CHAPTER 4: The Road to the Winter Realm

Three days passed in a flash. Joe was still annoyed with Barry's choice but decided to respect his son's wishes and started to pray to the Gods for the plan to work out. He didn't want to see his son hurt or sad, and he knew that the odds that the prince would find trouble up in the north were very high and that frightened him. Iris on the other hand was worried for Barry, he loved him so much and she wanted to see her brother happy but she doubted that King Leonard Snart could ever give happiness to Barry or any one else for that matter. Feeling a bit nervous for him she decided to pay him a little visit before his departure.

Barry was getting ready for the journey when Iris knocked the door of his room.

'Barry are you there?' – asked Iris with a little hesitation on her voice. 'Can I come in?'

'Sure' – answered the prince putting his sword on the sheath that hanged on his belt around his waist. Iris opened the great oak door and entered into the prince chambers and she saw him near the canopy bed getting ready. He was so skinny and looked so tired that she felt her worry rise.

'Barry I just wanted to wish you good luck and a safe trip'– she said with a sad smile approaching her stepbrother. 'You know that I care a lot about you and my father too, so please don't do anything stupid.'

He chuckled. 'I think it is too late for that; I am already doing something stupid.

'True, but you know what I mean, please be careful. You may be the fastest knight alive but you are not immortal.'

'I will. Relax I am not traveling alone and I know how to take care of myself.'

'Really? Because you look like hell Barry, you should eat more and get some rest if you want to charm the cold heart of King Leonard Snart. So please, for me… just eat all the food in the feast and at the princess party.'

Barry laughed wholeheartedly.

'I can't possibly eat all the food because it would leave a very bad first impression.'

Iris laughed watching Barry carefully. 'Your reason to not eating everything up in the north is because you are worried of leaving a very bad first impression?'

'It's an acceptable reason.'

'Oh Barry please don't change.' – Iris said hugging him. 'I love you so much…please promise me that you are going to invite Eddie and me to the wedding.'

Barry smiled. 'Of course and Joe can come too if he wants to be part of this crazy scheme, but remember this is just a plan, we are just going there to meet the King, his sister and get to know their Realm. There is a big possibility that King Leonard might refuse the arranged marriage and the alliance with our Kingdom. It seems there are a lot of respectable suitors…'

'Oh Barry, I highly doubt that Snart will reject you' - said Iris smirking while thinking how naïve her brother was, obviously Leonard Snart was going to accept the young, charming, rich prince of Central Kingdom.

'Let's hope you are right then, for the sake of our Kingdom.'

She nodded and Barry took his winter coat and proceeded to make his way to the door to go to the stables accompanied by Iris. When they were walking down the large halls of the palace the prince saw through the high arched windows the beautiful green mountains and the deep blue sky and realized that he was going to miss a lot Central Kingdom if he successfully gets married with Leonard Snart and the Winter Kingdom becomes his new home permanently.

Meanwhile in the stables Cisco, Caitlin, Ronnie and Harrison waited for their prince with an escort of soldiers under the command of General David Singh, head of the prince's guard who was in charge of the protection of the royal campaign to the north. When the young prince appeared the soldiers respectfully bowed and Eddie and Joe approach him to say their last goodbyes.

'Take care son…' – said Joe embracing Barry warmly. 'Sometimes I get really mad but it is only my concern for your well being and I really hope for the future of our Kingdom that your plan works Barry.'

'Thanks Joe, I know that you still don't agree, but this means a lot to me.'

Joe nodded. 'Please send us a letter when you arrive to the Winter Realm, you know how dangerous the roads are.'

'I will.'

Eddie gave Barry a hug and promised Barry that he will keep the Kingdom safe from any threat. 'Thanks Eddie, I know you will and you will be a great father also.'

Eddie smiled warmly.

When Barry was hugging Iris for what seemed like the hundredth time he felt a cold chill run through his body and quickly looked over his shoulder to see Cisco, Caitlin and Eddie saying their goodbyes and turned to the to the other side to see Joe and Wells talking calmly and Jesse hugging his father dearly. The soldiers were ready to leave and some were holding their banners up, creating a line of red flags waiting for the prince to lead the way. Something felt wrong.

'Are you okay Bar?'

'Yeah, it's nothing.' – said Barry kissing Iris forehead and putting his right hand over his sister's belly. 'See you both soon…'

Iris nodded with a worried smile. 'Safe trip.'

The Prince mounted quickly his black stallion and his company left promptly Central Kingdom to the Winter Realm. Barry knew from the merchants that used to visit the north that the road was dangerous and difficult to travel; in some places the route of the mountains was full of cliffs and very steep paths where strong winds blew like invisible demons pushing every wanderer to fall to their deaths in the cold depths of the earth. He was worried and nervous, but he was also very excited to visit the mysterious kingdom.

Three long hours passed, when the company began traveling through a vast green forest. They were passing the heart of the mountain, between tall trees, and green lush vegetation, when General Singh approached Barry and began to ride side by side to his prince.

'Your Highness, after we pass through this forest we will arrive to the border with the Winter Realm, there we will find the last town of Central Kingdom, where we are going to rest for the night, after that we are going to cross the Winter Valley and reach the Azure Lakes, after that we will arrive to the Palace.'

'Perfect, thank you General.'

'And I wanted to inform you, Your Highness, that I sense that something has been following us since we left the palace. I warned the soldiers to be on high alert if they saw something suspicious because we are an easy target, especially since we are not familiar with our current surroundings.'

'I agree, and I felt a presence too.' – said Barry taking a quick look over his right shoulder to see the carriage where Caitlin, Ronnie and Cisco were securely traveling accompanied of the scholar Sir Martin Stein who insisted in accompanying the party to the north for research purposes, followed by Jax Jackson and Harrison Wells who where riding their own horses followed by the royal escort that were at least twenty men, ten on foot and ten on horses and lastly a big wagon full of their luggage as well as gifts for the Princess and the King of the North.

Suddenly, the prince noticed that there were no sounds of birds or animals, just the trotting of the horses and the sound of the wheels of the carriage and the wagon tramping the uneven path of rocks and mud. The woods they were currently wandering gave Barry an unnerving feeling. 'Something is wrong.' Barry saw that General Singh was traveling with his hand on the grip of his sword, probably thinking the same he was thinking.

'General Singh I think we should-'

Barry stopped midsentence when he noticed something moving between the lines of trees. Singh followed Barry's line of sight and saw a shadow, something was coming their way. It was a single man wearing a black armor.

'Black…' –murmured Barry under his breath. 'It's a trap.'

General Singh understood what the prince meant and yelled to his soldiers.

'¡We are under attack! ¡Protect the carriage and wagon!'

Barry took out his sword and saw how Sir Danton Black, known as the Multiplex Knight transformed into an army in seconds.

'Impossible' – one of the soldiers murmured watching how in matter of seconds they were surrounded. 'I thought he was a legend.'

'No he is not.' – assured Captain Singh unsheathing his sword. 'But he is indeed a pain in the ass.'

The fight started with a loud clash of Central Kingdom soldiers' swords against the swords of the copies of Sir Danton Black. General Singh commanded the army to protect Barry and to surround the carriage. They were highly outnumbered and Barry had no idea of how they were going to defeat the Multiplex Knight, maybe Harry, Cait or Cisco could come up with a bright idea.

Barry raced his mount quickly to get near the carriage to talk to Cisco and on his way he knocked down four Blacks and slashed three with his sword but to his surprise one got up and multiplied himself in to three more and one caught Barry's leg with amazing strength and pulled him down from his horse to the ground.

The Prince saw his horse panic and start kicking some of the copies but they just continued to multiply endlessly. General Singh tried to reach him but a wall of Blacks appeared cutting the path between him and the prince. Barry was trying to stand up when he felt a strong kick to his ribs that sent him on his back against the cold wet floor. The prince groaned feeling a hot white pain in his chest. He tried to sat up and knock his attackers but suddenly there were five of Danton's copies over him taking turns kicking him savagely in the head, torso and legs. One hit connected with his face leaving him almost unconscious. He could hear Caitlin screaming something and Cisco and Wells trying to get closer to him to protect him. Barry struggled and reached his sword with his right hand and slashed with super speed the leg of three of the enemies and he connected two strong kicks to some copies that collapsed instantly, while Cisco and Wells finally fighting their way through the sea of enemies reached him.

'We need to find the original Black' –yelled Cisco feeling the adrenaline of the battle and offering a hand to Barry, which the prince gladly accepted to finally stand up.

'And how the hell we are going to know which one is the real Black?' – the prince asked annoyed with their current situation.

'Caitlin said that this ability to create large amounts of duplicates probably causes too much stress on his body, so that we should look out for signs of strain.'

Barry nodded and used his super speed to knock out some of the enemies, looking for the original Danton. But it was easier said than done, all the duplicates were wearing the same armor, so it was nearly impossible to see which one is the exhausted one and to make matter worse his ribs were hurting badly. Maybe he could try taking their helmets one by one...

'¡Barry!'- Caitlin shouted out from the carriage and Barry watched her screaming anxious next to Ronnie that was fighting against two copies. '¡Look at the movements of the Black near that fallen tree…I think that's the real one!'

The prince watched carefully the man that Cait pointed him, he was walking slowly and supporting himself against the tree to catch a breath. The Prince without a doubt rushed to the man in seconds, kicked him repeatedly in his stomach and then grabbed him by the neck, taking off the helmet of his enemy to toss it to the ground. To the prince's surprise Danton just laughed whole heartily.

'He is coming for you.' – said Black sneering and Barry observed that Danton's face was sweating meaning that Caitlin was right. He had the original Black in his hands.

'Are you talking about Zoom?' – asked Barry while he noticed that the battle continued behind his back. He needed to end this quickly but not before he could get some useful information.

'He won't stop until he kills you and destroys everything in his path.'

'So Zoom sent you to set this stupid trap.'

Danton laughed and it sent a chill down Barry's back. 'No Your Highness, this wasn't a trap. This was just a warning. Zoom wants you to know that he knows all about your pitiful plan of marring the Winter King to try to win him as an ally in your campaign. A pathetic plan that won't work against him.'

'We will see.' – said the prince defiantly releasing his hold on Black to unsheathe his sword.

'You know…'– Black added eyeing Barry from head to toes in a shameless way. 'Zoom is really anxious to have you in his power, he wants your speed, your body and to torture you, to make you bleed slowly and painfully. He wants to hear you scream and now I can understand why.'

'I would love to see him try.' – spat Barry disgusted with the way the older man was watching him. 'He won't be able to do any of that if he can't even catch me.'

'But he almost did during the War at the Southern border.'

'Almost…'– added Barry smirking. 'He missed.'

'Don't worry Your Highness is just a matter of time, he is going to send his warriors to annihilate everything you love and he won't let you marry King Snart because you; Prince Bartholomew Allen, are his to kill.'

'Zoom doesn't scare me and neither your empty threats.'

'Then you are a fool my young prince… your fate is already sealed.' – said Danton taking a small knife from his belt and he sliced his own throat open, surprising Barry in the process who felt the man's blood splatter against him. Barry watched the man in shock and the Multiplex Knight, as well as his copies, collapsed instantly to the floor. The prince shivered and closed his eyes. He felt frozen and so angry.

'He was just a messenger.' – said Harrison putting a comforting hand over Barry's shoulder.

'I know…' – said Barry watching the small pool of blood under Black.

'Damn' – said Cisco watching all the copies starting to disintegrate and disappear in to thin air. 'That was frightening.'

Caitlin, Ronnie and the scholar Martin Stein on the other hand rushed to the soldiers that were hurt during the fight. Three of them died, and only eighteen remained with small not life threatening injuries. She bandaged quickly the one's that needed treatment while Jax tried to calm the carriage's horses.

'Well it seems that Zoom already knows our plans.'- Cisco whispered annoyed taking Black's sword and approaching his best friend slowly.

'He wont stop sending his pawns until he gets Barry.' – added Harry watching the prince's worried face. 'We need to move quickly, always be in high alert and be prepared for another attack, we still have one day of journey until we arrive to the Winter Palace.'

'I think I made a huge mistake.' –murmured Barry concerned running his fingers through his now messy brown hair. 'I can't marry Leonard Snart; we can't lure this demon to an innocent realm and put everyone at risk. We need to go back and fight him in Central Kingdom.'

'We can't go back' – said Caitlin quickly walking toward her friends with difficulty in the muddy path.

'Why?'

'We can't, because we accepted the invitation of Princess Lisa Snart to her birthday and the proposal of marriage to Leonard Snart and they replied that they would be more than delighted to meet you, Your Highness…. Remember that?' – explained Caitlin upset showing Barry the letter of the Princess.

'What would you think that would happen if we don't show up Barry?'

Cisco answered before Barry could even open his mouth.

'They would be very pissed.'

'Exactly and that would be very, very useful to Zoom. Just imagine that you reject King Leonard Snart by not showing up, he gets really mad and Zoom decides to create an alliance with him or threat him to cooperate to his cause. Think about it because it could be a plausible scenario and both of them are too powerful in their own way, so we can't fight against them if they join forces. We will be doomed.'

The prince groaned annoyed. 'What a mess…'

'Lady Caitlin is right.' – added Harry. 'We need to keep up with this plan.'

'When King Leonard realizes the dangers I am bringing to his Kingdom he is going to kill me. I am putting at risk his only family…his sister. He is going to make me a fucking icicle.'

'Barry language' – said Cisco teasingly trying to calm down his best friend. 'We won't let Zoom harm the Princess or the townspeople.'

'We can't assure him that Cisco. Look around! We already have three dead bodies. I couldn't even protect our soldiers against Black. And now Zoom is going to come and terrorize the north.'

Caitlin sighed. 'Barry we need to do this, there is no other option and I assure you that it is quite possible that Princess Lisa and King Leonard Snart already know about Zoom's existence. Don't underestimate them. They are smart and you know rumors call Leonard Snart the Demon of the North for a reason, so relax… they know what they are getting in to and in case they don't you can also explain them later.'

'I agree that maybe they now about Zoom existence… but I highly doubt that they know what they will be up against if they join us. We still don't know the extents of Zoom's power.'

'And that is why we need allies.' – interrupted Sir Martin Stein. 'I am sorry for interfering with your conversation your Highness but we really should get moving, General Singh says everything is ready in order to continue with the journey and that we should move promptly before the sun sets and the darkness comes to add more threats in to this unknown woods.'

'I agree' – said Harrison mounting his horse. 'Come on, we should make haste if we wish to arrive to the last town of Central City before night.'

Caitlin and Cisco nodded and followed Martin Stein to the carriage.

'What are we going to do with their bodies?' – asked Harry to General Singh.

'We will carry them to the town and bury them there. They fought bravely and deserve a proper burial. Jax already gave the order to the soldiers to put the bodies in the wagon.'

Harrison nodded to Singh and watched how, near the carriage, the Prince was trying to mount with difficulty his black stallion.

'Your Highness, are you injured?' – said Harry approaching the young prince.

'Nothing to worry Harry' – said Barry with difficulty hissing in pain. 'Probably two cracked ribs. You know they will heal quickly… nothing to worry I assure you.'

'You should let Lady Snow check you.'

'I agree, but when we arrive to Keystone. We can't afford to lose more time.'

Harry sighed. 'The ride on horse and the bumpy road will worsen the fractures if we don't at least bandage you. Lady Snow will kill you for not telling her earlier.'

Barry smiled and nodded. 'I promise that when we arrive to the town I will ask Lady Snow to bandage me.'

Harry nodded courteous and gave the indication to General Singh to give the order to the soldiers to move and to keep on alert.

The first thing that Barry noticed about Keystone, the last town of his Kingdom, is that it was beautiful and a small cozy town. The climate was a little bit colder than Central City, but probably a lot warmer of than the Winter Realm. The houses were made of wood and the windows were decorated with flowers. The roads were of cobblestone and that the city was divided by an azure river crossed by many small stone bridges. There was also a large marketplace, not as big as the one in Central but still pretty impressive with a remarkable amount of products.

'This place is beautiful' – said Caitlin in awe getting down of the carriage with the help of his fiancé.

They were in the middle of the town where a huge round fountain decorated the town square.

'That is our destination, the Keystone Fortress.' – said General Singh pointing towards a small castle. 'This is where our men still watch out for the border of our Kingdom under the command of-'

'Wally West' - said Barry cheerfully passing them and walking towards the high arched entrance. 'Come on! …It's been a long time since I saw my step-brother.'

'He will be glad to see you, Your Highness.' – said General Singh smiling.

'Lady Snow may speak with you?' – asked Harrison approaching Firestorm and the healer. 'Could you please examine the prince at nightfall, I believe he cracked two ribs earlier in the battle and he denied attention at the forest, so I am afraid that the journey may have worsen his state.'

'Sure, Harry, no problem.' –Caitlin said frustrated. 'I am seriously going to kill him…how could he not tell me right away? … He should have traveled in the carriage with us, not riding his horse…'

'You know he is stubborn.'

'And reckless….' –she added annoyed observing the pain reflected on face of the prince when Wally hugged him dearly. 'He deserves that…'

'Sir Ronnie, may I ask for your assistance with the burial of the soldiers?' – asked General Singh with respect.

'Sure…' – added Ronnie with a sulk. He hated losing people in battles. 'Jax help us with our dead soldiers. Cait I am going to help them, see you at the dinner, please take care and heal our stubborn prince.'

'I will…' – said Caitlin kissing his fiancé tenderly. 'See you later.'

'Lady Caitlin is so good to see you.' – said Wally eager to see so many known faces.

'Good to see you to Wally.' – said Cait with a warm smile. 'You have grown a lot. Iris and Joe will be shocked when they see you.'

'Yeah…' – Wally said thinking on how much he missed them. He should at least go back to Central for the birth of his sister's baby, but he could plan that later. 'Let's go in, it's getting dark and the temperature here drops down a lot at night. My servants here will take you to your room, Barry I am showing you your own private chamber. Follow me.'

'Wally wait, I am going with both of you.' – said Caitlin serious. 'Someone here is injured and decided to hide that fact from me the entire journey since the battle in the forest with the Multiplex Knight.'

'Sorry…' – murmured Barry weakly.

'Are you insane, Barry? Traveling like that, you could had made your injures worse…' – insisted Caitlin furious.

'But I didn't'

She frowned. 'We won't know until I check you.'

When they arrive to the private chamber for the prince, Wally decided to better leave Caitlin and Barry alone because they were arguing without end and it was driving him crazy.

'Good luck! I will be back with some food' – he said closing the old wooden door of the room and Barry sighed.

'I am sorry Cait, but we couldn't afford to lose more time in the forest, it wasn't safe.'

'I agree with that Barry, but you should take more care of yourself and at least told us and travel in the carriage with us. Take of your shirt.'

The prince did it with a lot of trouble, first he removed his cape and then he tried to raise his arms to take off his shirt but it hurt like hell.

'Do you need help?' – asked Caitlin worried.

'No, I can… I can do it.'

After some minutes he achieved his mission and seated on the border of his bed.

'How do you feel?'

'It hurts when I breathe in.'

'Okay, try to breathe normally.'

'I am.'

'You are not… you are only taking shallow breathes to reduce the pain.'

'Fine.' He inhaled deeply.

'Does this hurt?' – said Cait lightly touching Barry's chest. The prince moved his head from side to side denying that he felt pain.

'And here?'

'Ouch! Cait careful!'

'Three broken ribs Barry Allen, you have some mayor swelling and tenderness in your chest and some bruising where Multiplex hit you repeatedly. With your healing factor I am guessing tomorrow you will feel a lot better and in one or two days your ribs will be already healed. Lie down.'

'Cait I am not tired.'

'Lie down.'

'Fine….'

Barry struggled to lie down his bed and then he felt exhausted, all the adrenaline escaped his body and now he was just worn-out. She quickly put some oils that smelled like mint over his chest and bandage it with a piece of clean linen. After that she cleaned Barry's face with water and put another type of oil in the small cut near his eyebrow.

'Stay there, I am going to look for Wally to bring you some food and after that you will sleep and rest…. Understood?'

'Yes.'

'Good,' – she murmured walking to the door.

'Caitlin…'

'Yes Barry?'

'Thanks' – he murmured softly closing his eyes.

She smiled and left the room to look for their host. When Caitlin came back with Wally she wasn't surprised that Barry fell asleep, with Wally's help she covered Barry with some blankets and left a cup of ale next to the bed in case he woke up thirsty.

'We should let him sleep.' – said Cait warmly. 'He must be exhausted. Tell the servants to prepare a huge breakfast.'

'I will.' – said Wally amused wondering how many food could Barry eat.

The next day, at sunrise, Barry was already awake and eating all the food he could from the kitchen. He tried all the breads, fruits, cheeses and meats they prepared for him. He specially loved the honey and the jams they had. The maids were more than impressed with Barry's appetite.

'Morning Your Highness…'- said Wells impressed with the amount of food and empty silver plates left in the table.

'Morning Harry'

'I suppose that you are feeling better?'

'Never better.'

'I must confess that I am surprised Lady Snow didn't kill you last night.'

The prince laughed. 'She wouldn't'

'You are so wrong Barry Allen, next time that you don't tell me that you are injured I will kill you.' – said Caitlin entering the kitchen. 'I am giving you a warning.'

Barry gulped and nodded.

'The Scarlett Speedster lives!' – said Cisco joyfully after Caitlin. 'And why are we in the kitchen, shouldn't we eat at the dinning hall?'

'It was closer to the food and the maids were spoiling me'- said Barry grinning.

'Nice.' – said Cisco eating some of the grapes on the table.

After everyone ate their breakfast and gave their proper goodbyes to Wally, the company started traveling again, but this time inside the Winter Realm.

The only one who knew the roads they were going to travel was General Singh, who used to visit a long time ago the realm because of his husband's family lived there. Barry was grateful for the winter, because even though the sky was a dark grey, there was no snow, wind or heavy rain that could delay the group's pace.

After passing some of the villages that were on the road, Barry started to realize the problems that the residents of the Winter Realm were suffering; there were a lot of farms abandoned, no cattle, the land was dead with no crops because of the low temperatures, inside the large cities the Prince noted that there were many criminals on the streets as well as homeless people. He felt sad, such a beautiful country with so many issues… if destiny decided that he was going to be King Snart's new husband he was going to do everything in his power to save them all.

Later on the road they arrived a place between the mountains that gave the company vertigo. The group needed to pass a very steep mountain path that was very dangerous thanks to strong winds that gusted in frenzy and to make the situation worse they have to cross a really old hanging bridge that was very unstable. Barry felt his hands sweaty, he was really nervous of crossing that bridge specially for the carriage and wagon, but to his surprise after they cross it they noticed that thankfully the bridge was very resilient.

Later on, after conquering the dangerous mountain path, they finally reached the Azure Lakes. From the lake they could see up in the mountains the white castle of King Leonard Snart, it was a magnificent view and Barry was in awe but the view also make him nervous and anxious. Next to the castle there was a huge waterfall and the trees were white thanks to the snow. The mountains on the back of the castle were really monumental and on their highest point they were white. The climate was so cold that Barry saw his own breath condensing like a small cloud in front of him and he was guessing that his nose was probably red like Caitlin's o Harry's nose. Fortunately they were all prepared to the cold and they were wearing really warm clothes.

The Central Kingdom group was quietly traveling next to the lake when a dense mist suddenly appeared over the lakebed. Barry thought first that maybe it was a normal weather change but then he realized that the mist wasn't normal it was moving very quickly, but he wasn't sure since he didn't really know the area.

To their surprise they heard suddenly the loud sound of an alarm raised from the castle. General Singh stopped and saw the mist turn in to a green smoke and everything in its path started to decay. 'Poison'

'Barry get inside the carriage' – yelled Wells with concern watching that behind the mist there was a large group soldiers coming their way.

The prince saw that the mist started to take the form of a human being. A man, bald and he seemed almost sick. He had no eyebrows and eyes black as a bottomless well. He was using fancy clothes and probably was noble from the north.

Cisco and Caitlin were watching from the carriage the situation and Cisco was more than impressed when he saw the man transform in to a tangible shape.

'Holy shit! That man was the mist… okay THE MIST! Oh that's a good name…end of discussion.'

'Who are you? – Wells asked with curiosity.

'My name is Sir Kyle Nimbus; I came to the north as a suitor for King Leonard Snart, but to be honest I hate competition so this leaves me in quite an ordeal when I heard that the perfect prince of Central Kingdom accepted also the invitation of the King…' – said the shape shifter inspecting Barry. 'So I thought that I should use the upper hand and eliminate my strongest competitor first.'

Barry got down from his horse angry and walked to the man unsheathing his sword.

'Did Zoom sent you?'

'Yes and no … it is outrageous the amount of gold he is offering to the one who captures you alive my Prince. I am glad that Multiplex failed, because know I have my chance.'

'Don't get your hopes up… you will fail like Danton did.'

'Let's see…' – said The Mist smirking.

'¡Barry don't! You can't fight him!' - yelled Caitlin opening the door of the carriage. 'Cisco, Wells, stop him.'

Barry disappeared in a blur and used his speed to try to punch Nimbus unconscious and end quickly the fight but to his surprise his fist didn't connect with anything. The men transformed in to gas in seconds and then back again into a man.

'Some times there are things, Prince Bartholomew Allen, that you can't fight.'

Before Barry could even move, The Mist transformed in to a gas and attacked Barry with full strength in the chest, sending him backwards to collide against an old tree where he heard his ribs crack again. 'Caitlin is going to kill me.' He thought on the floor trying to fight against the pain. He could feel the metal flavor on his mouth and the pain on his chest and back. Caitlin saw that Barry was in real danger so she used her powers channeling some ice but every time she tried to hit the criminal with her icicles the man just turned in to gas and avoid them. The Mist noticing how Barry was getting up decided to send him a wave of gas to hit him, but Barry was faster and avoided the strike and ran next to Wells.

'Any ideas on how to stop The Mist?'

'You can't fight him.'

'Peace is not really an option right now, try something better.'

'Keep him coming at you. That should sap his strength. Gas is the least stable form in nature. He will not be able to stay in his mist form for long. He will need to reform.'

'Got it' – said Barry running to tease the Mist in to following him. At the same time General Singh order his soldiers and Firestorm to fight against The Mist soldiers and to protect their carriage.

Not to far from the battle, between the white tall trees on a hidden hill, King Leonard Snart, Princess Lisa and General Mark Mardon were watching the fight that was taking place in the Azure Lakes from a safe distance accompanied with a small group of soldiers.

'Should we intervene?' – asked Lisa watching how the travelers from Central Kingdom were in disadvantage. 'Both of them are your suitors. It would be bad if they kill each other and probably the Central Kingdom flags means that down there is Prince Bartholomew Allen.'

'No I want to see their powers and confirm the rumors that the Prince is a speedster.' – answered Snart with curiosity. 'And honestly my dear sister, right now I don't care who wins.'

'Well it seems that the rumors were right.' – said Lisa watching the fight. The prince started running in a circle to contain the mist. 'Smart.'

Leonard smiled impressed and continued watching the fight amazed, Lisa sighed and General Mardon gave the sign to his soldiers to rest.

Down in the Azure Lakes, Barry started running in a circle trying to keep The Mist inside and forcing him to transform again into human and he was achieving it until one of the soldiers of the Mist shoot an arrow an hit Barry straight on his thigh. Barry lost balance and speed and fell to the floor near the water of the lake. Luckily the arrow only grazed his thigh, but it still hurt like hell. 'Shit'

'It seems the odds just changed in to my favor.'

Barry saw Caitlin that was running to him followed by Wells. The Mist sensed them and sent a mist wave to punch them and sent them flying until they hit the carriage.

'Stop it! Your problem is with me Nimbus. Don't hurt them'

'Yes my problem is with you.'

Barry got up with difficulty. 'Let's fight this the old fashion way.'

'You want a duel with a sword?' – laughed Nimbus. 'I pass…'

Nimbus started changing in to his mist form, but this time it was green, a cloud of poison, Barry started coughing, feeling the need of air. He tried to get out of the cloud but it was really dense. Firestorm seeing that Barry was trapped, and that Nimbus was starting to reform again in to human giving him a chance to attack him, sent a fire blast against the enemy, but The Mist quickly noticed and when the fire ball was going to hit him, he converted in to poisonous gas again and created a reaction with the fire that caused a vast explosion that hit the Prince square in the chest and sent him flying in to the ice cold lake, the blast wave also hit Firestorm, Caitlin, Cisco, the soldiers and Wells and send them backwards to the line of trees around the lake that caught immediately on fire, the horses of the Central Kingdom army started to run away afraid of the sound and the flames. Some of the Mist soldiers died because they were near the blast and some of the Central soldiers were lying unconscious.

'Holy shit' – yelled Mardon watching how hell went loose near the Lake in matter of seconds.

'Can we intervene now?' – asked Lisa with concerned hearing the screams of the soldiers and the roar of the fire.

'Yes, that was our sign.' – said Snart starting to ride down the hill in full speed followed by his soldiers.

Barry felt cold. He started to swim to the shore of the lake with difficulty, his ribs were killing him and the almost frozen water was taking a toll on his strength, but he couldn't drown nor die right now, he needed to protect his friends from his new intangible enemy. He panicked when he saw the damage that the blast created and the half-ring of fire formed by the trees in the surrounding areas.

When Barry finally reached the shore, he was trembling from head to toes, and he tried to walk but he felt dizzy and instantly fell hard on the ground. He didn't have energy to keep on fighting and he was starting to lose consciousness when he felt a man grab him by the throat and lift him until he was in his enemy's eye level.

'Take your last breath Your Highness' – said The Mist creating a small cloud of a poisonous gas around the prince face to suffocate him. Barry felt how his lungs started to burn. He couldn't breath. His eyes were watering and he was starting to see everything blurry. He was feeling so much pain. His wet and frozen hands were trying to release that strong grip that Nimbus held on his throat choking him with no avail.

'I was thinking of taking you alive to Zoom… but this is more exciting... so may the Gods have mercy on your soul.'

Behind the trees caught on fire, Snart ordered General Mark Mardon to create rain to stop the fire and he did it immediately. Lisa on the other hand, went directly to the unconscious woman that seemed to have a similar power to his brother, probably Lady Caitlin Snow, she reached the woman and noticed that she was only knocked out from the blast, as well as Sir Harrison Wells and a very cute tanned noble that was travelling with them.

'They are all alive.' – yelled Lisa to his brother. 'And some of the soldiers too.'

'Good.' – answered Snart. 'Try to wake them up, we are going for the Prince.'

Lisa nodded and saw his brother order General Mardon to follow him to the shore of the Lake to look out for the young Prince. When they arrive to the shore Leonard felt his heart drop when he saw The Mist release his deadly grip on Prince Bartholomew Allen to drop him to the ground unconscious or in the worst-case scenario dead.

'Too late, King Snart.' – said Nimbus pleased. 'It seems you now have one suitor less to worry about. Don't thank me.'

Snart started walking towards the unconscious prince followed by General Mark Mardon. The King crouched near the prince and rolled Barry's body to face him. He was just a kid. His face was dirty with mud and blood. Leonard gently checked if the prince had any pulse on his neck and to his surprise there it was… faint…very slow and erratic but enough for hoping that he could survive, but the kid wasn't breathing so he didn't waste any time and began some small chest compressions and gave him air mouth to mouth….

'A shame…'- said The Mist smirking noticing that the prince was still fighting for his life. 'Such beautiful face and body… probably you would have loved to fuck him senseless but now his pain contorted in pain will only be mine to remember.'

Leonard ignored Nimbus, concerned with the kid's life… finally he noticed that Barry reacted and breathed in some oxygen with difficulty. 'Kid don't die on me.'

'Well it seems my job isn't done yet. Maybe life is giving you a chance to fuck him…'

Snart snapped with such rage that he sent a blast of ice so fast against Nimbus and pierced his heart. Nimbus couldn't even register what happened when he dropped dead.

'I though he was never going to shut up...' – said Leonard annoyed taking off his coat and laying it over the prince that finally started breathing and shivering non-stop.

'Hurts…. breathing' – said Barry with a rasped voice. Everything hurt badly.

'Calm down, you are safe.' – said Leonard watching the deep and captivating green hazel eyes that were full of confusion and pain. 'Cait…'

'Everyone is safe… don't talk.'

The prince nodded feeling safe, he focused on the unknown deep blue eyes full of concern, that reminded him the beautiful sky in Central Kingdom and tried to move but the pain in his leg, ribs and lungs were too much to handle, he moaned in pain and closed his eyes falling unconscious.

The King wiped away some of the mud and the blood from the prince face and Mardon watched in shock the reaction of his King. Since the death of King Rory, Leonard had always kept his feelings in hiding so he almost forgot how scary Snart could be when he was furious, but what really surprised him was the care for the kid.

'Lenny, are you okay?' – yelled Lisa followed by Cisco, Caitlin and Harrison Wells.

Caitlin gasped watching the state of Barry.

'I am, but the prince seems in a really bad state. We should take him to the castle, the healers can try to heal him.'

Caitlin acted quickly and rushed to his friend and checked his pulse. 'He is very weak. The cold of the lake probably slowed down his system so he isn't healing as fast as he should be and the arrow that grazed his thigh is bleeding a lot, Cisco give me something to bandage the wound.'

Cisco took quickly Sir Martin Stein scarf and handed it to Caitlin.

'So you are a healer?' – asked Lisa to Caitlin impressed.

Caitlin nodded. 'I am, and we need to warm him quickly before he goes in to shock.'

The King lifted the unconscious Barry in bridal style and ordered Mardon to open the carriage door to put him inside for the ride to the castle.

'We are near the Castle, but we need to travel fast.' – said Leonard coldly. 'Follow me'

So far my longest chapter! :D