The Forbidden City was the most fortified position in the far east. It was a walled in city, surrounded by a moat and many slums and shanty villages. The only way to access it was through four heavily guarded gates with watchtowers filled to the brim with the most highly skilled guards plucked from the largest army on earth. The Emperor’s palace was enormous and its many large buildings were connected with smaller buildings, creating a network of hundreds of rooms and corridors, courtyards and gardens. It could house thousands of people.

At the moment there were just two people in it.

In the lamp room, a remarkable gallery filled with every kind of lamp imaginable in order to obscure a single lamp, a man dressed in the robes of a distinguished guest of the Emperor stood over the fallen form of a young woman.

She was collapsed on the ground, her dark curls spread out around her head and her face as pale as death. She wore plum, black and gold robes that were so excessive that they seemed to swallow up her small frame. She was beautiful, vulnerable and delightful…

…and in that moment, Evander hated her.

“Stupid…foolish…” He paced back and forth, rubbing his forearms where she had tried to freeze his body. “How could I have thought…how could she?” He scrunched his hands through his hair and yelled angrily then kicked over several pedestals with lamps perched on them. The resulting clatter made him feel a tiny bit better as he turned and slumped against the wall, sliding down and putting his head back. “How could I have been so blind?” He whispered.

The lesser jinni of the chunky silver ring with a red stone set in a claw shape, bobbed out of the ring. He was a small figure and always levitated, his legs crossed and his features blurred. He eyed his master with an appraising gaze.

“You hoped she had changed.”

“I have never heard of hope being blind.” Evander said darkly.

“No. But love is.” Evander’s head jerked up and he glared at the jinni.

“I do not love that witch.” The jinni didn’t respond for he had not been asked a question. Evander sighed and rubbed his free hand down his face. “You knew who she was.”

“Yes master.”

“She was here many years ago?”

“Would the master like to hear her story?”

“I know she travelled with the brother of the sorcerer who had died fighting Aladdin for the lamp.”

“The brother was a learned man who believed that Aladdin had stolen his brother’s lamp, killed him and taken everything he owned.” The jinni explained. “He didn’t know his brother had been a dangerous man with evil intent. He found the woman you know as Meredith wandering the wild roads and invited her to travel with him. She discovered what it was he was doing and wanted to capture that power for herself. The brother disguised himself as an old woman, for he could not risk his similarity to the sorcerer being noticed, he explained that Meredith was his apprentice to Aladdin. But Aladdin had become wise and asked the greater jinni if those around him could be trusted and the jinni exposed the brother so that Aladdin could kill him.”

“I am surprised that Me…that she, was not killed as well.” Evander said bitterly.

“The woman known as Meredith did not have evil intent towards Aladdin so the jinni did not say that she was not to be trusted.” The lesser jinni tilted his head. “The greater jinni is, shall we say, not overly clever. Powerful indeed but not very clever. Aladdin’s wife had taken a liking to having a servant from the western world in her midst so Meredith was spared…”

“And she used her singular talents to get her hands on the lamp.” Evander muttered. “She should have taken the lamp and run.”

“She only wanted the opposite power to the she-elf’s and wished that she would retain eternal youth just as an elf does. Then she wished herself away and left the lamp behind.”

“I am surprised she didn’t take the lamp.” Evander remarked. “But I suppose being infused with the power of ice and snow meant she didn’t think she would ever need it again.” He stood up and sighed. “It was her one hope to regain her power. She used me to get her greedy, selfish hands on it…and now I’m no closer to finding Jé Kinah…” He paused. “Jinni, you said you cannot bring her to me. Can you take me to her?”

“I can get you close my master…”

“Close is better than nothing.” Evander’s shoulder protested and he groaned.

The jinni fidgeted and made a strange face. “Master…I am not supposed to speak unless you command me…”

Evander looked at the jinni and raised an eyebrow. “Jinni of the ring…what is on your mind?”

“Master, the Emperor and his guards will be here any moment. If they find the lamp…”

“Of course.” Evander looked around. “Could you please return everything to the way it was? And could you put the lamp with the greater jinni in it somewhere it won’t be found?”

In the time it took to blink, the lamp room had been returned to its former ordered beauty. Evander nodded and walked to where Meredith lay, still unconscious. He glared down at her. “I suppose I should wish her back to the chateau…back to her cell…where she belongs…”

“While I cannot tell my master what he should do…if my master wishes to rescue the she-elf, the ice witch must go with him.” But before the jinni could continue they heard a commotion outside the lamp room.

“Jinni, I wish for myself, you and…Meredith,” it was hard even to say her name, “close to Jé Kinah!”

A split second later the guards burst into the room…but it was empty.

A large open valley had only a few spindly trees across its rocky expanse. There was a tough, grey green grass covering the ground and a cool breeze whipping through the air. The sky was pale blue and streaks of white clouds flittered above without casting any shade. Suddenly two humans appeared out of no where, one apparently asleep on the ground while the other, astonished at the speed of his arrival, turned around as though looking for a room that wasn’t there.

Evander gasped for a breath of air.

“Forgive the breathlessness of the travel, my master.” The jinni begged, having shifted from the lamp room to the valley with only a flicker in its appearance. “I have no breath to lose but I have been told it is…unsettling.”

“I…I am fine…” Evander turned around again. “If I had not experienced it, I would not have believed it. That was incredible.” Suddenly the breeze struck him and he shivered, the silk clothes he wore were beautifully made but useless at keeping the cold out. “Oh…I am not prepared for the cold again so soon. Can you fetch me and…both of us, clothes appropriate to wear where we are going?”

“Yes master.”

“Oh, and supplies.”

“Yes master.”

Evander was still unnerved by the way the jinni seemed to do the impossible almost effortlessly. He had been told several times that this was the lesser jinni but in Evander’s mind, it was quite remarkable and he said as much.

“Thank you master. It is nice to be appreciated.”

“I imagine your power has been abused in the past.” Evander remarked as he dressed.

“I have been mostly fortunate for my power is not the one that is coveted.” The jinni explained. “All those that hear the tale of the lamp and the ring, want the lamp.”

“And you couldn’t transport it to them?”

“No. For the lamp was in a place that had similar rules on it that your she-elf’s prison does.” Evander shivered at the thought of Jé Kinah in a prison.

“If it has rules, how do I get her out?”

The jinni pressed its fingers together. “It is a prison of her own making. A prison she feels she deserves. In order to set her physical form free, you must break open the prison of her mind.”

“And you said it required sacrifice?”

“Yes my master.”

Evander breathed in deep, taking everything in slowly. “So,” he said finally, dragging his heavy coat on with great relief, “where do I go?” The air was thin and icy and despite the sunshine, there was no warmth to be had.

The jinni waved its hand and, like a curtain was drawn aside, a large stone archway appeared not a stone’s throw from where they stood. It was not adorned in anyway and it was not attached to a wall. It simply was. Evander stepped towards it, seeing that the image through the archway was different to that which was around it. Through the arch was a snow covered mountain and a wild storm was raging. He could hear the howl of the wind and snowflakes were flung through the archway. Yet when he looked around the outside of the arch, the view was that of a peaceful, serene valley.

“What is this?”

“It is the start of the prison.” The jinni explained. “You must choose to enter through a door you cannot see in order to reach her cell.”

“And it is definitely in there?” Evander didn’t want to go traipsing over that stormy landscape if Jé Kinah wasn’t there.

“Yes.”

Evander stroked his clean shaven chin. It was barely two hours earlier that he had shaved his chin and cheeks so that he was presentable to dine with the Emperor of the Forbidden City. Even though there was an unfathomable distance between them now, his face still stung from the sharpness of the blade and the closeness of the shave. He looked over his shoulder at the still unconscious form of Meredith. His gaze darkened. “I have to take her with me?”

“Yes master. She is important.”

“Then, if it is not too much trouble worthy jinni, could you bring us a sled and an animal appropriate to pull it.”

Evander flicked the reins holding the large reindeer to the sled. It was a tawny coloured beast with large antlers and broad nose. It huffed and clopped its way through the unpleasant weather, accustomed to the wind, the snow and the chill. The jinni had been very clever in its choice of animal for the reindeer lived in these parts. They knew the land and they knew its wild temperament. When gusts of wind blew in its face, it snorted and shook it off without much bother at all. It was also strong enough to pull the sled across the snow laden ground.

Once they had entered the archway Evander had glanced over his shoulder and saw that the archway now depicted a sanctuary of a kinder, softer, warmer land as opposed to the wild storm that raged around it.

Evander was wrapped up so warm he could barely move. Only his eyes were visible and he alternated his hands holding the reins, keeping the other tucked into his coat. The jinni was not troubled by the elements at all, still levitating on the seat next to Evander. In the sled was Meredith, still fast asleep. Though Evander knew she did not need to be kept warm, it was impossible for him not to put a blanket over her. Their travel was hardly smooth and yet she didn’t flinch at all.

Evander kept looking back at her, worried she would wake and run off.

“I would be able to get her back my master.” The jinni reassured him.

“Mmm…” Evander faced forwards and huffed. “I’m not sure I want her back.” The jinni paused and seemed to be thinking something over. Evander had come to realise there was much the jinni could explain, if only he had the sense to ask. “Speak jinni, if you think your master could use a little help.”

“She has…changed.”

Evander sighed. “I thought she had too. But I was wrong.”

“She is not the same as she once was.”

“Not as you knew her but I think she is as she ever was.”

“The woman I was aware of before would not have hesitated to strike you with ice.”

“She tried and missed.” Evander said angrily.

“She missed on purpose.” The jinni pressed. “She did not want to hurt you. After all, she has saved your life before.”

Evander looked at him. “How did you know that?”

“I can see the mark of ice on you master.” The jinni pointed to his shoulder. “There.”

“No, no. That was where I was mauled by a giant cat in the jungle.” Evander reasoned, not wanting to remember what happened next. “She saved my life when I fell through the surface of a frozen lake…and only because it suited her.”

“Master, forgive my insistence but I can see the mark of ice on your shoulder just as I can see it in your arms. The wound left by the tiger would have festered quickly in the jungle atmosphere if you had survived the blood loss. I have no doubt that the ice witch used what little power she had, almost to her death, to keep you alive.”

Evander touched his shoulder and looked down at Meredith. Had he been a stranger and come across a woman just as she was, he could not have thought her capable of any manner of evil, let alone that which she did. “So...she really did use her power to save me?” He asked quietly. “She never said. Even if she had I might have thought she was exaggerating. She is capable of making out her virtues to be more than they really are...”

“Her power, which was once as great as an ocean, has been reduced to a mere cup full. If she used up all her power, it would kill her. So she retains a drop and from that drop, her cupful will replenish.”

“But it will never become an ocean again?”

“Not without the lamp.”

“But she did try to stop me from stopping her…” He said, remembering how she had tried to make him back away in order to nurse his frozen arms, freeing her to take hold of the lamp. “All she has ever done is used me to her own advantage. There was never any kindness in her. Only selfish ambition,” he swapped hands, tucking the cold one into his coat, “which illuminates a problem. What happens when I fall asleep? What if she takes you from me?”

The jinni was quiet for a moment. “Master…I have a plan…or at least…I will have a plan…” Evander gave him a quizzical look. “However, it requires you to trust me.”

“Jinni, can I trust you?”

“Yes master, you can.”

Meredith could feel a delicious chill wrapping itself around her. She smiled in her sleep and rolled onto her side, her body soaking up the cold, replenishing her power reserves. She gave a deep, rested sigh and opened her eyes. The first thing she noticed was the sky was full of snowflakes, pristine white against a backdrop of dark blue storm clouds. She gave a gasp and sat up, looking around in astonishment.

“Where are we?” She asked and twisted to see Evander’s straight, rigid back facing her.

“On our way to Jé Kinah’s prison. The lesser jinni got us this far. Now we have to go the rest of the way.”

Meredith suddenly recalled the last few minutes before she had lost consciousness and her emotions were whipped up in a frenzied state as they battled in her mind to be the one that she held on to. She remembered her disgust at being pawed by the Emperor and of the possibility of intimacy with him. She remembered her revelation, the shock that she had been almost willing to give up her chance to regain her power for a man that did not love her. She remembered that desperation, the soul crushing fear that she would be left with nothing. She remembered the indignant rage she felt as this insignificant human had tried to stop her from taking hold of the lamp and calling forth the greater jinni. And finally she felt the resolve she thought was endless and unshakable give way to failure, to resignation that she had simply lost the battle and the war and was, as she had been in the beginning, insignificant.

And yet…he had taken her with him.

She felt a spark of hope in her heart, the idea that she had not been abandoned. From the anger in his face and the depth of betrayal she had cut him with, Meredith was sure he would have left her to the Emperor’s wishes. But she was here. And she wasn’t in the chateau either! Or in any prison. She was with him.

“So,” she sidled up behind him on the sled, “do we know where we are going?”

“We do not. I do.”

She bit her bottom lip, sensing a hardness in him. “Evan…”

“Do not presume to call me that.” He said sharply. “A shortened first name implies friendship…familiarity. You have lost that privilege.”

Meredith was surprised and more than a little hurt. “But…you took me with you. You rescued me from the Emperor…I thought you’d forgiven me…”

“Ha!” Evander shook his head. “Forgiven you? You have a short memory indeed. Let us go over what you did. You lied to me to get me to free you from the chateau, you told me sad stories and wooed me over with your apparent change of heart, you saved me only because I was part of your strategy to get into the Forbidden City and then you tried to steal my only chance to save Jé Kinah after I gallantly saved you.” He twisted in his seat and glared at her. “Did I miss anything?”

Meredith was stunned at the anger in his eyes. He was full of it and it was threatening to overwhelm him. “Then why did you keep me with you?” She demanded, trying to cover the hurt.

“Because, apparently, I need you.” The last three words were said with obvious resentment and as if to punctuate their venom he turned his back on her.

Meredith turned around and drew her knees up to her chin. She hated the fact that tears rolled down her cheeks, turning to perfect ice droplets against her pale skin. She especially hated the fact that, should Evander had seen her weep, he would not have cared one whit.

She was wrong. Now she had less than nothing.

“If you had only asked,” she whispered, her words lost to the howling winds, “I would have given you anything you asked…and gone with you to the ends of the earth…”

Evander, unaware of her broken hearted sorrow, gritted his teeth together, steeling himself against any sympathy for her. And yet, he couldn’t deny the ache in his heart.

“If you had only asked,” he whispered, his words scattered by a million snowflakes, “I would have forgiven you anything…”

The journey up the mountain steadily became more and more difficult. Soon even the reindeer was struggling with the narrow passages it had to take and the sled bumped and dragged badly over sharp rocks that the snow failed to cover completely. The wind was merciless and the storm did not let up once, flashing green and purple lightning and throwing so much snow down on them that, eventually, Evander had to admit temporary defeat. They found a cave etched in the side of the mountain. It wasn’t much more than a shallow curve but the wind, for the most part, skipped past its mouth, giving them some respite.

After he unloaded their supplies Evander unhitched the reindeer and let it loose.

“You do not think we will need him?” Meredith asked, subdued and frightened about igniting Evander’s rage again. She was still dressed in her elegant far eastern banquet worthy robes, which was a strange, colourful sight in the bleak wilderness.

“I think it is only going to become worse.” Evander hacked away at some of the panels with a small hatchet the jinni had put in his satchel among many other things. Once he had enough for a fire he heaved the remainder of the sled onto its side and used it to block the mouth of the cave. He struck away at the pile of wood and managed to get a pathetic fire going. Even if it didn’t warm him, Evander craved a little light as the sky turned black. He sat as far away from her as their tiny accommodation allowed. Though it was only a few feet, to Meredith, it felt like a chasm. She nibbled at the food offered and stared at the flames.

“I am surprised you didn’t use the jinni to light the flames.” She said quietly.

“I do not have the ring anymore.”

Meredith looked up. “What?”

“I wished it away.”

She felt a tingle of horror. “But...what if we need something?”

“He said everything we needed was in this satchel.” Evander held it up. “Although some of what is in here makes no sense to me.” He shrugged. “If he says we need it, I trust him.”

“You mean we are in this hellish place without a jinni?”

Evander looked up, the flames highlighting his face but darkening the shadows. “I wasn’t about to risk falling asleep and you stealing the ring from me.” He turned his attention back to his food.

“Then, how are we going to find Jé Kinah?”

“He said she was at the end of the earth.”

“But Evan…der…the earth does not have an end. It is round.”

“I think, in this place, the earth does indeed end.” Evander looked out at the dark sky that was illuminated now and then by lightning.

Meredith pursed her lips. She wanted to ask where Evander had wished the ring to but knew such a foolish question would only make him doubt her. And she had given him very little reason to do otherwise. The night was long and the coldest Evander had ever endured. The fire did nothing against the chill and he sat shivering so hard he couldn’t stop his teeth from rattling. He glared at Meredith who reclined against the cave wall, loving this inhospitable weather. Furious he tucked his hands tighter around his body and flexed his feet over and over, trying to keep himself from freezing to death.

“I can help you.” Meredith said quietly.

Evander remembered her ‘help’ with vivid, cheek flaming accuracy. He had even dreamed about it, waking to discover himself aroused and ashamed in one damning blend. He scowled and ducked his chin down. “No.”

Another hour later he refused her second offer with pigheaded stubbornness though his body screamed at him to not be so foolish. But with six hours before whatever counted for dawn in this hell hole Evander knew he would not live to see Jé Kinah if he did not take her help. So when she walked over to him, shifted his cold, half frozen limbs apart and sat in his lap with her back to him, he didn’t fight her.

Meredith had to concentrate in order to soak up the cold from his body through his clothes but that was nothing to the guilty pleasure she got out of being in his arms. Eventually, when he had warmed up enough to sleep, his head fell down and pressed in to her neck and she reached up to touch his face.

“I’m sorry Evan.” She said quietly. “I’m sorry for all of it. I never thought I would be. I especially never thought I could be. But I am.”

At long last dawn broke and they gathered up their frozen belongings and started out up the mountain. It took three days and four nights to reach an impossible incline. Evander looked up at the wall of slick ice and stone and swore loudly and vehemently.

“Now where do we go?” He demanded.

Meredith reframed from pointing out that they would know exactly where they were going if he had only kept the jinni. She sighed and closed her eyes…and suddenly saw a silky silver ribbon in her mind. Her eyes fluttered open and the ribbon was gone. She closed them again and saw the ribbon heading off to the left. It took several goes at keeping her eyes shut while walking for her to start to trust this strange second sight she seemed to possess. She heard Evander following her.

“Where are you going? Meredith? Do not be foolish, open your eyes! Meredith!” He gave an exasperated grunt, took up her pack and followed her. “What is it you are following?”

“A ribbon of ice,” she had to virtually yell above the raging storm, “in the mountain. It leads us somewhere.”

For three hours, almost inches at a time through narrow parts of the path that was only fit for mountain goats, did they walk. The ribbon of ice never failed and Evander held close behind her, looking down at the stony, jagged drop below.

“I’m coming Jé Kinah.” He whispered to the storm. “I’m coming.”

The volume of the storm was beyond anything Evander had ever heard and when he grabbed Meredith’s collar before she slipped off the edge of the mountain at the end of the trail, they finally saw why. The mountain looked as though it had been cut in half lengthways by God’s axe for it simply ended. There was no land beyond its sheer cliff edge. Above their heads raged the endless storm and down below, in a swirling abyss that screamed horror and death at them with every ripple of its surface, were dark, demonic shapes that writhed as though in perpetual agony.

Evander’s eyes grew round and wide. “This is…”

“The end of the earth.” Meredith finished. “This is where the jinni said we had to go.”

Evander peered over her shoulder. “Where is the prison? Where is Jé Kinah?” He shifted past her with difficulty so he could look up and then down. “I don’t understand. He said it would be heeeeerrrreeee!”

He slipped on a step of ice and tumbled off the edge. Meredith lunged and grabbed him by the hem of his long coat, her other hand stretched out towards the mountain. Her power had caused a vine of ice to burst from its façade and it wrapped around her arm. Evander flailed his arms wildly, dangling over the edge of the earth.

“Stop moving!” Meredith shouted.

“Down there! I can see it!” Evander cried and she pulled him back onto the tiny ledge. “There’s a cave, almost directly below us.”

“How far?”

“Farther than any rope we possess.”

Meredith rolled her eyes. “Of course it is.” She saw Evander’s elated face and felt her heart drop. “I suppose you want me to create a stairway down?”

He looked at her. “Are you able?”

“I’m knee deep in snow on the earth’s coldest mountain.” She said, deflecting the truth and the truth was…it wasn’t going to be easy. She would have to channel the cold through herself and be careful not to drain her power in full. She knelt in the snow and pressed her hands against the mountain. She closed her eyes and envisioned what she needed to do. The mountain resisted her. It didn’t want to comply but she scrunched her face up, recalled that she had once been the Snow Queen and that her ice castle had been remarkable to behold. If she couldn’t create a simple staircase she wasn’t fit to be queen any longer and so she forced the image into physical form. She could tell from Evander’s excited exclamation that it was working.

“It looks good. I think you’ve done it!”

She opened her eyes, her body shaking. “I do not think it will hold us both at once. Best to go one at a time.” She saw him touched the first step gingerly. “I will go first if that would ease your mind.”

“And leave me up here at your mercy?” Evander said but Meredith noted that it was without the bitterness his words had been poisoned with of late. She looked up at him and thought perhaps he smiled beneath his scarf. “If you say it will hold me, it will hold me.”

It wasn’t forgiveness but it was trust and that was a start. Meredith watched as Evander stepped out onto the rippled, blue tinged transparent surface and breathed out slowly. He gripped the ledge until he was too far down to reach and disappeared from view. Meredith leaned over, her hands still in the snow for she did not dare let go of the power. He walked carefully, one step at a time, keeping his weight distributed as best he could. And then suddenly he was gone. She held her breath, searching the darkness for his falling body. But a second later an arm and hand appeared straight out of the cliff face, waving at her.

“My turn.” She said and stood up, brushing the snow away. She stepped out with more confidence than Evander but as she descended, she could hear ice beginning to crack. Meredith put her hand to the cliff face but the force that repelled her before was even more powerful down below and she had very little of her own resources left. “Evander,” she called quietly, terrified her voice would shatter the ice and then, when she felt it split beneath her feet she screamed, “Evander!”

Her body plummeted through the air, tumbling straight down and heading towards the demonic creatures that writhed in agony. They saw her coming and their shadowy bodies fought over each other, snapping their fearsome jaws in her direction. Abruptly hands wrapped around her waist and they were flung backwards into the cave, Meredith landing hard on top of Evander. He looked up at her, their faces so close they could feel each other’s breath.

What was that look in his eyes? Was it disgust? Shock? Desire?

“Ow...” He gasped. She wriggled away quickly as he got up on the elbow of his good arm and rubbed his ribs. “Why are you here?” He demanded softly. “I’m grateful you didn’t drop me into the abyss but you didn’t need to come. Once down here, there was nothing stopping you from leaving. You could have run away.”

She blinked. How was she to answer that? Honestly? Heaven forbid he should learn that she hadn’t even considered leaving his side.

“A queen likes to retain useful servants.” She said loftily.

The corner of Evander’s mouth turned up in a small smile. “You were a better liar seven months ago.” He stood up with a groan.

Meredith hesitated. “Thank you.”

He looked at her and held out his hand. She put her cold fingers into his warm grasp and was whisked to her feet like she was as light as a snowflake. “You are welcome.” He picked up his satchel. “Come on, there is a passage at the back of the cave.”

The passage led on and on, into the darkness. The jinni had provided them with a single torch and Meredith hugged close to Evander, feeling the darkness close in a little too eagerly for her liking. They had to squeeze through several narrow parts before it suddenly opened up into a large cavern. It wasn’t any warmer in the cavern than it was outside in the snow. Evander swallowed and looked around, his little torch not illuminating much at all. Meredith turned her head and jumped, grabbing hold of him. He turned and saw the head of a beast protruding from the wall. It was carved from stone and out of its foul mouth poured a dark liquid.

“I wonder…” Evander mused and touched the torch to the liquid. It caught alight and flames streaked along the stream, running up the walls and over the ceiling, running down stalactites and up stalagmites. And at the far end of the cavern the fire burst alight in the mouths of two huge statues of beasts which faced each other with a gap of thirty feet between them. They were nothing that either Evander or Meredith could identify. They had a head like a rabid dog with lips curled up in a snarl over pointed teeth. Their body was that of a lion, they had a tail like a scorpion and they had enormous wings that reached from their shoulder blades out in an arc and joined together easily fifty feet above their heads, creating an arch.

In the space of the arch was a wall that was perfectly smooth and looked like polish black pearl. The two visitors approached the wall, eyeing off the statues nervously.

“I don’t think they’re alive.” Evander said cautiously.

“Did the jinni equip you with a sword?” Meredith asked.

“Yes.”

“Then I would not assume that they are mere statues.” She hung back as Evander went closer. She could feel a dark malevolence emanating from the surface of the wall and it made her skin crawl.

Evander walked up to it slowly and saw his reflection in the wall. But with every step he took, the reflection shifted and changed until it was Jé Kinah walking towards him. She mirrored his every movement even as he reached out to her.

“Jé Kinah!” He cried.

“Evander?” She called out, her voice distorted by the wall.

“Jé Kinah! I’m here!”

“Evander! Stay away! Do not come in! You will never get out!”

“Jé Kinah!” Evander saw something in the black behind her and his heart constricted. “Look out! Behind you!”

She called out to him but the sound never reached his ears. The shadow blotted her out, dragging her back until she was lost to the darkness.

“No! Jé Kinah!” Evander dropped his satchel and pulled out his sword. “I’m coming!”

“No Evander!” Meredith grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

“What are you doing?” He demanded.

“Look!” She nodded at the beasts guarding the wall. One of them had turned its large stone head and was glaring at them with red, glowing eyes. “I do not think you are meant to break the wall.”

Evander heard stone shift and saw the second beast turn and glare at him. He raised his hands up, dropping his sword and stepped back. The beasts seemed appeased by this and went back to their original pose, their eyes becoming dull and stone like again.

“I have to get her out of there.” He vowed and started striping off his outer layers. “I have to go in and get her out.”

“What are you saying?” Meredith demanded.

“She said not to come in.” Evander pointed at the wall. “That means I can enter. And when I am on the other side I can try to set her free.”

“How? The guardians will not permit you to take a sword.”

“I have no idea.” Evander bundled up his excess clothing, touched the vial around his neck to make sure it was still there and breathed out.

“You have no idea and yet you’re still going in!” Meredith exclaimed. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “What did the jinni say?”

“That I have to free Jé Kinah’s mind before I can free her.” He closed his eyes in concentration, recalling everything the jinni said.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

“Is that all?”

“He did say something about freedom requiring sacrifice…”

Meredith’s heart leapt into her throat. “Sacrifice… yours?”

“I do not know.”

“Well I do.” She ran around and stood in front of him. “You cannot go in there. Can you not feel the deathly intent of this place? The life sucking soulless abyss that is beyond? It will eat you up for all eternity. Please Evan, please reconsider.”

“Reconsider? When there is a life at stake?” Evander asked.

“But…what about…I…” Meredith stammered, the reality of the inevitability of the situation slamming her hard.

Evander looked at her and she saw the softness she had yearned for return to his eyes. He reached out and touched her face. “Go. There is nothing for you here and I cannot ask you to go where I am going. I cannot keep you anymore. You will never find the lamp or the ring so you can only live out your eternal life as a normal human being. You are no threat to the world.” He smiled. “Do you understand Merry? You are free.”

Meredith trembled. Blood drained out of her face as she watched him walk towards the wall. Desperation made her bold and she grabbed her hand and pulled him back. “Wait. Please, Evan, please…” He looked at her expectantly and her heart began to pound. “Come away with me.”

“What?”

“Leave this place with me. We will go anywhere you want. We could travel the world together. There is so much out there you haven’t seen Evan, so much that would thrill your heart and make you smile. That is all I want to do, to make you smile and to hear you say my name. Please, don’t go into that prison cell. Don’t give up your life. Please…please stay here with me…” She faltered when she saw his gaze but she couldn’t stop now. “I love you.”

Evander closed his eyes and gritted his teeth. Meredith held on tight to his hand, her breath catching in her throat as she prayed fervently for him to change his mind.

“I knew you disliked Jé Kinah,” he said quietly and opened his eyes, an unbroken sheen across them, “but to pretend you love me in order to keep her imprisoned out of spite…” He pulled his hand out of hers. “I won’t abandon her.” He turned and sprinted for the wall.

Meredith screamed. “But you’ll die!”

“Then I die!” Evander roared, not slowing down as he approached the wall. He braced himself for impact as he heard Meredith cry his name once more…

…and then he was gone. The wall had rippled wildly as though it was a black pool of water and Evander had simply jumped into it. After a few minutes it had settled to its original smooth form, Meredith staring at the flat emptiness…her chest hollow for her heart had been torn apart like a red rose and its ragged petals lay on the ground at her feet.

She slumped to the ground, barely able to breathe, tears streaming down her face.

“Evander…” She whispered. “Evan…”

All he knew was the ache in his back, the blisters on his feet and the weight on his shoulders. Every step was measured and every stair he climbed was a small victory. Up, up, up he went, stubbing his weary feet, avoiding the deadly drop to his right and trying not to bump into the person in front of him for there were many of them here, in this place, where the ash fell like rain. Whatever they had arrived in had long since lost their individuality. Everything was grey. Their clothes, their feet, their faces and their hands…there were hundreds of them in this terrible place and they were all grey.

Guards in black robes were impervious to the ash. It only fell and stained the prisoners. The black robes had deep hoods which obscured their faces. Their hands, the only part of their body that could be seen, were reptilian and they wielded whips with ever burning coal shards at their tips. He had felt their bite. They were wholly unpleasant. They were dotted along the narrow stair that wound its way around the enormous cavern, going higher and higher until they arrived at a long platform that reached out into the middle of the room. The prisoners walked their load, a boulder designated by the guards below, to the very tip and tossed it down onto a large pile of boulders. Then they turned and walked down a dangerously steep stair that ended at the base of the boulder pile. A guard would point at a boulder and that is the one they carried…up the winding stair again in order to drop it onto the pile.

It was endless, torturous…monotonous.

There was no change except for red hot sparks flying off the walls, showering down to land in their hair, their face and eyes. Sometimes the stair was so narrow they couldn’t risk brushing the sparks away in case they fell and so they burned into their skin.

There were those that fell and their screams echoed long after their bodies smashed onto the ground far below. They were collected by the guards and dumped down an abyss that glowed red and hot and angry.

There were those that jumped, unable to stand their prison any longer.

There were those that had been there the longest, to whom time had no meaning and whose only passion was the next step in front of them.

He was like that. He kept his focus and marched on with single minded clarity. He had to get to the top of the stair. He had to put his boulder on the pile because, for a few glorious minutes, he could stand upright, the pinch gone from his shoulders and feel like a man again. Then he arrived at the bottom of the pile and picked up his designated boulder and started all over again.

He had tried to take a different boulder, one that was less jagged and heavy.

The whip had wrapped around his arm, cutting into his flesh and burning his skin.

He had only tried it once.

Why was he here? Why were any of them here?

When would they rest?

Was there no rest?

Was this all there was? Forever? And ever?

There was a cloud around his head, muddling his thoughts and keeping the memories he tried so hard to recall out of his reach. He thought if he could just touch those memories…he’d know what it was that he was meant to do. But he couldn’t remember and he had to concentrate on not slipping from the narrow stair because, even though what he did was deadening his soul, it was better than the abyss…and yet…with every step…the abyss looked more and more like the only way out. He began to understand why some of them jumped to their deaths. He began to crave that weightless feeling of soaring through the air until all light, life and hope was silenced forever. He wanted to know what it was like to feel the embrace of the abyss…to finally end it all.

Someone cried out, their agonised voice ripping through his mind, splitting the fog that encompassed him. Someone was being whipped. They had stumbled and while they had not dropped their boulder or fallen from the edge, they had incurred the wrath of a guard who would not stop whipping until they got up.

Fortunately there was a little space around the punished prisoner and so the dozen or so prisoners before him squeezed past, needing to take their boulder to the top of the stair and complete their task. He did much the same, edging up towards the moaning prisoner that cowered away from the whipping, their bloodied hands grasping the boulder tightly as if it was any kind of defence against the attack.

As he inched around the common spectacle, something stopped him. It didn’t seem right. It wasn’t fair or decent or…right. He knew he should just move on. He knew he had to take his boulder to the top of the stair because that was his task but his heart wouldn’t let his feet move. He turned around and looked at the guard flogging the prisoner and suddenly lunged out his arm and caught the next blow. The guard looked up in astonishment as he simply pushed back, the whip’s handle catching the guard in the chest and he fell from the high perch, body breaking on the rocks below.

All the prisoners stopped their endless march and looked down at the guard that was dead on the boulders below. For a few seconds there was silence and then the sound of marching began again. No one cared. No one wanted to care.

He looked down at the battered prisoner and offered his hand.

“Come.” He said.

The prisoner clutched at their boulder and attempted to rise. The prisoner was a woman with long, scraggly grey hair and a face like weathered parchment. When he stepped closer, trying to help she drew back, staggering precariously on the edge of the stair before steadying herself and starting to walk again. At the top of the stair he waited for her to arrive. The prisoner was weak and wobbling so he let her go first, teetering to the edge of the platform and half dropped, half threw their boulder down. Then she turned around and walked to the descending stair and started down it. He followed, watching the top of her head instead of where he would put his foot next.

At the bottom of the boulder pile they waited their turn. She was given a regular sized boulder which she rolled with difficulty into her hands and tried to hoist up onto her thin shoulders. When he tried to help her she jerked away and stumbled towards the stair. He took his allocated boulder and followed her. She was in a bad way. She wove and slipped, catching herself just before toppling a number of times. He had seen the symptoms before. She was not a jumper. She was a faller. She would carry her weight until it killed her.

Oddly enough he felt a sense of protection about her and that she needed his help. No one else had engendered that kind of emotion from him and he couldn’t explain why he felt the need to do it now. But he was determined so when she was allocated her boulder, he attempted to take it for her. Instead of the guard stopping him, the prisoner did, snarling at him viciously.

“No!” She snapped. “That is my burden!”

He stepped back and let her go, taking up his own boulder instead.

If she didn’t want help, he wasn’t going to bother. He had to survive this place. If she died, he wouldn’t care. Yet no matter how many times he said that over and over to himself, he realised that he did care. He cared if she slipped and banged her chin on the stone stair. He cared if she wobbled and teetered on the edge only to throw herself against the wall to keep from falling to her death. He cared that she seemed to double over from the weight of her boulder until, inevitably, she slipped and it escaped from her fingers, rolling to the edge. Her eyes were wild and she scrambled to catch it…but he got to it first. He scooped it up in his hands and, with considerable effort, heaved it on top of his own burden.

“Give it back!” She cried. “That is my burden!”

“I am going to carry it for you.”

“No. You cannot! It is mine! It is not yours to carry. You cannot do it. I must carry my own burden. Give it back!” She continued like this the whole way up the stair, desperately trying to take back what was rightfully hers…and it was any wonder the weight had threatened to snap her in half. It was easily ten times as heavy as his boulder. Combined with the weight of his own he struggled and heaved up the stairs, concentrating hard on the next step rather than on her desperate words and wept pleadings. Her voice echoed through the cavern and all the prisoners turned to see what the fuss was about.

“No…please,” she sobbed, “it is my burden…”

“You cannot carry it alone.” He said through gritted teeth. “You never had to.”

And then, with each step, something extraordinary happened. The boulder became lighter. It was hard to distinguish the weight at first but very soon he realised that it was not as heavy as it first was. By the time he reached the platform he could carry both boulders with ease and walked to the edge and looked back at her. Her face was streaked with tears and ash and her big, pale green eyes looked at him desperately.

“You never had to,” he said with sudden clarity, “because I am here for you.”

And then he dropped both boulders.

When they struck the pile there was a noise like breaking glass and the pile shattered into millions of shards but instead of falling down, they rose up, sticking together, extending the end of the platform until it became a bridge across the entire cavern. All the prisoners vanished, their burdens no longer necessary. Then there was a roar as the ground fell away beneath them and the abyss became all encompassing, throwing red hot flames up out of writhing lava. He peered over the edge of the bridge at the inferno below.

“Evander…” He looked up and saw the female prisoner standing behind him, her eyes gazing at him with such passion that it threatened to tear him apart.

“Jé Kinah…” He said, reaching out to her.

Suddenly a shadow passed over them, its wingspan beyond imagining and Jé Kinah’s body was caught up in its claws. Evander tried to snatch her as she passed overhead but he was far beyond reach and could only watch as it carried along the length of the narrow bridge and smashed into the wall at the far end. The wall exploded violently, the shockwave knocking him flat on his back. When he sat up, he was alone on the far side of the bridge and the wall was no longer a wall. It was a castle that he had last seen melting into a volcano. But while that one was made of ice, this castle was made of black slate and it towered above in extreme proportions, the cavern becoming even larger to encompass it. And all around it and beneath rolled waves of lava, bursts of skin peeling steam and flames trying to scale the walls.

Evander’s mouth turned down into a grim frown.

“No. No more and never again.” He stood up. “You had your chance. Now it’s my turn.”

He crossed the narrow bridge, ignoring the roar of the volcano below, and strode up to the doors. They opened for him and showed the long, exaggerated main hall of the castle stretching out before him. On either side were many arched windows, all of them a frame for the flames that continued to leap into view then die down again. The heat was sweltering and Evander felt sweat begin trickle down his temples. He blinked it away from his eyes, keeping his gaze fixed on the throne at the end of the hall where Jé Kinah was seated. She was half sagged in the throne, her hair blackened and her veins dark. The flames caused her slight body and the throne to cast long shadows on the wall behind. Evander kept an eye out for the dragon but apart from a pile of ash and bone near the throne, there was nothing else in the main hall.

Before Evander could cross the expanse that yawned between them, the doors flung open and he turned to see a knight on a horse riding in valiantly.

“Foul beast!” He cried. “Hand over the princess you keep contained here or prepare to die.”

Evander stepped back, looking at the man’s armour with a touch of envy. He wished he was so adorned for he had nothing else on him except his clothes and the vial around his neck. Jé Kinah tilted her head, listening to something they could not hear. She rose in an unnatural way, as though she was a marionette and her strings had been drawn up.

“You dare defy me?” She hissed, her eyes filling with black blood and she stepped down and away from the throne. As she did so, the shadow on the wall slipped down and followed her like a train. Evander shivered when he saw it was in the shape of a dragon.

The knight gave a noble war cry and charged. Evander wanted to look away but couldn’t as Jé Kinah flung her arms wide, the dragon shadow leaping up and wrapping around the knight, obscuring what happened in the middle. Evander could hear a terrible scream and then silence. When the shadow unwrapped itself, recoiling to lie on the floor behind Jé Kinah, there was nothing left of the knight…except a smear of blood on her cheek.

Evander was nearly sick.

“You know Jé Kinah ate people, don’t you?”

He scrunched his eyes and tried to force the words away. He had seen her memories in panels of ice. He knew the truth about her…but there was something horrific about being here, watching it happen. Footsteps caused him to look up and he saw a familiar sight enter the main hall.

“I am Prince Rupert. I am the son of King Charles and Queen Amelia and I have come to challenge the beast that keeps the princess captive in yon tower.”

Evander paused and looked around. He knew this scenario. This is the one where Luka tried to make the prince see reason. He looked around but there was nothing. There was no love in this castle. Jé Kinah tilted her head again as if hearing more instructions and then lunged for the prince. The battle was swift and she was soon slumped upon her throne, exhausted as though it was sucking life from her with every battle.

Evander’s jaw tightened and he stepped forward before another unfortunate came through the castle doors. “Noble and fair she-elf known as Jé Kinah,” he began, praying he would find the right words, “I have not come to fight you. I have come to save you.”

Jé Kinah tilted her head then stood up. Evander stepped backwards.

“You are not welcome here.” She garbled at him, swaying on her feet.

“I only ask to be heard.” It took all his courage to walk towards her. “Jé Kinah I…”

“Luka?” The softness in her voice nearly broke his heart and Evander saw the dark recede from her hair and eyes, her skin becoming the colour of milk once more. She gazed at him, seeing for the first time. “Luka?”

Evander winced. He knew he resembled the young man a little and if he accidentally raised her hopes and then dashed them again…

“No,” he licked his lips, a bead of sweat trickling into his eye, “no I am not…”

In the time it took for his heart to beat she was suddenly before him, her hand around his throat and a crazed look in her eyes. He gulped as her nails scraped his skin, scooping the little vial up into her hand.

“Luka?” She said gently.

Evander breathed out. “Yes, that is Luka.”

She looked up at him, confusion on her fine features. She then looked over her shoulder at the pile of ash and bone. “Luka?”

The bones gave a sudden cackle as they snapped together, forming the structure of a human male. The ash was flung into a whirlwind and spun around it, gathering itself in sections to form a body, arms, legs, a head and a pair of hollow eyes. It glared at the both of them and Evander’s body shuddered in horror.

“Give it to us...” It said in a monotone voice, staggering towards them.

“But,” Jé Kinah looked back at the vial and then at the ashen form of Luka, “it is…”

“It is nothing!” It yanked its hands backwards and Jé Kinah flopped back, dragged by invisible strings. It gripped her jaw in its hand and looked into her pale eyes. “You belong to me! You are bound to me!”

Evander blinked, revelation dawning. “Jé Kinah, whatever you think this creature is, even if it reminds you of Luka, I swear it is not him! Luka is dead!”

Her expression became stricken and her eyes widened in fright. “No…”

“We are where we are meant to be mistress. Together here forever…”

“The real Luka would never have wanted you to stay here and suffer. He wanted you to be free!”

Jé Kinah looked back and forth between them, second, third and forth guessing everything. The ashen Luka snarled with its toothless, yawning black mouth.

“Do not listen to his lies. You are bound to me. You killed me!”

She crouched down, covering her ears with her hands. “No. No!”

“The real Luka forgave you!” Evander implored. He could see the strain on her, the mind games that would either free her or send her crazy.

“Silence!”

“Now you must forgive yourself!”

“Enough!” Jé Kinah stood up, hair dark and eyes darker. “I did this! I do not deserve forgiveness.”

Evander faltered. “No one deserves it. That’s why it’s so precious. Do not make his forgiveness be for naught.”

She gasped as though his words had shocked her heart into beating. She pressed her fist to her chest and looked over her shoulder.

“I am here mistress.” The ashen Luka ambled forward. “I am here…”

“You are a demon and a liar!” Evander roared, moving fast to get to the retreating Jé Kinah. “Look at it Jé Kinah. You entrusted it to me! Remember? The ash of Luka.” He yanked it off his neck, snapping the leather and held it out to her. When she shied away he grabbed her hand and forced her fingers open. “Take it! Look at it!”

As her hand clasped around it the ashen Luka pulled her back and the tiny vial was thrown across the slate floor, skittering towards the edge of the castle. The ashen Luka made for it, its bony hands hooked like claws and his voice snarling. Evander had also dashed for the vial, instinct causing him to save the tiny object that held so many of Jé Kinah’s memories. He kicked the creature posing as Luka, his foot passing through the ash to strike bone and, because he was so light, he was flung into the air and smashed against the throne. Evander’s calloused fingers closed around the vial and he panted, relieved to have it back.

“Kill him witch!” The fake Luka pointed. “I command you to kill him!”

Evander twisted and saw Jé Kinah’s form grow taut, her veins sticking out like a dead tree against the snow and the shadow growing larger and larger behind her. He looked back at the vial and swallowed.

“Without sacrifice…” He whispered, put the vial down and picked up a rock. He looked up at Jé Kinah whose eyes filled with wild fear just as the ashen Luka shrieked like a devil. “Luka would never have wanted you to be bound to the memory of his death.” He said sadly. “Forgive me.” And with that he smashed the rock onto the vial and it shattered, sending out a powerful shockwave that cracked against the walls of the castle and shook the very foundations of the prison like an earthquake.

Rocks and razor sharp pieces of slate started to fall from the ceiling and Evander rolled out of the way, scrambling to his feet. He heard the false Luka cursing him in a vile tongue, all manner of pretence long gone as he realised he had been defeated.

“Jé Kinah!” Evander yelled. “Jé Kinah!”

Suddenly a cool hand grabbed his and he saw a pale, fair she-elf face gazing at him.

“Evander.” She said. “Run!”

Hand in hand they sprinted for the doors, Evander leaping over chunks of rocks and Jé Kinah sliding under fallen slabs. They squeezed past the doors that had been shaken crooked by the shockwave and continued their mad, desperate sprint across the narrow bridge. On the other side Evander could see the black pearl wall shimmering at them.

“Hurry!” He cried as he felt the bridge shift, crack and begin to fall out from beneath their feet, the abyss of lava boiling and surging in horrific anger at their escape. They both leapt from the falling bridge, Jé Kinah landing on the platform and Evander grabbing its edge, scrambling for a hold. She pulled him up and as the cavern collapsed around them they made the final dash to the wall. A large slab of stone began to fall for them.

“Straight through!” Evander cried. “Don’t…”

His words were silenced as their bodies hit the wall, sending wild ripples out in all directions, the stone slab disintegrating the platform they had been on only a split second earlier, the cavern collapsing in on itself, sealing the volcanic abyss under millions of tons of rock.

Cold, blue light filtered down through a series of shafts, illuminating very little of the large cave but without which, it would have been impossible to see one’s hand in front of one’s face. The shafts also let down little showers of snow, knocked from the surface. The cave was desperately cold and it only took a few minutes for the bite to wake up the two people slumped on the ground.

Evander felt like he had been hit by a charging bull. His body ached unbelievably all over and he couldn’t just stand up. He had to roll onto his side, bring his knees to his chest and then push himself up. He let out a cry of agony, the cold doing nothing for his war beaten, not young any more, body. His vision struggled to come into focus so he blinked several times over before his gaze rested upon the other form lying on the ground nearby. She lay like the dead.

“Jé… Jé…” He stammered, reaching out with a trembling hand. “Jé…”

Abruptly she gasped, air streaming aggressively into her lungs and immediately started coughing. The motion caused her to curl up and it took several long seconds for her to regain her composure before looking up. Evander nearly wept. Her face was exactly as it was when he first met her. There were no signs of the dragon’s touch anywhere. Her skin was like milk and her eyes were pale green, her hair as fine as white gold and her pointed ears could be seen clearly.

“You’re alive.” He shook. “You’re alive…” The last word broke his voice and he started weeping. “Jé Kinah…forgive me. Forgive me please.”

“I both forgive and thank you.” She started shaking. “Perhaps it would spoil the moment…but could we finish reconciling after we dress more warmly?”

The vague attempt at humour broke Evander’s melancholy state and he gave a weak smile. “It was a great deal warmer in there than in here. I brought clothes. I left them in my satchel over…” He jerked in fright and Jé Kinah gave a gasp as their eyes spotted an eerie white figure standing in the darkness…just staring at them. The scare had them both to their feet, despite the scream of their joints and the weakness in their bodies.

“What is it?” Jé Kinah breathed.

“I do not…” Evander inched towards his satchel and picked up his sword. He held it out as they approached the statue with tremendous caution. He peered at it, the blurred features becoming clear until it was easy for him to recognise her…but he still couldn’t believe it. “Meredith?” He felt Jé Kinah jerk behind him in shock as he pressed forward. The statue of Meredith was lifeless. Her chin was slightly raised, her hands down by her sides, palms out in an almost angelic pose. Her skin was as white as snow, her eyes closed and her eyelashes looked as though they had been dipped in ice frosting. Her hair was threaded through with curls of ice, her lips were very slightly parted and there was no movement in her thin breast at all. “It is. It is Meredith.” He whispered.

“It cannot be. Meredith is dead.” Jé Kinah swallowed. “I killed her.”

“No. You came close…very close, but there was still a tiny measure of power left in her body.” Evander looked over his shoulder and saw Jé Kinah’s face was downcast. “I do not think you ever had it in you to be someone’s executioner.” The foolishness of his words dawned on him when her pale green eyes locked onto his blue ones and he coughed and turned away.

Jé Kinah had been an executioner without mercy or pity.

Then why had she not destroyed the Snow Queen?

Evander moved even closer to the statue. “Is there life in her?” Jé Kinah asked fearfully. Evander wasn’t sure which answer she truly dreaded as he leaned down and gingerly pressed his ear to Meredith’s breast. He held his breath and waited…and then…so subtly that if it were not for the vacuum of the cave they were in he would have missed it, he heard a tiny, dull thud in her breast.

“She’s alive,” he gasped and staggered backwards, “barely.” Her frozen state seemed oddly familiar. He touched her bare arm. “Merry…wake up…” His fingers fused to her skin and he yelped, unable to pull his hand away. “I’m frozen to the ice.”

“Do not struggle.” Jé Kinah said calmly and leaned over to huff warm air on the portion of arm where his fingers were stuck. Evander’s skin erupted into goose bumps. He peeled his fingers free and Meredith’s skin that had become pink again, frosted over with a light sheen of ice. “It seems she has frozen herself.” She looked at Evander. “You said she did not have much power left.”

“She can draw from the snow and ice around her and can channel it but only through that small measure which she now possesses.” Evander hoped what he was saying made sense. He opened his satchel and pulled out their clothes. Quickly they dressed for the shock of seeing Meredith as a frozen statue had only kept them from feeling the empty cold chill of the cave for a few minutes.

Jé Kinah’s clothes were barley more than tatters and she dressed hastily, pulling on tights, leggings, thick socks, an under tunic and over tunic and finally a bulky thick coat. She flicked her hair out of the collar and looked around to see Evander similarly dressed. “You chose my clothing perfectly.”

“I had help.” Evander chuckled.

Jé Kinah frowned, her eyes flitting to Meredith and back to him again. Evander missed look as he tugged on his boots and handed Jé Kinah a pair. “Help?”

“It is a long story.” Evander looked at Meredith’s frozen form. “It is fortunate that she does not require warm clothing in such a cold environment. She really does enjoy the chill.”

Jé Kinah shook her head. “I was a fool leaving her with any power at all. She could have become a threat once more to the lands we travelled and loved.”

“Had you seen through her execution, I would never have found you.” Jé Kinah looked at him in surprise. “It is the truth. I thought you were dead Jé Kinah.”

Jé Kinah saw the desperation in his eyes and paused. She couldn’t recall much of her battle against the Snow Queen and even less when she had fully transformed into the beast. Had he really thought her dead? She saw the pain in his face and felt her heart twist. “How long has it been?”

Evander rubbed the back of his neck. “Seven months, two weeks, five days…”

His sorrow rocked her to her core and her chest tightened in empathy. She couldn’t even comprehend what he must have gone through in order to save her. Jé Kinah swallowed past the lump in her throat and breathed out.

“So…you knew I lived for Meredith lived.”

“Everyone thought I was just hoping against hope. They didn’t believe you could still be alive. But I knew I had to try,” Evander nodded towards Meredith, “and that she had to help me.”

“I suppose she begged for some kind of leniency for her crimes.”

Evander’s mouth twitched and he cleared his throat. “She did not beg so much…”

“I am surprised the governing authorities approved her assisting you. I thought they would have insisted on her execution or eternal imprisonment.” Jé Kinah saw the conflict on his features. “They did approve…did they not?”

Evander grimaced. “Approve is perhaps too strong a word…”

“Evander!”

“I couldn’t live with myself if I didn’t try!” He bit back. “I fired an arrow through your heart…”

She winced. “I gave the arrow to Jerome.” She said painfully. “You were not meant to wield that weapon.”

“Jerome…died…” Evander wondered how much Jé Kinah remembered. Did she recall that it was her dragon form that killed the beast hunter, monster killer? “I felt I had no choice…”

“You did not.” She assured him firmly. “I knew the depths of evil in its heart. I knew it would not stop until the earth was a graveyard.”

Evander sighed. “I’m sorry Jé Kinah.”

“I already forgave you.” She said firmly.

“I am sorry I didn’t believe you.” He looked up. “You were right. It is hardest for those left behind.” She nodded, no longer trusting her voice. Evander breathed out shakily, wanting to take her in his arms and never let go. But first they had a problem. “Now…what do we do about Meredith?” He shook his head. “I cannot understand why she did not leave. I couldn’t force her to stay and I couldn’t make her come with me. I told her to go.” He looked at Jé Kinah. “Perhaps she couldn’t get up the cliff face at the edge of the world?”

“There is no edge to the world.”

Evander gave a dark chuckle. “You would have to be in a prison that is beyond the edge of the world which technically does not exist.” He pointed to the way out, a faint glow of blue light showing the way. “We came that way.”

“Then I will scout ahead and see this edge for myself.” Jé Kinah put the hood up on her coat. She turned back when Evander grasped her hand and she saw the fear in his eyes. “I promise to return. I love you.”

Evander face broke into a large, rather idiotic grin. Jé Kinah felt a little embarrassed at her emotional statement and hurried to the exit. The prince and knight shifted to stare at the frozen form of Meredith.

“I do not understand.” He said quietly. “You were free. You could have left. I know your determination Merry. You would have found a way. Why are you still here?” He sat on a clump of rock and looked up at her. “You wanted to see the world, remember? You wanted to travel the world, to see things that would…”

Abruptly the colour emptied out of his face as his memories reassembled themselves…and he recalled the last few seconds of his conversation with her with damning clarity.

“Leave this place with me. We will go anywhere you want. We could travel the world together. There is so much out there you haven’t seen Evan, so much that would thrill your heart and make you smile. That is all I want to do, to make you smile and to hear you say my name.”

“No…” He put his hands over his face. “Merry…”

“Please, don’t go into that prison cell. Don’t give up your life. Please…please stay here with me…”

“Stay?” He whispered.

“I love you.”

He looked up through the gaps between his fingers, his hands scraping down his face across his unshaven cheeks and chin. “You were not lying…” His stomach wound itself into knots and he squeezed his eyes closed, trying not to recall what he had said in return. “No…I won’t remember…”

“I knew you disliked Jé Kinah…but to pretend you love me in order to keep her imprisoned out of spite…I won’t abandon her…”

“But you’ll die!”

“Then I die!”

He balled his hands into fists and struck the wall next to him. “How was I to know?” He grunted and then looked up at her serene, frozen face. “How was I to know you were in earnest when I couldn’t trust anything you said?” He roared at her, his voice hitting the walls of the cave with a dead thud. “Why did you stay? Foolish girl!” He twisted away, knowing exactly what it was he had to do in order to wake her up yet dreading it. “Why did you pin all your hopes on me?” He whispered. “Why?”

She didn’t reply.

She couldn’t.

It was why her icy statue state triggered something long forgotten in Evander’s memories. Because it’s exactly how Snow White looked when he had kissed her. Evander ran his hands through his hair and moaned. If he did, he would be betraying the woman he loved by kissing a woman whom his beloved despised.

If he didn’t…Meredith would remain down in this cave, a frozen, lifeless statue forever.

“Of all the stupid, idiotic…” He muttered, glanced at the exit to the cave to see if Jé Kinah had returned, then stepped forward and gave Meredith a quick kiss on the cheek. He stepped back, betrayal already burning deep within him as he waited.

Nothing happened.

“You see?” He declared. “You do not love me! I knew it!”

But his words were hollow and he knew he was lying to no one but himself. He put one arm out against the wall and leaned, looking down, his other hand rubbing at his face.

Could he really do this?

He breathed through his teeth and looked up, grim determination written over his features. He approached the frozen form of Meredith, licked his lips and gave a final glance back to where Jé Kinah had gone. He turned towards that icy complexion, slid his gloved hand across the skin of her face so that he cupped her cheek and pressed his warm lips against her frozen ones.

It was like kissing a block of ice and Evander felt his lips immediately fuse to hers. He felt a rising panic, unable to pull away but remembered to breathe warmth out. And yet he still couldn’t pull away. Any moment now Jé Kinah would enter the cave and his heart twisted at the thought of her catching him in a scandalous kiss with a woman who was her complete opposite. He closed his eyes and pulled again in vain.

And then, gently, he felt warm air breathe back on him. He opened his eyes to see faint colour moving from Meredith’s mouth, across her cheeks, sweeping across her eyes and then shoot down through her hair, neck, shoulders and flowing into the rest of her body. Her hard lips became soft and at last they gave up their icy grip on him.

Evander yanked back, his heart racing and his palms sweaty. Meredith’s eyes were still closed as she swayed on freshly thawed legs and feet. She gave a small sigh and slipped sideways, Evander lunging forward to catch her just before she hit the stony ground. His large hands cradled her slight frame that sank into his arms and, with a decidedly elegant flutter, her eyes opened and he was stunned once again at the blueness of them.

“Evan…” She whispered weakly, joy spreading across her features. “I knew it…”

He felt words trapped within his throat as he tried deny whatever it is she knew about him.

“Evander…”

They both twisted and saw Jé Kinah standing in the pale cold light of the entrance, her eyes taking in the scene with alarming clarity.

“Jé Kinah!” Evander exclaimed loudly, desperately. He got up, raising Meredith up with him and set her firmly on her feet. “We…I…” What was he to say? “Meredith…she…unfroze.”

Jé Kinah held her ground. “I can see that.”

Meredith, putting a hand out to the wall to steady herself, gave a familiar toss of her dark curls. “Hello Jé. I see the valiant Evan was able to rescue you from your own prison.” She gave a pleased smile. “Not without my help of course. You can thank me later.”

Evander felt Jé Kinah’s eyes drilling holes into him but he was fixed to the place where he stood. He couldn’t think of a single thing to say in light of what Jé Kinah had just seen.

Jé Kinah raised her chin slightly, a hard, protective expression fixing in place. “I have found the way out but it is not easy. We should leave at once before we all freeze to death in here.”

“Well…two of you.” Meredith picked up Evander’s satchel and handed it to him, her strength returning with every moment she was awake. She slung the second satchel onto her back. “Come along then.”

With a jaunty stride she left the cave and Jé Kinah, without another word to Evander turned and followed her. Evander closed his eyes, gritted his teeth and swore. He heaved his satchel onto his back and trudged out after them.

Jé Kinah moved along the passage with only a portion of her mind on where she was heading. Her elvish ability to sense her surroundings was in full flight after months in the prison. Had it only been that long? It felt like an eternity, rehearsing the same nightmare over and over… Jé Kinah shuddered and sent the memories back into the darkness from where they had crawled. She couldn’t think about that now. She never wanted to think about it again. Her back still ached, her feet were tender and sore, her skin was calloused and she felt frail and her heart…

The sight of Evander, the man she loved, holding Meredith…

Her heart burned in her breast like a lump of coal, eating away at her. No matter how hard she tried, the memory would not recede. It taunted her, laughed at her…reminded her of her own father’s betrayal. The similarity between the scene of her father holding that strange woman in his arms and Evander holding Meredith threatened to overwhelm her. “No.” She whispered hard. “He is not like that.”

But her conviction was weak for she could not turn back to look at him, terrified to see the guilt on his face. She eventually caught up with Meredith who had stopped on a ledge of stone, looking up at the wall of rock, snow and ice in front of them.

“I don’t understand…” Meredith pressed her hands against it. “This was where the edge of the earth was. There was nothing here before. Just a void filled with darkness.”

“A great deal of time has passed. Things change.” Jé Kinah said quietly and motioned to the right. “There is a narrow passage that way.”

“Where does it lead?”

“I do not know. I did not follow it far.” She hadn’t wanted to leave Evander’s side for too long. If only she taken her time…if only she had never left.

Meredith gave an exasperated huff and flounced off down the passage. When Jé Kinah heard heavy footsteps behind her she followed Meredith immediately. They were forced into in a single file, winding their way through the jagged, narrow passages. Jé Kinah only caught up to Meredith when she was stumped at a fork in the road. Three passages lay before them.

“Stay here. I’ll have a look around.” She said gaily as if it was the best adventure ever.

Jé Kinah did so, tension rising in her as she heard Evander reach the junction. Meredith bounded out of one tunnel, her curls springing with excitement and beamed. “Dead end.” She said and hurried off down another tunnel. Jé Kinah and Evander stood there, quiet in their icy surroundings…the weight of unspoken words between them, threatening to crush their hopes.

“Jé…” He said gently and she turned to him, eyes downcast. All she could see were his boots. “I…”

“Only one choice now!” Meredith declared. “Come on! I may like it here but night is coming. You two will freeze to death.” And without waiting for a response she practically skipped down the remaining passage.

Still Jé Kinah and Evander did not move. Jé Kinah felt her jaw tighten and her teeth grit together. “You kissed her.” She looked up, her head heavy as though it was made of lead, her mouth in a firm line. “To wake her…you kissed her, did you not?”

He looked hopelessly pathetic standing there, the guilt he wore visible across his features and almost tangible. Evander opened his mouth, trying to offer any and all explanations and reasons and excuses…but his mind went blank and all the things he desperately wanted to say were hollow in comparison to the hurt he saw in her weeping yet tearless eyes. His lips trembled as he stammered, “I…I…”

Confirmation caused her steely expression to falter and she turned and very nearly ran after Meredith, desperate to get away from him. But no matter how hard and far she ran, she couldn’t escape the breaking of her own heart.

Three figures could be seen crossing the snow laden landscape of the great mountain. The snowfall had been recent so it wasn’t in danger of melting but it was old enough that the storm clouds which had dumped it on the mountain had drifted away and dissipated. So the sun shone down brightly onto the fresh, pure snow and the mountain glistened like a jewel in an emerald setting. Its north-eastern slope, where there was enough soil for growth, was dense with trees. Oak, terebinth, strawberry tree, maple, cedar and dozens more and their foliage provided a rich green quilt which blanketed the mountain. Further down were roads winding away from the base of the mountain and then on to the coast.

But high up, close to the Mytikas summit, there was plenty of rocks and snow.

“Are we there yet?”

The male leading the small group rolled his eyes. A woman, with long brown hair in loose curls, tied in pigtails and with a scattering of freckles over her nose, put her hand on his shoulder.

“Ignore him.”

The man turned to her, pulled her bright pink ear muffs away from her ears and said, “Easy for you to say.”

The woman giggled and looked over her shoulder. “Nearly there Chaz.”

The man behind gave an exasperated groan. “We should have been there and back again by now!”

“Well if someone hadn’t insisted on going via the monastery…”

“Yes well I wanted to go to Paris, France.” Her eyes glazed over. “The Louvre, Notre Dame…I wanted to be Sabrina and discover a bridge of my very own…and lock a secret on that bridge, I forget the name, and throw the key into the Seine…”

“And what secrets do you possess that require such commitment Penny Kirk?” Mak asked almost wistfully.

“It’s the experience of it! It’s a gap year.” She protested. “What’s the point of going on a gap year if you’re just going to sit in cafés drinking coffee, checking your Facebook status or going shopping?”

Mak sighed. “I’m sorry we couldn’t get all the way to Paris. The tour of the Mediterranean was on special and well…”

“I’m not disappointed Mak. It’s an adventure. We’ll never have this time again.” She grabbed his arm and swung her hand wide. “Look Mak! Look where we are! Greece! Mount Olympus! Home of the gods! Don’t worry about what might have been. Just go with the flow.” She put her hands on her curvy hips and eyeballed him. “Or do I need to point out the theology of a gap year again?” The woman looked back at the man struggling to keep up. “Chaz! Move your ass or it’ll be dark before we know it.”

Chaz wheezed and puffed to where they waited for him. He was a red headed young man, wearing a blue and red striped beanie, khaki coloured scarf, an orange puff jacket, blue track pants and green hiking boots. Mak shook his head at him, his Japanese features half consumed by his scarf and beanie.

“Who let you out of the house like that?”

Chaz wheezed through his retort. “You…should…have…said…so…at…the…bottom…”

“I did say so…”

“Leave him alone Mak.” Penny grinned. “Not everyone has their clothes chosen for them by their mother.”

Mak looked down at his expensive and coordinated clothing. “I chose this.”

“Right…”

“You can talk Penny Kirk. Who wears hot pink ear muffs and a yellow coat?”

She gave him an incredulous look. “Everyone.”

Mak sighed. “So let’s recap. I look like I packed my mother in my suitcase so she can pick out my clothes, you look like you bought on eBay, got the wrong colour and decided to wear it anyway and Chaz looks like he just came out of a Salvation Army Hostel.”

“Don’t forget Lila.” Chaz pointed. They looked up to see a lithe, athletic woman almost come bounding down the slope. Her clothes, while coordinated in dark purple and navy, looked like they were meant to be climbing all the great mountains of the world. Her hair was cropped short for practicality and her face was bright and shinning at the exercise.

“Isn’t this marvellous!” She crowed. “Come on guys. The Skala summit is a good half an hour away yet.” Chaz gave a dramatic moan and collapsed into the snow.

“Hey Lila, is the view any more spectacular from way up there than it is here?” Penny pointed.

“No, not really. But it’s reaching the summit that’s a real thrill.”

“You know what…thrills are bad for your health.” Mak chuckled. “What do you think Penny Kirk?”

She gave a grin. “I think you’re a piker…but I’d kill for a hot chocolate so I am too. Chaz?”

“Just roll me down.” He called out.

Lila shook her head. “Honestly…” She sighed.

“But first, let’s take a photo.” Chaz hoisted himself up. “Only let’s take it in that direction…so that the mountain isn’t behind us which means we can lie and say we made it to at least one of the peaks.”

“I’m in.”

“Me too.”

“Cool.” Chaz fiddled around with his camera, perched it precariously on a rock and raced to where his three friends were standing. They were a mixed group, not one of them over nineteen, their faces fresh and vibrant, the whole world at their feet. “Everyone say ‘Gap Year’!”

Climbing down a mountain was actually harder than climbing up it. The four friends slipped and slid, finding their footing then losing it again. More than once they had to stop and catch their breath. Well…Chaz stopped…they just stayed with him because they’d been told to never leave someone on the mountain alone.

“We have to back at Refuge A by eight…” Lila said impatiently.

Chaz wheezed then swallowed. “Okay. I’m up. I’m…what is that?” They all turned and saw a flurry whip up some snow in the distance where the path did not lead.

“Hmm…looks like…snow…” Mak said.

“Yes, thank you for that Mak. I thought I saw something…or someone…”

“And the prize for the most dramatic member of our team goes to Chaz Armstrong.”

“No, I’m serious.” Chaz glared at the other three.

“And we’re starting to push the limits of our time up here.” Lila tapped the place on her wrist where her watch was. She couldn’t see it of course because her coat was over it but she could tell by the sun’s quickening descent that they were going to be pushing it to reach Refuge A by eight. “Let’s go people.”

“What if someone’s lost up here?” Chaz demanded as the other three began to move away.

“Maybe it’s one of the Greek gods?” Mak chuckled. “We are on their turf.”

“Jerks…” Chaz looked over at the place where he thought he’d seen a person standing. It didn’t look that far away so, as the other three moved off, he decided to take a look. The strong breeze had definitely turned into a wind and the sky had become ominously cloudy in the last half an hour. He tucked his arms around his body as he pressed on. “Hello?” He called. “Is anyone there?”

“Chaz!”

Suddenly his footing slipped out from beneath him and he slid on a patch of concealed rock and ice and started to slide at an increasing rate. He gave out a shriek as he saw a ravine streaking towards him. A hand grabbed his and stopped him just as his legs fell over the edge. He panted hard, looking at the dark grey drop.

“Mak…you’re a life saver.” He said as he twisted and looked up.

A woman of remarkable appearance looked down at him. She was dressed in oddly Asian styled clothing which was not suitable for mountain climbing. She looked like she should be attending a banquet. Her hair was dark and in rippling ringlets around her angelic, beautiful face. Her blue eyes sparkled at him as she pulled him back from the edge just as the other three arrived.

Mak swore, which showed how frightened he was because he rarely did so. “You nearly got yourself killed!”

“Are you alright?” Penny asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Chaz clambered to his feet and stared at the woman. “Am I the only one seeing her?”

Lila stepped forward. “Are you alright?” The woman looked at her with her wide, blue eyes, hearing her words but not comprehending them. “I said are you alright?”

“Saying it louder won’t help.” Mak pointed out, removing his jacket. “She must be freezing.” She accepted the coat with an amused expression on her face. “We’d better get her down to Refuge A as quickly as possible.”

“You think?”

Penny ignored their light hearted bickering and took the young woman’s hand. “My name is Penny Kirk. Come, we’ll keep you safe.” The woman refused to budge and then suddenly spoke in a rush. All four friends stared at her.

“Any clues?” Chaz asked.

“Russian maybe?” Mak shrugged.

“I meant as to what she said.”

“Just…” Mak growled.

The woman pulled on Penny’s hand and dragged her forward. The other three gasped as they headed straight for the ravine. Penny held on tight as the woman spoke again and then, with an exasperated noise, pointed down into the ravine.

“You’ve lost something?” She asked, leaning over to look.

“Be careful Penny Kirk!” Mak cried behind her, coming up fast.

Penny’s eyes became round like saucers. “Th…the…” She looked at the nameless woman who nodded. “There’s someone else down there!”

All four friends hurried to the edge and peered down. Out of the darkness and the snow and the ice, two figures could be seen climbing. Chaz, thinking quickly, whipped off his khaki scarf and dangled it down. “Hey!” He called. “Here!”

Using their scarves to take some of the pressure off, the climbers were able to get to the top of the ravine, scraped themselves over the edge and collapsed into the snow. There was another woman with white blonde hair and eyes like river moss and a man with heavy coat and a scar on his face. They panted heavily, the nearly fifty foot climb having exhausted them. The other woman knelt between them and smiled up at the four friends.

Chaz looked down at them then turned to Lila, Mak and Penny. He grinned idiotically, gave them double thumbs up and said, “Great gap year!”