The Ice Storm
Chapter Twenty-seven
She fell, a great plummet from the sky, her mouth open wide in a silent scream...
Scarlett knew the wind was tearing her words away, but then she had been without coherent speech for the entire past hour. The biting cold, the sharpness of the ice crystals on her lashes were all forgotten. Strong arms were wrapped around her from behind. She didn't have to look back to know that Wolf was having precisely the same reaction she was. As was Alice, the tiny girl who was huddled deep into Scarlett's cloak, her white face peering out at the world from so far above. And so it had been for the three of them since they had taken their first faltering steps towards Zaphira, climbing uncertainly onto her broad back, finding purchase on the tough hide.
And then, liftoff. Like the great heavy water fowl of the lakes, dragons needed space to to take to the air. Great bounds had seen them pick up speed so intoxicating that the three riders had howled and yipped all the way, that is until the huge wings had begun to pound the air. The lurch of her stomach as Zaphira had taken to flight had silenced Scarlett abruptly. Her vision had swum crazily. The ground had dwindled away so quickly! Within seconds, the trees had become twigs, boulders as pebbles, the river like a thread of silk.
Wolf had been laughing at the sights. Alice had daringly spread her arms wide, secure in some knowledge that they were completely safe. And the dragon Zaphira had beat her wings slowly, gently, as if taking the utmost care not to unseat her puny riders. To the east she turned in a great arc, heading into the sunset.
"Where is she taking us?" Wolf shouted over the wind. Scarlett thought she could guess, but how to explain it?
"Wait and see" she said over her shoulder. Wolf's eyes were bulging so much that she thought he would have scarcely listened to her answer even if she'd told him.
"Look" he said, pointing down. "Riding Hood Forest...it's so small from up here!". And so it was, the great green expanse that Scarlett had feared and detested most of her life. If only she'd known otherwise. But it was useless to take affront anymore at the lies and secrets of her family. She no longer felt the burning desire for revenge. After all, had her eyes not been opened, would not she have proved a greater threat to her own people? Would she have lied to her own daughters? Of course she would. She wondered where her mother was, down there in the Kingdom somewhere that was flashing past. Scarlett knew that she would probably not be able to ever sit at ease with her mother or her brother again, nor they with her. But that didn't matter. She would have Wendell, and besides, who knew what other scions of the Riding Hood family she might meet? She laughed into the wind. Little Alice was singing and Wolf was yipping madly, and they were astride the back of a dragon, flying over the world like eagles!
Below, the frozen river widened into the familiar shorelines that she had known as a child. And there, nestled between the shores and the forest, lay Hooded City, her home. How out of place it looked, a foreign jostle of houses and halls. She saw it as the forest folk saw it, and yet despite it's being beset by the freezing cold it still thrummed with life, whereas the natural world had all but collapsed. People were still out on the streets. Some, looking up, saw the great shape fly over their heads, and even if none had ever seen such a thing before, all knew instantly.
"A dragon, look up there, a dragon flies!" they shouted. Others joined in the calls. Alarm spread. "The dragons have come again, run for your lives!" they shouted and scrambled. But just as many stood in mute astonishment and a great gladness filled their hearts. But none saw the tiny riders, none knew that their very own Queen (and how strange that no one has seen her for many a day now?) passed them by. Scarlett found herself hoping that one at least beheld her as she flew past. She hoped dearly that her traitorous little brother stood at his windows and saw her!
All too quickly though, the walls of the city were behind them. Zaphira changed her course slightly to the north now, beginning an arduous climb over the barrier of mountains that separated the Second Kingdom from the Eighth. This was territory completely new to Scarlett, but no less enthralling. They were flying into the deepening dusk and a glimmer of the full moon began to rise over the horizon. Scarlett found herself transfixed by the moon. It was in a sense, the first time she had beheld it as a wolf-woman. Wolf had told her some of the legends of Lucine, and Virginia had even met her. Scarlett sent a silent howl to the rising moon. Goddess, I hope you do not find your newest daughter wanting.
But of course not.
Scarlett heard the words, but she knew somehow, that they were not just about her.
Darkness and cold settled over them now. A white and flat land spread out, throwing back the reflection that was Zaphira's shadow as they passed over it. Scarlett and Alice and Wolf huddled in closer to one another. Just as she knew she was beginning to falter from the bitterness of the cold, Scarlett became aware of a change in the dragon's flight. She was so much lower now, and circling downwards in a wide spiral. Dizzy, Scarlett tried to see where the dragon was headed. The size of the Ice Palace made her gasp aloud. It was massive even from a height, and it was beautiful to look at. It was crafted in the shape of a giant snowflake, with a single great domed centre. It glittered white in the moonlight, and smaller man made lights shone from many windows.
But as they drew lower, it became apparent that all was not right within the Palace. Dim sounds of men shouting, wolf's howling. And there, right in the silver dome roof, a piece of it had fallen away! Even as she watched, another chunk fell and she could hear clearly now the crash as it struck the floor below. Zaphira ceased in her circling to hang in the air over the Palace. She appeared to be looking directly down through the hole in it's ceiling. Scarlett couldn't make out what the dragon was looking at, but she read her intentions regardless. Wolf seemed to figure it out just at the same time.
"Oh cripes!" he shouted. "Hold onnnnnnnnnn"
With a stomach lurching drop, Zaphira dived. Head down, tail outstretched, she made directly for the gaping space like a falcon stooping upon a mouse. It seemed a large hole, but Scarlett didnt know if the dragon would fit through it. The ground rushed up to meet them, and Scarlett, mouth open wide in a scream that wouldn't come out, saw many things below. A huge cauldron filled with silver liquid encased in an ice white orb, a tiled floor that seemed to ripple and churn from within, a cluster of men huddled against the broken walls, and there, unmistakeable in his armour, her love, her Wendell. His eyes were only for her, and she for his. The strength of their bond leapt out to renew itself, momentarly blinding Scarlett to the facts of where they were and what was going on around them.
The wind rushed as Zaphira beat her wings wildly, slowing her freefall. The hall was in disarray as she settled softly on the ruined floor. Someone was pulling at her cloak, a hand was laid over her own, gently but forcefully detaching her grip from the dragons back. She was being lifted, sliding sideways now down Zaphira's back. She was laughing, hysterical almost as her feet touched the earth once more. Even better, someone she loved was holding her in his arms.
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Wolf watched distractedly as Wendell embraced Scarlett. His mind was all a riot of sensations. He could scarcely understand his own thoughts. He felt ill from the wild ride, but over all of that was the euphoria of it. Wolf knew he would probably never experience anything like it ever again. Surely, the Goddess had not meant for wolf's to fly though, else she would have given them wings! Wolf huffed and puffed a little to clear his mind. As much as he wanted to savour the flight, he knew this was not the time or place for it. They had landed right in the middle of the enemies palace, no less. And here, of all people, was Wendell himself! What in the Kingdoms had persuaded Wendell to come here? Wolf looked quickly around the Hall, seeing many of the Fourth Kingdom soldiers that he knew. There were only a few soldiers in the different livery of the Eighth Kingdom that he could see. A large man knelt with his back to him, tending to another who lay unmoving on the floor. Tony?
This was getting stranger and stranger. Then a scent, one that had been demanding his attention for many long seconds, finally registered in his wolf brain. Virginia! His mate was here! He was whirling around before the shock settled in. Where where where? And suddenly, there she was, stepping out from behind Zaphira...no, wait, not Zaphira but another dragon. A larger dragon, one who was even now shaking off the last of the broken floor and stretching his cold wings just like Wolf had seen Zaphira do. It all made sense, and yet none of it made sense. Wolf scratched at his temple. Virginia was coming closer, and already he was assessing her. She looked pale and she reeked of blood. Her steps were faltering, awkward, her posture hunched forward.
Wolf reached out to support her as she came into his arms. She was trembling with fatigue. Pressed close against him, the reason became clear. She had given birth, probably within the past hour. Automatically, Wolf scented for the baby. It was one he would know instinctively, but none came to him. A quiet wailing began in his mind. Surely she could not be lost. And why here? There were too many questions and Wolf didn't know where to begin. And now Willem! Clear as day was his brother's scent on Virginia's clothes.
Wolf opened his mouth to speak but his attention was caught by a loud commotion. Many booted feet, many men running through the Palace, closing in on them. Someone was beating on the broken down doors, trying to force their way through the piles of rubble. Wolf saw Wendell break away from Scarlett to listen to the noise. Someone spoke to the King, the wolf Giles.
"It's the troops we saw leaving earlier. They must have been called back. They are more than a thousand, My Lord".
Wendell turned, seeming to see Wolf for the first time. His face was creased with fear and yet a slight smile played on his face at the sight of Wolf and Virginia.
"I fear we have overplayed our hand" he said softly.
Someone laughed quietly, a girlish giggle in fact. Alice. Wolf had almost forgotten her. She stood, completely at ease between the two enormous heads of the dragons, one tiny hand on each in fact. She smiled, and Wolf was sure that the little girl was entirely pleased to have everyones attention on her. As well she might, he thought. If the dragons were speaking with each other, no one could hear it, but no one could mistake their actions. Long necks almost entwined, they lay close together seemingly in a world of their own. No one could take their eyes off them, including the Ice Queen, who Wolf had only just noticed. The old woman had encased herself within a sphere of ice, and within that lay a large cauldron. Long tendrils of magic floated upwards from the cauldron, up to the sky and out in all directions. Death to the Kingdoms was written on her wizened face.
"You have weakened me" said a voice. It was a male voice, loud and terrifying and completely within the minds of the listeners. The male dragon raised his head and hunched his claws forward a fraction. The Ice Queen scowled from behind her barrier. Wolf could see the efforts that had been made to breach the orb; broken axes and swords lay all around it.
"You are too late, Zorn" said the Ice Queen. "I have what I need to rule the Kingdoms. Soon, you and your doom ridden kind will be mine also. You would be wise to fly now, while you can". She was a formidable woman, and Wolf had to admire her mettle to face down an angry dragon. And maybe she was right. Maybe she was as strong as she said she was. A pity, though, that she had not included the oldest and most powerful race of beings in her quest for domination. Even though she knew otherwise, she had bought into the myth that all the dragons were dead.
"I would take back what is mine, I think" said Zorn. He had moved closer once more, Zaphira taking up a position at his side. Together they stared down at the ice-orb and it's contents. Wolf wondered just what the Ice Queen had taken from the dragon, and he hoped he would find out. Because he knew that the Ice Queen had miscalculated on one vital aspect of dragon-lore. One dragon alone was essentially without defences. Everyone knew that a single dragon could not breathe the fire. But two dragons, a male and female, well that was another matter altogether.
Was it getting hotter? Impossible as it seemed, Wolf was sure that it was. Like a slow burning furnace, the dragon pair were radiating heat into the room. Small wisps of steam curled from their nostrils now. Alice, who had so far stood fearless between them, now sidled away, moving quickly down the length of the bodies to stand nearer the tail end. Inside the ice-orb, the Queen still scowled and shouted at the dragons, but her words were being drowned out by the roaring that had started to break forth from the dragon's bellies.
Every pair of eyes in the room was caught by surprise when the first belch of fire burst forth. It was so bright Wolf had to shield his face from it. It leapt out in a great arc, two streams of molten heat that entwined and snapped in the frigid air. The fire struck the orb of ice and curled around it, tongues of flame licking. At first, nothing seemed to be happening. The air was getting hot, the fire was unending, and yet the orb stood and weathered the storm. Or so it seemed at first. Then, so tiny that he might not have noticed it, a tiny rivulet ran down the face of the ice, then another, and another. Wolf heard Wendell whooping with delight as the trickles of water grew larger and stronger, as bit by bit the Ice Queen's spell began to melt.
Inside the orb, the Queen shouted and raged, and finally, cowered behind the cauldron as her protective shield was destroyed. Finally, with a great crack the orb split neatly in two, each section rolling away down the dias to thud onto the floor. With just as sudden a crack, the dragon's sacred fire shut down, like someone had snuffed it out with their fingertips. Wolf looked to the dragons and to the Ice Queen, back and forth. He could not read the dragons expressions, but hers were easy to see.
"You think you've won, don't you?" she screamed as the dragon Zorn climbed the dias towards her. "My people will avenge me, even if you kill me now. Don't you know how quickly you will follow me into death?" she continued, pointing at Wendell.
"That may be true, Queen of the North. But I and every soul in this hall will gladly nip at your heels if by our death we will spare the Kingdoms that the Five Great Woman founded. I am Wendell White, grandson of Snow-white, and I have waited many years to prove my name!"
"You fools...you cannot stop the seasons" she shrieked. The dragon bore down on her, lifting his great talons to push her down. "Winter will always come, for everyone...winter will never..."
Her voice was cut off by a sickening crunch. Like a cat swatting a mouse, the dragon had crushed her. But it was not completely finished. With a great sweep of his head, Zorn shoved at the cauldron where it sat, still bubbling and sending up the magic. It overturned with a crash, spilling it's contents down the dias steps. Wolf stared at the black and silver fluid as it ran away into the cracks in the floor. His nose told him it was blood, a great cauldron of dragon blood; from a male dragon long sated on quicksilver. Wolf could not imagine a more powerful mixture. She must have been drawing blood for years to have amassed so much, he thought. Had it been pure luck or design that had caused her forebears to build their Palace here, right over the top of the mired dragon? Had they always known of it, or had it been only a recent discovery, one that had prompted the long envious Kingdom to seek war once again? Wolf guessed that they might never know the answers. The blood was acrid and stung his nose and eyes. It had all but disappeared back into the earth now, and the dragons watched it go. Those last remaining traces of magic also evaporated into nothingness, and Wolf knew in his heart that the rest of the spell was broken.
They had done it. The Ice Storm was over and the Kingdoms were saved.