❆ ❆ ❆ Chapter Sixteen ❆ ❆ ❆

The Owl’s Nest

[Snow]

“Aela, I don’t…think… I can.. make it!” Snow’s grip was loosening, only to tighten at the view of the ground, hundreds of feet below. Her body reassured her that it would be best to hang on.

Aela and Snow were climbing the owl’s nest spire, which was located north, at the top of the interweaving rivers.

“As much as I'd like to tell you to go on and quit, there's no easy way down from here. It would be easier to climb to the top, than try and go down now… Well, I guess there is an easier way; you can always fall. You'll probably break a couple of bones if you don’t smash your head against a rock or somethin',” Aela said nonchalantly as she climbed with ease.

Snow’s arms began to tremble, she was nearing her limit, not to mention the terrible grip the spire face had.

“Aela, I can't! I need gloves or something! If I even inch up, I'll slip!”

“Nah, your fingers got the best grip. It'll let you get a good feel on what's grabbable too. If it's really that slippery then push up with your feet and leap to the next ledge.”

“Leap?!” They were near the top and Snow was really afraid.

“Yeah. Just leap. What's the big deal? You miss, you die. Just stop being scared.”

Aela was already at the top sitting on the ledge, looking down at Snow’s progress.

“I'd rather not die?! Just help me up, I can’t make that!”

“Nope, ya gotta leap.”

Snow eyed the next ledge. With her trembling arms and legs she got ready and counted in her mind.

“One…Two…Three!”

Snow jumped.

Her hand felt the crack of the ledge. The solid feeling of the spire was replaced with air. Snow’s stomach turned as she realized she was now falling.

“Ahh!” Snow started to scream, while she began plunging towards her death.

“For gods' sakes.” Aela rolled her eyes, before pushing herself off the ledge.

Snow was too busy watching the rapidly approaching ground that she didn't notice Aela had already caught up with her. Aela grabbed Snow’s arm, stabbed her butcher blade into the spire, and flung Snow up into the air and onto the top of the spire.

“That.. was.. close.” Snow rolled over on her back breathing heavily.

“You’ll grab the ledge next time. That was your one free pass.” Aela was already at the top of the spire again.

Snow sat up, she could see the whole landscape. It was beautiful. The southern area she first came from had a pattern of icy mountains, the western plateaus were backed by a bunch of flatlands, the eastern black forest ran up to a cliff that led down into swampland, and the north contained several waterfalls from which all the interweaving rivers stemmed from. Lastly, she could see Mina’s hill, Aela’s shack, and even more mystical tornados that danced around every corner of the land.

“Wow, this view is amazing! I can see everything.” Snow appreciated the beauty of the foreign world.

“If you’re going to be sticking with me, you need to know how this place works and what I do.” Aela said.

“Alright. I’m listening.”

“As you probably are aware, the day and night cycles are very different here in this frozen realm.”

“You mean how at night everything literally freezes. Yeah, I'm familiar with that.”

“Yes. During the Day, the seals are at their strongest. That’s when wildlife is out, and that’s when it's safe for us to go out. Night however is a different story. During every night cycle a deathly wind emerges and the land gets sunk in sub-zero temperatures. That night cycle you’ve seen is what I am trying to prevent from reaching our world. Every single night, the seals that are scattered throughout the land get damaged and I have to repair them. That's why destroying one set me back so much. I had a good system. I was repairing them faster than the night cycle could wear on them. Now, I'm a few weeks behind, thanks to you.”

“Well, if you say it like that, then I completely screwed you over.”

“Yup.”

“I said I was sorry..”

“Don’t worry, Snow. You will help me get back on track. I may be set back, but with the two of us, we may just be able to repair them even faster.”

“Don’t worry Aela, just tell me what to do! I’ll be a great help.” Snow said confidently.

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Aela turned to the view of the landscape, after a few seconds of her eyes scanning she stopped and pointed to the plateaus. “There, look.”

Snow looked towards the plateaus and didn't see anything in particular.

“What?”

Aela pulled out a wooden telescope and held it out.

Snow took the telescope and looked in the direction Aela was looking. At the plateaus.

“What am I looking at?”

“Behind the plateus, in the flatland. Do you see the tornado defense?”

Snow brought her sight to the tornado. The tornado was flashing.

“Yeah.. its… flashing? Is that bad?”

“Yes, the flashing means, it's becoming unstable. Now that you can see that, you will head to it and prime for me.”

“Prime it?”

“Everyday, I make rounds on every tornado. It will save me a lot of time if I don't have to prime it myself. So take these.” Aela held out a sack, to which Snow took.

Inside there were colorful marbles.

“Those are priming stones, throw them at the tornado and they will burst, releasing the condensed energy they hold. That energy will mold with the tornado after a while and make it a lot easier for me to stabilise it.”

Snow changed her sights with the telescope looking around,

“And what if any others?”

“Today just the one. Also, see that black forest in the west?”

“Yes.”

“Never, ever, ever go in there. There are killer spiders amongst other monsters, that would kill you on the spot lurking in there. I will prime the tornadoes there myself.”

“Okay..”

“Lucky for you, the flatlands behind the plateaus, are safe for the most part, with one exception.”

“What?”

“White stalkers.”

“Great.”

----------------------------------------

After nearly two hours Snow was nearing the flatlands, she was descending the plateau slope like a huge slide. While she was sliding down she looked at the upcoming landscape, and the threat that was beholden to it, the white stalkers.

“If you don’t step on them they wont detect you. If they do detect you, just wait in a tree or something.”

“Just wait in a tree or something, yeah…” Snow looked around the flatlands, more specifically, the tree-less flatlands. “Plenty of trees! Thanks Aela!”

Snow reached the bottom of the plateau and the tornado was seen in a field in front of her. She had new gear with her: Icebreaker, a dagger, the telescope, some food and Aela’s magic crystals. Once she entered the flatlands, her pace slowed as her eyes shifted to the ground. Scanning her step, each and every inch.

Eventually a large trenchlike hole came up in between her and the tornado. The there was a clear path around it but it stretched pretty far.

“That’s a long way around.” Snow looked at the path around the trench, then looked into the trench. If she went inside the trench she could most definitely climb up the other side.

“I hope I don’t regret this.”

She slid down into the trench.

Snow didn’t stop sliding down until the snow was at her knees. She took a step forward, And then heard something to her right. Snow snapped her head to the noise and saw it; A tail peaking out of the snow.

“A whitestalker’s tail has venom powerful enough to instantly paralyze anyone it stings. So, if you get stung, you will be made an easy meal.” Snow recalled Aela’s words.

The tail waved left and right as the whitestalker crossed right in front of her, hidden beneath the ground.

Snow didn’t move. She stood as still as possible, watching as the shifting snow in front of her kept moving until it was away from her vicinity.

Snow didnt expect this pit to be so deep. She looked at the wall behind her, and the area in front of her. The observation of only the single whitestalker gave her comfort. Knowing that it was the only one. She pressed on, going deeper in. All was well until she reached the center of the pit, the ground started rolling deeper and deeper until the snow was at her waist.

Snow heard more movement, but didnt see any tails.

It was because the snow was too high. The comfort of not seeing any tails now turned to fear. There were far more than one swimming around. The shallow area near the area she dropped in from had three tails swishing around.

Unlike Aela’s golem, she couldn’t see these things. Every step forward was a risk. Her heart beated faster and faster. In response the noise of shifting snow became more pronounced.

(“Can they sense me?”)

All the shifting sounds moved towards her from all directions.

Icebreaker began to vibrate in response to what Snow could only guess was an incoming attack. Snow drew Icebreaker, but then got an idea. She leaned back and flung icebreaker a few yards. The sword spun around before stabbing into the ground.

Suddenly, two whitestalkers exploded out from Snow’s left and right, aimed at the location of the sword. The creatures had flat bodies, long barbed tails and an underside of razor sharp teeth. The two beasts circled around the weapon accompanied by even more tails all swaying around Icebreaker.

That was a close call. That could have been her. But now, Snow needed to get out. Maybe, she shouldn't have thrown the sword where the exit was... Snow knew how to push and pull the blade, but could she control it from a distance? She held out her hand, calling and pushing away the blade.

The sword seemed confused until it began following her repeating commands. Once Snow got the back and forth motions down she tried a new motion: left and right. As a result, the blade followed her will; it began skitting across the ground at the direction she commanded. All the white stalkers chased after it. A dozen tails all raced to follow the sword.

Snow used the distraction to tread to the end of the pit and climb out.

Looking back inside, she could see the countless swirls of stalkers pathing around the area she treaded on. It was a miracle she wasn't noticed.

“To me.” Snow threw her hand out and Icebreaker flew out of the pit and into her hand.

Once again, this blade and her synergised incredibly well. It was amazing.

“Thank you, Icebreaker.”

She got to the first tornado. she could feel the cold air radiating off of it the closer she got. She stood just in front of it.

---

“Throw three marbles into the wind wall. That will prime the magic by the time I get there” Snow pulled out three of priming stones from the sack.

“Here goes nothing!”

Snow threw the marbles at the tornado wall. The marbles popped against it and a swirl of gold and white formed on the tornado. The flashing lights stopped and the tornado was slowly returning to its stable form. The magical balls were already doing the trick.

“That was easy!” Snow thought that would be a lot harder. Seems like the hard part was just getting here. Snow turned to depart and almost bumped into someone. The person startled her as she fell to the ground.

“Who are you!” Snow yelled. She drew Icebreaker, while still on the ground.

The figure was of a woman. A woman had blonde hair, wore steel armor, with a crescent insignia. She stared into the tornado. Her gaze was dead and unmoving.

“Well? Can you hear me? How did you get there so fast? Where did you come from!

There was no response.

"I asked you a question! Answer me!" Snow held her hand over Icebreaker, poised to attack. Icebreaker didn't respond. The lady faded away leaving Snow alone with the swirling tornado.