Part 3 - The Ice Palace
The next morning, they bundle up and set off across the rugged, snow-packed terrain, Elijah in the lead with Rebekah and Damon on either side of him and Koda trailing behind.
"Dawn is breaking," Elijah points to a lighter patch of sky. Trees rustle gently in the morning breeze, as the graphite sky begins to wake. Silvery wisps of clouds scatter across its depths, highlighted by the pinks and golds expanding along the horizon.
They continue their trek, turning towards the north. They move through the trees, keeping their eyes focused for danger. There's less snow here thanks to the canopy of branches high above their heads, but the low vines and exposed roots make this part of their journey treacherous too.
By the time they reach the other side, the morning's sunrise is a breathtaking display of radiant colors. Bright streaks of red, pink, and orange slowly overcome the dark blue and purple of the twilight.
The sky resembles a prism; all the colors blended perfectly into each other. The sun itself is just peeking out of the horizon, and its brilliant rays already shine brightly and began to warm the air.
If not for his worry about Elena, Damon would marvel at the glistening reflection of the sun on the water and landscape in front of them.
The hours pass and they're all are tired when they reach a small cabin that sits in the shadows of a mountain range. The granite-faced, craggy peaks are a pristine blanket of white and even the dark green of the pines is mostly coated in the crystalline snow.
Elijah approaches Damon. "See up there where the sun looks like it's reflecting off a mirror?"
"Yes," Damon shields his eyes.
"That's Niklaus's palace. That's where we have to go tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?"
"It's late, tonight we'll stay with our friend Sheila," he walks up the steps and raps with his staff on the door.
It opens, revealing a woman wearing a heavy sweater, a scarf around her neck and fur-lined, knee-length boots. "Elijah, Rebekah," her face lights up when she pulls them into a hug.
"Why are you here?"
"This is Damon," Elijah introduces him. "Can we stay tonight?"
Sheila looks at them for a moment, her eyes resting on Damon a beat longer, before nodding and moving back, sweeping her arm out behind him. "Of course, you're welcome to come inside."
Elijah nods and motions for Damon to join them. Sheila offers them chairs in front of the fireplace. The three of them sink gratefully into the cushions, stretching their hands and feet towards the heat of the flames as she leaves the room to scrounge up some food and hot drinks for her guests.
The flames flicker and lap at the kindling wood. They dance orange and yellow with their smoke that twists in the draft toward the chimney. In minutes they grow ravenous, hungrily devouring everything in the grate.
Elijah places a larger log into their seductive clutches and Damon watches, hypnotized by their dance; a fiery, frenzied consumption. The flames curl and sway, flicking this way and that, crackling as they burn the dry wood.
"So," Sheila starts, once they're all settled with bowls of delicious smelling stew, slabs of homemade bread and mugs of hot cocoa with a bit of alcohol added to warm their insides. "Can I ask what brings you this far north? It's been a long-time," she arches an eyebrow at Elijah.
Damon sips his drink, wrapping his cold fingers around the mug gratefully. "They've graciously agreed to help me. I'm looking for someone," he interrupts.
Sheila frowns. "Why do you think your someone is here?"
"Because the White Warlock took her," Rebekah interjects, smiling at Damon.
The older woman stares at him. "You're intending to rescue this girl?" she asks, scrutinizing him carefully.
"I'm going to get her back...no matter what," Damon replies with absolute conviction although the look on Sheila's face gives him pause.
"Finish your food and drink. You can sleep tonight and start the next part of the journey when the sun rises again," she gets up to refill her mug with spirits.
The next morning, they all snuggle into their winter-wear and after thanking Sheila for her hospitality, they step outside and into the thick blanket of snow that fell during the night.
Elijah leads them across a line of trees away from the house. "I won't lie to you, Damon. It will be difficult," he goes on, "there will be challenges to face. What is frozen can be freed... remember that above all."
"I don't under-"
"You will, when the time comes." Elijah blows out a breath. "The path is this way," he leads them forward.
The snow-covered flat stretch of land momentarily blinds Damon as the sun bounces off of it as they step out from beneath the cover of the trees.
They continue on for quite some time, growing bored as there's nothing but white. White trees, white paths, white fields, white mountains. Eventually though, Damon catches a reflection bouncing off a sparse tree trunk and stops, shielding his eyes as he looks for the source. And then he sees it; further up ahead, an ice blue wall rises up out of the snow, and behind it, stands what looks like a large white, shimmering palace.
"That's our destination," Rebekah breathes out slowly, her breath curling out in front of her in a cloud of white.
Elijah hands then each a stick and they begin their climb. Up and over boulders, having to be extremely cautious as to not tumble into one of the deep crevasses which would mean certain death.
With determination growing with each step he takes, soon they're standing next to the high wall surrounding the castle.
"Come on, there's still a way to the entrance," Rebekah smiles at him. "Koda what are you doing here? You were supposed to stay with Sheila," she runs to her bear.
He grunts and growls, determined to protect his mistress.
"You must be careful, old friend. I don't want Niklaus to roast you on his spit."
The bear brushes his head against her leg in affection. Rebekah sighs, knowing he won't turn back.
"This way," Elijah starts, pointing to where the sun's rays seem to be pointing.
Eventually they reach a snow-covered courtyard. Damon's breath catches in his throat at all the people he sees.
"Nothing to fear, Damon. They're all frozen," Elijah looks sadly at one in particular. "That's our brother Kol."
Many of them have their hands pressed to their frozen faces, contorted as if in agony. "Can we free him too?" Damon's gaze passes over them, searching for a doorway into the castle. "Elena is in there, I know it," his heart sinks, wondering if he'll find her in a similar fate.
The entire palace is centered around the hexagonal shape of a snowflake. A flawless frozen staircase leads to double doors which can open by themselves into the palace. The first room has a beautiful ice fountain with a pillar of ice reaching for the ceiling.
A small crystal is hanging in the center of roof and two curving staircases along the sides which join together on a platform above and across from the entrance. Another curving staircase branches off from the platform up into the heart of the palace. This is the room with a grand ice chandelier and double doors which open to a round balcony.
"The palace's ambiance responds to how Klaus's moods," Rebekah explains. "When he's happy, it takes on a blue hue, and when he's angry, it glows red and causes ice shards and cracks to run up the walls."
"Where do I begin? There's so many hallways and corridors," Damon's eye fill with melancholy.
"You take that one," Elijah points him down the right hallway, "I'll take the left one," he nods at Damon then turns to his sister. "Rebekah, you take Koda and get Kol out of here."
"I won't leave you, Elijah," Rebekah protests, Koda lumbering beside her.
"I'll be fine. With Koda's help you can free Kol. Unthaw him."
"Alright, but promise me you'll come back."
"I'll come back," he gives her a hug and then urges Damon down one hall while he goes down the other.
Damon can't imagine anything worse than being frozen for eternity, stranded in this God forsaken place. Elena is all life, his light with her beautiful brown eyes and the hair he loves to run his fingers through when they're...
The first thing Damon sees when he steps through her door is Elena perched on the kitchen island, legs crossed demurely at her ankles, wearing nothing but a smile and holding out a cupcake with one flickering candle.
"Happy Birthday, dear Damon," she croons alluringly.
Damon's hand goes slack and his messenger bag crashes to the floor. Not caring a lick, he steps over it, drops his lips to her neck and tugs the delicate skin gently between his teeth while his fingers weave themselves into her silky strands.
"God, you taste delicious," he winks at her then drops his mouth to hers, sweeping his tongue deep. After wrenching his lips from hers, Damon blows out the candle and sets the cupcake down. Instead of eating it, he lifts her into his arms, and when she wraps her legs around his middle, he begins to walk with her, breathing in her intoxicating scent with each step.
"We don't have to go all the way upstairs," Elena grins impishly as he stumbles through the living room.
"You little minx!" An amused smile curves Damon's lips before he claims her mouth in another smoldering kiss. His hands drift lower to cup the supple flesh of her fine ass.
Elena cries out his name when his fingers probe her wetness.
"Happy birthday to me..." Damon lowers her to the couch.
"That was my intention," she's already raising her hips high to receive him.
After snatching one of the throw pillows to prop up her bottom, Damon quickly strips out of his clothes and with avid eyes, he thrusts into her swollen, pink flesh. He groans out her name, shuddering when Elena quivers around him. Studying her face for each flicker of pleasure, he surges deep, hitting that spot he knows will send her sailing straight into the stratosphere.
Elena chants his name over and over as her orgasm washes over her. Feeling her hot flesh contracting around him, Damon pumps harder, driving his hips with an almost brutal insistence til he releases in a searing gush.
His breaths escape in trembling gasps. Only when he no longer feels his heart will burst from his chest does Damon finds the wherewithal to lift his head. Elena smiles at him languidly, fingering the damp ends of his hair.
"That was round one," he smirks, his eyes twinkling with mischief. "Are you ready for number two?"
Shaking himself out of it, he lays his palm over his chest to calm the chaos inside. He knows she's here; he feels her with every pound of his heart. With a firm hand, he reaches out, grasps a doorknob and twists, opening it. Cautiously he steps inside, not bothering to close the door in fear that he'll be locked in. He finds himself in the snowflake room which is glowing amber. Everything is made of ice, the walls, the floor, the chandeliers.
A cold breath of air blows across his face. He looks left to right and all around, only then seeing a recessed area. He cautiously approaches it, not wanting to find himself face to face with the White Warlock but he can feel Elena now and a warm sensation fills his body despite the cold.
His fingers skim across the icy walls, he nearly face-plants when he reaches a huge wooden door, the ice coating it is bumpy rather than smooth.
This is the one, he's certain of it.
Carefully, he reaches out for the doorknob, twisting it gently at first, and then tugging when it proves to be frosted shut. After a moment's pulling, the lock finally gives way, and the door swings open in front of him. There is nothing that he would call comfort within its walls, no furniture save for the giant throne is carved of a giant hunk of ice, crested with several shades of blue jewels, animal skins and decorative metals forming an elegant coat of arms.
On either side of it are ice sculptures of the man Damon recognizes as the one who took the girl he loves. In the very center of the room is a mirror, with frost crystals covering it, their patterns beautiful glimmering as the sun rays come through the latticed ice ceiling and reflect off of it.
And there, standing next to it, a petite girl; frozen in time with straight brown hair covered in frost, her olive skin tinged slightly blue and her face contorted as if in shock. The only thing that gives him comfort is that he can see the tiniest puffs of white, her breaths as she exhales. Damon lets out a shuddering one of his own.
"Elena."
Damon's first instinct is to grab Elena and run, but Elijah ghosts his hand over his arm, silently telling him not to do anything stupid. His steps falter when The Snow King walks out from behind the throne. A white animal skin cape is draped on his shoulders, his gleaming blue fingernails are talon-like - a lethal weapon.
"Really? There are other ways to get my attention." His voice is dry and thin like a snake slithering through the grass.
Damon hates it immediately. "I'm taking Elena."
"Are you now?" he laughs, his crystalline eyes gleaming with evil. "And you, brother, do you think you can escape? I would have thought you'd be smarter than to enter my realm..."
The Snow King seems amused. This isn't the first time he's seen his brother like this. The complicated young boy he had known has long ago disappeared, leaving only a cruel shell behind. "I came to help Damon and to retrieve Kol," Elijah grips his staff tightly and slams the one end against the ice floor causing spider like fissures to spread all around it.
"Surely you could have simply sent a note? All of this chasing across the land, it's so...uncivilized," Klaus tsks and waves his hand sending a spray of ice at his brother and Damon who duck out of the way.
"And the girl?" Elijah spreads his arm towards Elena as he moves closer.
"Merely a diversion." Niklaus waves his hand dismissively. "Nearly 100 years in the same place can get kind of – tiring, without some new playthings..."
Damon looks at Elena, she remains frozen and unaware as far as he knows. He wishes he knew what game the man is playing at.
"Indeed. I wondered how long it would be before you showed up for Kol. Stupid imp, thought he could come and go once at whim when he crossed into my palace."
The Snow King rises, floating across the floor to more clearly confront Elijah.
Damon shifts further away and moves to put himself between the White Wizard and Elena.
Elijah crosses an arm behind his back, using it to gesture at Damon, his fingers pointing at her form standing frozen as if a statue.
Carefully, Damon with his hands on Elena's shoulders begins edging her backwards. It's a long shot but maybe...if Elijah can keep him distracted...
Damon slides along the floor, torn between making a run for it and trying to move slow enough so not to be noticed.
Just a bit further and he can...
"NO!" The Snow King screams and manipulates his hand at the human.
Damon gasps as his feet leave the ground. The breath is forced out of his lungs when he starts twisting violently in midair. He struggles frantically, but there's nothing for his hands to claw at, and his feet desperately search for purchase but finds nothing... Adrenaline floods his system, surging so fast he almost vomits. He can taste saliva thickening in his throat, beads of sweat trickling down his brow despite the cold and his heart is thundering like a jackhammer in his throat.
And then...nothing.
"Release him, Niklaus," Elijah demands, watching Damon's body crumple to the ground. He pounds his staff again, this time splitting the floor into a giant crevasse as it races towards the Snow King, but he merely points his hand and blasts it with snow and ice filling the deep fissure.
"Now there will be no more distractions." The Snow King sneers, his face is as smooth as the ice that surrounds him.
"Did you really think you could get away, Elijah? You, who know better than most what I'm capable of..." his voice trails off when a woman bursts into the room.
"Mother?" Elijah gasps in shock.
Esther narrows her black eyes at Niklaus. "You will let them go!" she demands, not leaving him any room to argue.
"You have no power here, witch," he snarls at her, his long-fingered hands raise and point at her but with a wave of her hand, fairies surround him, quickly binding his wrists and ankles.
Esther waves her hand again and Damon begins to stir. "Elijah get him and the girl out of here," she nods her head at her son.
"W-what are you doing?" Niklaus sputters.
"The love of a mother for her child is more pure than that between lovers. It allowed me to cross the veil and enter the other side. You have learned nothing in your isolation."
She waves her hand again, this time an archway appears near the dais, the surface shimmering like a mirage.
"Go then," Niklaus eyes fill with fury as he watches Elijah help Damon to his feet. Together they carry Elena through the archway.
Esther points her fingers at The Snow King, the bindings securing his wrists and ankles suddenly vanish. And with a snap of her fingers, he disappears in a flurry of snow and ice.
Once they're outside of the palace, Elijah rushes back inside for his mother while Damon brushes off the few crystals of ice that still cling to Elena's face then gently touches her lips with his.
Rebekah and Koda appear at the tree line and quickly approach him. "Stand back, Damon," she pulls him to his feet while the bear lumbers over to Elena and starts licking the frost from her skin and then takes special care to lick her right eye. He's surprised when a drop of water leaks out of it along with a sliver of something sparkly.
Damon watches on edge as her eyelids begin to flutter and snap open, a loud gasp leaves her lips as she takes in a mouthful of air. She looks around confused, skittering backwards when she sees the bear.
"Calm down, he won't hurt you," a beautiful blonde woman smiles at her.
Her eyes dart all around and finally coming to rest on the familiar blue ones. "Damon," she throws herself into his arms. "I don't understand," she looks up him confused.
"It's a long story, I'll tell you about it later. Right now, we have to find a way to get home," he looks up to see Esther and Elijah approaching them.
"Mother, you found him," Rebekah hugs Elijah just as Kol and their other brother Finn saunter from the forest.
"Brother, it's good to see you," Kol takes his Elijah's hand and shakes it vigorously.
Damon watches with a smile as the whole family wrap themselves in each other arms.
He circles his own around Elena and kisses her hair. "Can you help us get home?" he asks once the family steps apart from each other.
Suddenly a cyclone of snow surrounds them. It hits hard and unforgiving. Damon and Elena's bodies bend and snap with the wind.
Although blinding in its intensity, Damon hangs onto her as if his life depends on it, and it does. He leads her across the pristine snow. The atmosphere is like something out of a long-forgotten dream and the air is purer than he ever remembers breathing.
Suddenly a deafening noise overtakes everything and in the next moment, they're tumbling into a white, cold vortex of darkness.
Then everything stops, not slowly, but suddenly. And when they pick their way out of the snow, Damon and Elena find themselves on the empty road that leads to Mystic Falls...
Knowing they're home, Damon turns Elena to face him and his hand comes up to caress her cheek as his lips reach yearningly for hers. Hungrily he presses them against hers and wraps his arm around her waist to pull her body against his.
Fire bubbles through his veins and across his skin. Suddenly he's become a living inferno. His arms remain steady, holding them together in the midst of the elemental storms and pinning her to him.
He kisses her, and he smells like the sea, and he tastes like home, and Elena knows that she will never let him go.
Their breathing is ragged when they occasionally take a breath and their hearts hammer in unison.
How good it feels to have so much of Elena's icy body pressing against his burning skin. All he can hear is her quiet gasps and moans. All he can smell is her heavenly scent rushing into him with every breath. All he can taste is the delectable flavor of her flesh. When they part, he pinches himself to make sure he's not imagining all of this.
Damon then takes her hand, kissing her gloved fingertips one by one. "Let's go home."
And so they do.
"Gather round, Mikael gestures for his children to come close.
"What is it father?" Rebekah looks up from the flower she's sniffing.
Elijah, Finn, Kol and reluctantly Klaus approach him, looking at their father with anticipation.
"You're allowed to play and climb, do whatever you want here but you must not under any circumstances go near the well. Do you understand?"
"Why is that, Father?" Elijah asks, his mouth slightly parted in wonder at the beauty surrounding them.
"Thor's Well is bewitched with dark magic. Heed my warning," he points a finger at them, while his gaze stops on Klaus, his rebellious child. "Do you understand, Niklaus?"
"Yes, sir," he withers under his father's stare, looking down at his feet as he rocks back and forth on them.
"Now go play but be home before the sun sinks below the mountain," Mikael addresses his eldest son. "You're in charge, Finn."
Finn nods and then Mikael turns to go home. His brothers and sister run off to play. Rebekah notices a bear cub wandering around by itself and runs to it.
The boys grapple and play, having a keen time.
Elijah notices Niklaus take off by himself out of the corner of his eye. "Remember to keep away from the well," he admonishes his younger brother.
Niklaus doesn't acknowledge him, he just keeps walking. "Stupid, stupid, stupid," he says out loud to no one as he stomps towards the coastline to drip his feet in the cool water.
Klaus barely notices when the woods that lead to the sea become darker and denser around him. And then to his great surprise, he comes to a beautiful clearing and in the center of it is Thor's Well - the magical one.
He watches mesmerized. The waves from the great sea come in, the bottom of the well swells up with water, ricochets against the walls and explodes up into the air like a natural geyser. As he approaches, tiny filamentous, shimmering wings swirl around him. Fluttering like confetti, they dance in their airborne way. The breeze takes on a floral fragrance, one to send his mind into a heady stupor.
Disregarding his father's warning, he moves closer. Sitting on the rocky edge, he slips off his shoes and dips his feet in the cool water. Leaning back on his hands, he lazily curls his toes, flicking droplets across the surface, closing his eyes and letting the hot summer sun warm his face.
The faint sound of "the well, the well," whispers in the wind while the fairy's flutter around his face. As he's resting, taking in the place, a glimmer of something shiny catches his eye.
"The well, the well," comes again from the fairy's that land on his eyelashes, in his hair and hover around his earlobe.
Standing up, he tiptoes over to the mouth of the well. Surely one peek won't hurt so he looks over the edge at the spectacular site. Water washes violently over the rocks and funnels it into the hole.
Below something shimmers faintly, reflecting the sun above with a darker intent than clear water.
"What is that?" Klaus murmurs to himself as he looks down upon the treasure. Rolling up his sleeves, he tries to reach for it as a faint echo of "the well" washes over him again like a velvet glove. Intent upon retrieving it from the depths, he gets to his knees and dips his hand beneath the water's surface, fingers reaching to claim the prize. Losing his balance, he tumbles into the water. Several seconds later, it shoots him out and as he stands there, the fairies attack, coming at him from all sides with their wands raised. Klaus drops the mirror, breaking a small sliver off the rim.
"What's this?" his voice is razor sharp, his bright blue eyes turn crystalline, covered in ice. The color leaves his skin and it turns a pure white along with his mop of hair. He raises his hands to look at them, the nails turn white too as icicles drip from the tips.
His heart freezes too along with any trace of humanity. He lifts his hand with a wave and the forest surround the well turns to ice and snow falls heavily from the sky above.
With a devilish gleam in his pale bluish-white eyes, he marches back through the forest to find his brothers and sister, freezing everything in his path.
"What have you done?" Elijah spreads his arms to shield the others when Klaus appears.
"The well," he shoots his older brother a sinister grin.
"Niklaus, why?"
"Why not?" he breaks out into maniacal laughter, raises his hand and shoots beams of ice at a deer, freezing it where it stands. When he kicks it over, the poor creature shatters into a million pieces along with the shard from the mirror when it slips from his fingers.
Tiny slivers, barely the size of a grain of rice, fly so far and wide that they breach the veil between the worlds...
Fin.
Oregon's Thor's Well - my inspiration for the well in this story - is a hole carved out of the basalt shoreline in the Cape Perpetua Scenic Area. One theory is that it was initially a sea cave until the roof collapsed, leaving a hole on the surface level. Because of its location right against the Pacific Ocean, you get a constant flow of waves rolling in from underneath and filling the bowl from the bottom. Depending on the tide level, sometimes it just bubbles to the top, while other times, it's bursting out in a violent spray.
We hope you enjoyed this DE fairytale. Fantasy is fun to write. Thank you Eva.
Thank you everyone. Have an amazing day.