Chapter 5 – Days later
VALE
DAYS LATER
My thighs ached, and snow pushed down into my boots as I plowed through the deep drifts.
It should be right around the next curve of the mountain. I craned my neck and stared up the mountainside. Or was it the next?
I cursed myself. Had I paid better attention in classes as a youngling, I’d remember precisely where the entrance to the old Mining Kingdom of Dergia was located.
But I’d always been more preoccupied with current threats to Winter’s Realm over long forgotten and dead kingdoms. Particularly long-forgotten kingdoms, which were so far away from Avaldenn, the beating heart of Winter’s Realm.
However, through my many frustrations, I allowed myself to take a small measure of heart.
I had managed to get us this far. With Caelo’s help, and a bit of luck, we’d found the ancient, unmarked road cutting through the forest and leading deep into the mountains, to the place where the Red Mist Range and the Ice Tooth Range intersected.
To the guest entrance of Dergia, or so it was said.
The Doors of Eitriod have to be coming up soon . . .
Caelo approached, careful to walk close to me and within my footsteps. The pathway into the mountain range had clearly deteriorated with the passing turns. On one side, a steep cliff promised certain doom to anyone who was not vigilant with their footing.
“Animals walk the peaks above,” Caelo said. “Goats, I think, though I can’t be sure. They were far away.”
“Good.” At this small mention, relief bloomed inside. “That means there’s food somewhere, and the humans can hunt.”
“And water is near too.” My friend angled his head back to the crowd. “Should we rest? Some are lagging. Neve and Anna are having difficulty keeping them motivated.”
I twisted to take in the group. Since the n?kken attack six days back, we’d lost five more souls, all to the cold.
The humans had not been conditioned to walk across Winter’s Realm.
Nor had they possessed the best attire. For one hundred and forty three people to have survived the cold alone was a miracle.
That gave me hope for them, that they truly could live out here alone and safe and free.
Maybe, if they survived for a while on their own, I could send aid.
I’d already been considering whom among the earth fae I knew would be skilled enough to make this journey and would be trustworthy enough to keep the humans a secret.
The list was short—consisting only of a soldier I’d fought alongside many times, and a fae living in the Tower of the Living and the Dead.
“They can stop, but I’ll keep going,” I said to Caelo. “I wish to see around the next bend.”
“What happened to being extra careful?”
I knew precisely what he meant. The risk of other creatures in this area was slight, but present. We worried, particularly, about the dwarves.
Some dwarves had refused to integrate into the greater Kingdom of Winter.
Those small clans roamed the mountains nomadically, like orcs, trolls, and giants, though they were not a nuisance, so the Crown of Winter did not bother trying to subjugate or fight them.
However, it was not out of the question that they’d reclaim old mines to use as temporary camps.
Stepping into their territory would be an aggression.
“What happened to following your prince’s orders?” I retorted and immediately cringed. Days of travel, periods of hunger, and constant peril had me on edge, but that was no reason to talk to my best friend, a brother of my heart, in such a manner.
A testament to our brotherly bond, Caelo didn’t apologize, but arched a brow. “You can’t bring up the prince card when it suits you, while also lamenting privately that you’re not good enough for Neve. That you’re only suited to be a part of her guard.”
“I know,” I whispered, which seemed good enough for him because Caelo turned around and held up a hand.
“Take a five-minute break.” He spoke at normal volume, and the message was passed down the line, proving the humans were heeding my warnings about avalanches. “Vale will continue forward to scout.”
I left and remained focused on the bend ahead. Focused on pushing through the snow, carving a path up the slight incline to see our destination.
What would have taken ten minutes on roads beaten down by sleighs, hooves, and feet took three times as long, but at last I reached my destination and rounded the corner.
My breath left me in a plume of white, filling the air. We did it.
Below, still a ways away but visible, a set of wood double-doors were nestled into a mountain.
The Doors of Eitriod, an intricate set of light wooded pine doors meant to honor one of the dwarves’ favored gods, had once been the visitor’s entrance to Dergia.
My heart rate doubled at the sight of the great hammer and axe carved into the doors, illuminated by the late morning sun.
The most loved tools of the dwarven artists and soldiers.
Soon enough, we’d be there, we’d break the door down and venture inside for a first glimpse at the humans’ new home.
“Stand back,” I instructed.
It had taken far longer than I’d expected, but we’d finally reached the Doors of Eitriod only to find the great wooden double doors locked from within.
“You’re going to blast it?” Neve asked.
Since I’d announced I could see the doors, her spirits had improved drastically. I only hoped that once inside, her mood would continue to rise. But who knew what we’d find inside?
Nomadic dwarves who knew another way in? Monsters that pushed their way into the mountain and made it their own home?
Hopefully nothing.
“I can freeze the door to help,” Neve added thoughtfully.
“If you have the energy.”
During our journey, we’d learned to let her save her magic for the dark hours when we required shelters.
“There might be wards on the door,” I added. “Force may not work.”
She countered. “Why would anyone ward a deserted kingdom?”
“They would be old and stout wards, Neve. Dwarven magic, especially within the mountains, is loyal and stubborn. Like dwarves themselves are known to be.”
“Stubborn, are they? Perhaps I’m part dwarf.” Neve stared at the Doors of Eitriod with a gleam in her eyes.
“Just be careful. Release your magic if you feel anything off.” I stood back for Neve to do as she would.
She faced the doors, and I felt when she called her power to the surface.
Over the weeks, Neve had delved ever deeper into the depths of her power.
Bit by bit, she harnessed the magic she’d been born to wield, and though she still had a long way to go before she claimed true mastery, I remained in a constant state of marvel.
Many times when her power filled the air, I’d wondered what would have happened if the White Bear’s Rebellion had failed. Or better yet, never happened.
If Neve had been free to grow up with her parents, her four older brothers, and her twin sister, where would her power have fallen on the spectrum of their bloodline?
Would she have been the most powerful, and therefore, the heir?
In our world, that was how things worked, with rare exceptions—my brother being one of them.
Or had House Falk produced fae with greater winter magic?
I shuddered at the thought, though I suspected it to be true.
King Harald Falk had been cruel and mad during the last turns of his life.
Those stories were told most often, though tales of his magical prowess were told from time to time too because whomever the wielder, fae loved and revered power.
The temperature dropped, and Caelo urged the humans to back away. Wishing to add extra protection for all of those around her, I created an air shield and expanded it to cover the humans and Caelo. The shield was barely in place when Neve unleashed herself on the door.
The pine slabs shuddered, and frost crept from the edges as gales as strong as those from the harshest of winter storms slammed into the doors.
She pushed again, and the doors shook harder, the great metal locks whining under the strain.
More frost covered the wood to the point where both doors were no longer a light pine color, but pure white.
When I thought she was done, and my precautions had been a touch much, the blow back came with vengeance. Hail exploded from Neve, soaring in all directions. Ice balls struck my air shield, and screams arose from the humans.
Neve spun, exhaled as she saw that I’d protected those with us. “Good thinking on the shield.”
“It’s always best to take precautions.”
“You’re used to considering the lives of others.”
I’d led scores of fae to battle. Yes, I considered their lives, and I’d been considering the lives of the humans since we’d liberated them. So had she, but I suspected the challenge the Doors of Eitriod presented made her forget the potency of her power.
“Try again, but this time consider, where’s the weakest point?” I asked, changing the topic. “A place you can infiltrate with a targeted strike.”
“If I hit right in the middle they’ll shatter inward.”
One corner of my lips curled. “You’re sure?”
She smirked. “I am, but I think you should try. You have better accuracy.”
“As you wish.”
It took no time at all to call my air magic.
Once, I’d believed my powers to be a limited form of winter magic, a concentration on air magic, and maybe it was, but after seeing Neve’s powers, after realizing how little of that supposed winter magic I possessed, I preferred to focus on the elemental aspect.
After all, I had no Aaberg blood flowing through me, and while House Vagle, like all the Sacred Eight, possessed the blood of Winter’s Realm, I did not think I’d inherited much from my mother.
No, my powers—like my vast physical strength—were likely from House Riis. I needed to make peace with that.