. "When they retreated a couple of guards were left behind to keep an eye on the area and she hasn't been seen. As far as we know there are no other ways in or out of that cave."
"Then we need to go in there and find out what she wants with the orb." Elena decided. She looked to her sister and friends. "At least after we get something warmer to wear."
"Oh, I can help you with that." Hildegard said to them. "Come on, follow me and we'll get you some outfits more suitable for the cooler climate." They all followed the raven haired princess further into the castle and into a room where they kept a bunch of winter wear. "Choose whatever you'd like." Hildegard told them.
"Thank you Princess Hildegard." Elena said with a small curtsy. She headed toward a rack and asked, "Where are your parents?"
"Daddy and my older sister are in town right now." Hildegard answered. "He has some…unfortunate news to deliver as a result of the ambush and as the next in line for the throne my sister went with him."
Elena nodded in understanding. She had had the misfortune of accompanying her father to that task or two a few times in her life before Shuriki had attacked Avalor and killed her parents. She also noticed that Hildegard said nothing about her mother, making her think either she was gone like Amber and James's mother or otherwise not around.
"You're Princess Isabel, right?" Hildegard asked.
"Yeah." She answered as she took a light blue coat off a hanger and pressed it against herself while looking in a mirror to see what it looked like. "Why?"
"Just kind of curious." Hildegard replied. "I've heard Amber and Sofia talking about you a lot." She leaned against the wall a bit. "Especially the part where Amber teases her brother every now and again about getting along so well with you that she thinks he has a crush on you."
Elena had to hide her laughter when she glanced over at Isabel and saw very faintly that her cheeks turned a little red before she lifted the coat up as if she were trying it on hood first. "We get along alright." She tried to say nonchalantly. She none the less heard Christina giggle just a little bit herself.
"Hmm, so I've heard." Hildegard said with amusement.
Elena decided she should come to her little sister's rescue. "Is there any map of the caves we can use for guidance?" She asked.
Hildegard nodded. "I think so. Let me get someone to check for you." She moved to the doorway and made an inquiry about it to one of the castle guards, who saluted and went off to find what she wanted.
By the time Hildegard had received what the crown princess had requested everyone had picked out suitable winter gear or soft parka like coverings for the Jaquins. The Freezenberg princess gave Christina and Isabel a glance and smiled a little. "Cute, nice choices." She told them. They wore some of her favorites though Christina's wasn't really her color and of course she had her own personal made ones in her room. She glanced at Elena and had to do a double take, for a moment she seemed almost like her mother with what she had picked out.
"Is it okay?" Elena asked a little curiously.
"Yes, yes. It's good, it looks very nice." She said a bit distractedly but before anyone could decide how to pursue that she offered a small map to Mateo. "This is a sketched map of the last scouting expedition made to the cave. I doubt it's changed that much but there might be something we don't know about, especially if this Spellbreaker is still there." She informed them.
Mateo took a look at the map. "Seems to be a pretty basic layout for a cave." He told Elena. "We should be able to find this lady easily."
"What if she needs the orb for a good reason Elena?" Isabel asked her now.
That made Elena pause in thought. If it was a good enough reason then perhaps it would be best to leave it with the other woman. But they didn't know that she wasn't just competition for their powers, and the fact she ambushed people didn't speak too well for that. "We'll worry about that when we find out Isa." She told her little sister.
Now Hildegard walked with them as they were leaving the castle. "I'd suggest you guys be careful." She now said. "I don't know what you should expect. But please come by before you leave so that I can tell Sofia and Amber that you guys are still okay." She had also heard about their capture by the Throgs.
"We will, promise." Elena said just before they left the castle and followed the map they were given to the ice caves. They all found it a little difficult to cross the frozen area since Avalor rarely if ever got snow and even when Elena had seen while trapped in Sofia's amulet she never had to walk in it at that time.
They found the entrance to the ice caves. Elena had to stop a minute to explain to the guards why they were here and that Hildegard and her father had given them permission to venture inside. Meanwhile Isabel and Mateo began their spell and tracking combination.
"Thanks for letting me come along Gabe." Christina said to her older brother. "I know mom had to agree to it too but you still could have probably talked her out of it even before the problem at the Throg temple."
"Think nothing of it sis." Gabe said as he placed his hand on her small shoulder. "It was my idea to introduce you and Princess Isabel in the first place. It'd be kind of wrong of me to stop you from getting to know her. So far this is what we've been doing ever since you two met after all."
"Sometimes I'm surprised that Elena let's Isabel even do this." Christina admitted.
Gabe found it weird that his little sister called the princesses of Avalor by their first names. Then again she wasn't a royal guard at the palace who just happened to be their friends, she was just a regular girl who was their friend and happened to be brother to a royal guard. "I do too sometimes." He admitted. "But I guess Princess Elena can hardly tell her not to do something risky when as a ruler she does risky things all the time."
"But isn't that what makes her a great ruler?" Christina wondered curiously.
She noticed what looked like a dreamy look on his face for a second. "Yeah, it's what makes her great." He agreed but quickly shook it off. "A great ruler, yeah. She knows she can't ask anyone to do something that she isn't willing to undertake herself, even if sometimes she should just ask instead of doing."
Elena strolled over to them. "Alright guys, we're in the clear. Let's get in there and find out what's going on with this Spellbreaker and the orb." She said. Mateo cast his spell which Isabel set her tracker for and together they ventured into the ice cave.
The instant they stepped in however it seemed as if the temperature dropped even more. Isabel wished she had a thermometer to be sure but she was sure it had entered into the negative degree zone. She moved closer to Christina, the closest person to her. She even felt Kara move in and land on her shoulder and so she picked Kara up and slipped her underneath the fabric covering her shoulder.
"You know, sometimes in the early morning I'd wake up and think it was chilly by Avalor's bay." Naomi noted, her teeth chattering just a little. "I will never feel that way again after this."
"Yeah no kidding." Elena noted with a shiver. She looked to Blaze. "Es un poca fria?" She asked the little bujito. She lifted her sleeve and tore some of the lining from around the inside of the arm. She wrapped it around her body as best as she could. "Esperemos que no nos tendremos que aqui por mucho tiempo."
Naomi was about to question what that meant when Mateo unintentionally beat her to it. "Hopefully we won't be in here for long." He voiced. "I don't know how much of this low temperature we can take."
"Why didn't Princess Hildegard tell us it was this cold in here?" Christina wondered. "Or why didn't the guards tell her it was this cold in here? Or are we just that affected that much by this kind of weather?"
"For what it's worth I have a feeling it isn't normally like this in here." Mateo answered her. "Something tells me it has to do with the presence of that lady that Princess Hildegard was telling us about. I just don't know why she would create this effect."
"Maybe it wasn't this cold when they came in here initially." Migs suggested. "Maybe that Spellbreaker's presence is what makes it so cold around here."
As they prepared to turn the corner they saw two of the floating icicle things that Hildegard had told them about. Before the Avaloran party could decide how to handle things the mystery entities shot out sharp icicle spears at them. They all barely dodged it but to their surprise it was thick enough to embed in the cave walls.
"Oh, that's not good." Luna noted.
Without thinking about it Gabe moved toward one of the icicle creatures with his spear extended even as Naomi drew the throwing axe. She hoped she hit one of them rather than Gabe but if she didn't try these things might succeed in hurting one of them instead. So she did her best to take aim and tossed the throwing axe.
Even as Gabe moved in and rammed the spear into the floating icicle entity, shattering it into a many pieces, the axe flew through the air and slammed into the other one, though it barely avoided giving Gabe a hole in his sleeve. Even as it was shattered as well and the axe headed back to Naomi the royal guard gave her a look of approval and annoyance.
"Nice shot." Elena replied.
"Yeah, nice one." Gabe agreed but had to ask. "But, um, how did you know you wouldn't miss and get me instead?"
Naomi shrugged, trying to seem more confident than she had felt. "I didn't." She admitted. "But hey it was worth a shot. And if I was wrong then I would know I needed the practice." She received looks of disbelief from everyone else. "Anyway it worked and we have an orb to get, so let's get a move on before we freeze to death."
"Alright, but no more blind throws." Elena chided her best friend before they continued on, more cautiously this time because they were sure there had to be more than just those two icicle balls.
"Those things almost seemed like Ice Witches to me." Christina commented. "I mean, no offense to Lucinda and other witches, but still."
Just as they predicted two more came around from a split in the cave. This time though it was almost as if Naomi and Gabe had planned out what to do. Naomi tossed the throwing axe again and splintered the one on the left even as Gabe took out the one on the right with the stone spear. Naomi was even prepared for the axe's return.
"Nice work you two." Elena said with a smile on her face.
"Yes, very well done." They heard someone say from behind them now. They all turned to see a woman who looked to be almost as old Elena herself, holding the orb in one hand and a scepter of some sort in the other hand. She wore a blue material of some sort. "Tell me, what is it you're doing in this cave?"
"We could ask you the same thing, you don't belong here either." Naomi retorted. Elena noticed Blaze was watching her carefully and she wondered why. "You're the Spellbreaker lady?"
She laughed, it didn't sound too pleasant to Isabel. "That would be me, I see my reputation has proceeded me." She replied. Elena noticed two of what her best friend had dubbed as Ice Witches now on either side of her.
"I wouldn't be so proud about that." Gabe noted brusquely.
"We came to try to find the very object that you're currently holding." Elena told the mysterious woman simply. "From what we've heard from Princess Hildegard you came here for the same thing. We've been…charged with collecting the orbs and keeping them safe."
"I see." Spellbreaker said somewhat dubiously. It wasn't exactly a lie but it wasn't the full truth either. She balanced the orb in her hands. "I'd be more than happy to turn it over to you after I've done what I need with it."
"What do you need with it?" Mateo asked curiously. He thought it might help them unveil the powers of the orb. He hadn't had much of a chance to examine the orb that they had just acquired and the one before was eluding him unless Gabe was right that it protected against magic.
"I need this orb to restore our lost queen." Spellbreaker answered simply, seemingly mournfully. "She was unfairly severely injured and I want to restore what was lost."
That brought Naomi, Mateo and the two younger girls up short. Gabe seemed unsure and Elena didn't know what to think. "Well…" Elena started. She could certainly understand the cause. If she could find a way to bring back her parents she would do it…or at least so she thought.
Blaze launched off of her shoulder and started to fly around, hooting in what the crown princess thought was an anxious way. She watched her little bujito and quickly picked up on her agitation. She circled around Elena and her friends before moving back toward Elena.
"Are we missing something?" Naomi asked.
"What is that thing's problem?" Spellbreaker snapped in annoyance.
Blaze's drifted right up to Elena and looked into her eyes. Then it seemed odd to her, maybe it was the trick of what little light there was reflecting on the ice caves but it seemed as if the little bujito's eyes glowed. Then in her mind Elena saw a vision; one of a blue skinned woman attacking a snowy kingdom very much like Freezenberg, she imprisoned the people and forced one the queen of the land to work for her. She sent a creature to hunt down the princess and was only stopped by others who had stepped in to help, she could feel the queen's daughter and the princess's son among them. Then the vision was gone.
"Elena?" Isabel asked her worriedly.
Then for the first time since she could recall Zuzo was there by her side without being called first. "You just saw the truth Princess. She's lying and if she gets that orb that evil Ice Queen will rebuild her power in the ice barrier and eventually strike at another kingdom. You know you can't let that happen." He said to her in the most serious tone she had ever heard from him even as Blaze still floated in front of Elena.
"This is getting ridiculous." Spellbreaker stated. "We have what we need to set things right. Let's get out of here."
"Blaze, conseguir el obre de ella." Elena commanded. The brief annoyance Naomi always felt when Elena did that was quickly dashed as the little bujito tore away from the crown princess and dove straight toward Spellbreaker, angling around and grasping the orb as best she could in her tiny claws and grasping it, heading back to them.
"Give that back!" Spellbreaker growled as she reached for it and barely missed grabbing it.
"What are you doing Elena?" Naomi asked her. She couldn't know what the crown princess had mysteriously seen and she couldn't know what Zuzo had said to her.
"We can't let her have this orb." Elena said to them. "I don't know how this orb can do it, but she wants to restore an evil Ice Queen that is just as bad as Shuriki ever was. Her people, called ice barriers or something, have already tried to take over some kingdom. I don't know who stopped them but I know it wasn't an easy thing at all."
For a moment all they could do is stare at Elena and wonder for just the briefest moment if the crown princess had lost her mind. But then Gabe turned to face Spellbreaker with the spear raised, Naomi turned with the throwing axe ready, and even as Migs took a defensive posture in front of Isabel and Christina, Luna and Skylar got ready to pounce with very abnormal ferocious growls.
Spellbreaker raised the staff she held and fired it at Blaze. With a screech of pain she dropped the orb and spiraled out of control. Isabel rushed forward and caught the little bujito in her hands. "She's okay, just stunned." Isabel announced.
Naomi tossed her axe at one of the Ice Witches before it could dive at the orb, shattering it. The impact knocked the orb against the wall. Gabe dove for it but was slammed into by the remaining Ice Witch. When it pulled away Gabe looked like he was in pain.
"Gabe!" Christina gasped but got stopped from moving to check on her younger brother by one of Luna's wings.
Elena moved to check on him but was intercepted by Spellbreaker. "You shouldn't have gotten in my way girl." She said dangerously, seemingly unaware of who she was addressing though Elena suspected given what her supposed queen had done it was more likely she didn't care. Before Elena could respond she blasted Elena in the chest with her own staff and she flew backwards, landing beside Gabe. Her hand landed on top of his and she realized he felt cold, she could see his skin and lips were turning blue. In fact, she noticed her hand was turning blue as well.
"Elena!" Isabel gasped now.
"Maybe we should have come here initially instead." Spellbreaker said mockingly. "We could have taken over this realm far better than the other one."
Naomi glanced around frantically and then called out, "Christina!" When the young girl looked at her she tossed the throwing axe to her and then dove for the spear that Gabe had been forced to drop. She got a hold of it but slid into the cave wall hard. "Ow." She bit off.
The Ice Witch dove right at Naomi but the blonde was just able to dodge out of the way of it.
Mateo raised his tamborita but before he could get off a spell Spellbreaker was in the way and knocked the tamborita from his grasp before slamming the palm of her hand into his chest hard, sending him landing a few feet away. To Isabel's horror she saw that he was turning as blue as her sister and Gabe were.
"Can't stand the cold I would wager." Spellbreaker mocked them and then laughed. She turned to the two younger girls and the Jaquins got ready to strike at her if she moved any closer.
The Ice Witch dove toward Naomi again and she brought the spear up and shattered it, but the one of the icicles slashed her arm, ironically right where she had been shot in the mines. She fell backwards hard and felt the cold start to wrap around her as it seemed to do to her friends. Then her hand hit something and she looked up to see the orb. She reached over to get a hold on it. "Maybe I can at least stop her from taking it." She mused softly.
"Gabe." Elena whispered softly as she tried to move closer to him. For an instant she had the idea that maybe she could warm them both up again before realizing neither had body heat to give the other. "So sorry." She said to him and then looked toward her sister and friends. "So sorry." She whispered again.
Naomi felt the bite of the wound on her arm, but she realized she felt warm. She had gotten a hold of the orb and it had warmed her up. How does a warming orb help them bring back this Ice Queen? She wondered but let it go. She had other things to worry about.
Christina tossed the axe at Spellbreaker but she dodged out of the way expertly and it ended up being embedded in the wall. "Nice try little girl. Prepare to join your friends in cold oblivion." She said.
Naomi got up, keeping a very firm grip on the orb, and pulled out the axe, struggling only a little. When it was pulled out she turned toward Spellbreaker. "Hey." Naomi called out. "Still standing over here."
Spellbreaker turned to see the blonde was standing with orb against her body and throwing axe in hand. She simply laughed. "You can't stop me. That orb's power is passive only, you can't direct that at me. And it will take more than that axe to take me out as I took out your friends."
Naomi took a moment to process what she said. She didn't know what their enemy meant by a passive power. But it didn't matter. "I can stop you without taking you out." Naomi promised and tossed the axe.
Spellbreaker got ready to move again, assuming that Naomi would aim for her head or at least the center of her body. But Naomi had timed it well and the axe shattered the staff that she held. "No." She ground out angrily as the axe returned to Naomi.
The cold in the cave started to go down dramatically and it seemed as if it weren't quite as bad as they had thought it was. Naomi quickly dashed over, nearly losing her balance on the ice, and placed the orb in between Elena and Gabe. "Come on work." She whispered.
"Hey." Skylar growled and Spellbreaker turned toward the sound. "I think we can take you without getting frostbitten now." With that both he and Luna leapt toward Spellbreaker, she scrambled backwards and barely dodged the pouncing Jaquins. They snapped at her anyway.
Elena and Gabe felt circulation returning to their bodies and smiled happily at each other. The crown princess threw her arms around Gabe and hugged him happily for a moment before reaching down for the scepter of light she had dropped. Naomi handed her blushing friend his spear back and reached down for the orb. "I'm going to help Mateo. You two help the Jaquins take care of her." Naomi said.
Spellbreaker had backed up toward the place she had first shown up at as the Jaquins stalked her and she saw Elena and Gabe approaching. "Looks like we weren't so easy after all." Elena said a bit harshly. "It's over."
"It is." Spellbreaker agreed. She tossed something to the ground and fog enveloped the area for a moment, when it cleared she was gone.
Naomi had allowed the orb to work its magic on Mateo and handed him his tamborita back before helping him to his feet. "Are you okay Mateo?" She asked.
He nodded. "I'm alright Naomi, thanks." He replied.
Christina ran over and threw her arms around her brother's waist as Elena opened her arms to Isabel and lifted her up into her arms, kissing her on the cheek gently. Then they both looked down at the little bujito in Isabel's free hand. "Estas bien carina?" Elena asked and when she got a small but strong hoot from Blaze she added, "Hiciste grandes."
"Who was she?" Naomi wondered.
"I don't know exactly Naomi." Elena said as she put her free hand on her friend's arm gratefully. "I saw…well…" She sighed and told them everything she had seen, not that it wasn't very confusing to pick up on. "I feel like we don't even have half the story." She confessed to her friends. "But I have enough to know that she and these ice barrier people are very dangerous."
"Can we get out of here now?" Luna asked. "I'd rather be semi-warm in the castle then out in the ice caves."
Elena sat her sister on the ground and patted each of the Jaquins on the head. "Of course. Thanks for having our backs guys."
"Anytime princesa." Skylar said to her with a laugh which only grew stronger when Luna asked, "Who are you calling a guy?"
They all headed back toward the Freezenberg castle where they received a surprise. Hildegard was with Sofia, Amber, and James. Sofia waved at them energetically which Elena returned with a laugh. James went over to greet Isabel and both sister's thought their siblings had to stop themselves from exchanging hugs. Christina unfurled the scroll to show Hildegard and Amber the new additions.
"What are you doing here?" Elena asked Sofia.
"I think the same thing that you are." Sofia replied. "You found the orb that was in Freezenberg caves, right?"
Elena nodded. "Yes. I have to talk to Hildegard's father about that. I learned something that I think we all need to be aware of. I'm going to have a messenger take it back to Avalor as well, and I should stop by and mention it to your father as well."
Sofia frowned softly. "It's a bad thing isn't it?" She asked. Elena nodded and Sofia sighed. The younger princess tried to brighten up her friends' mood. "Well, we have three surprises for you." She motioned to one of the guards they had with them and he pulled out an orb. "Dad found that in the treasure room. When we returned to Enchancia he remembered something like it and was digging around with Baileywick to find it for days."
"That's great." Elena said. "Thanks." She thought it looked a bit familiar, which in a way it should since it looked like the planet Earth. "Any idea what it does?" She asked.
"Nope, no clue." She replied.
Elena nodded, nod surprised and the young princess went on. "Surprise number two and three is we know where the last two orbs are." Sofia continued on. "It should have been three and four but you guys got that one already."
"Wait, where is the last orb?" Elena asked. They hadn't figured out where that was.
"It's blocking the path to the ruins where the other orb is located." Sofia answered. "We were going to go get them and bring them to Avalor, but instead how about we all go together?"
"I think that's a great idea." Elena replied. She looked to where Isabel and James were talking happily, her sister was currently explaining the magical tracker that they were using in conjunction with Mateo's spells. "And I think we're not the only ones who will be okay with that idea."
Elena and Sofia gathered everyone together and Sofia relayed the information that they had as she handed the orb they had found around. Christina was the last to get it so she could place it in the scroll. When she went to hand the scroll back to Mateo the royal sorcerer held up his hand. "You keep a hold of it for now." He told her. "You've made pretty good use of them lately."
"So If I'm right, and I usually am." Amber started with a self-confident smile. "We have representations of Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Saturn, Neptune and Pluto. We're missing Jupiter and Uranus."
"Assuming that they really do represent the planets." James added.
"Which they seem too." Amber countered simply.
Sofia gave off a nervous laugh, she always had to be the one to break up her siblings fights or so it seemed. "So Elena and I think we should travel to the ruins and get the last two together." Sofia announced. "We're all headed there anyway."
"Brilliant." James proclaimed enthusiastically.
"Sounds great to me." Isabel said happily.
"Do you want to come too Hildegard?" Amber asked though she was sure she knew how her friend would answer. Truth be told part of her wondered why she was so willing to put herself in potential danger like this too, but she was here so it was a moot point.
"No thank you." Hildegard answered. "I'll let you guys handle that."
"As soon as I talk to Hildegard's father we'll head toward the ruins then." Elena told them. "In fact, I should ask him to send word to your father afterwards so that way he'll get the information sooner."
"Probably a good idea." Amber agreed. "If there is yet another problem we have to worry about, it's better to have that out in the open now." She looked to Sofia but she simply shrugged. She knew as much as Amber did, which wasn't necessarily a good thing.
They saw Hildegard's father and sister arriving now and Elena excused herself to properly greet the king of Freezenberg and deliver the bad news that Blaze seemed to have shown her about the ice barrier team.
"Maybe you should tell us what's going on too." James suggested. He knew there was a time when it was like they were kept from knowing the real dangerous stuff, but it was rapidly coming to the point that that time had to pass.
Isabel frowned a bit but she understood it. "Here's what we know…" She started.