I felt their presence before I saw them. Slowly, I raised my head and looked around until I caught sight of one out of the corner of my eye. It was a delicate thing, as fragile as frost and the colour of ice. I looked at it directly and it froze like a deer caught in headlights. Carefully, I beckoned it to come closer, and it did so hesitantly. I closed my eyes for a moment and took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. The power of the White Lady tingled in my veins, and when I opened my eyes again, I saw the world through her eyes instead of just my own.
“Ice spirit,” I named it.
Shyly, the one I had called danced closer to me. A dozen or so more materialized close by, curious but careful of the strange human who knelt in the snow.
“You know me?” I asked.
The spirit nodded. “Yes, my Lady. We would know you anywhere.”
I smiled and relaxed slightly. Here was my protection and salvation, in the power given to me by these strange spirits and their Lady. Quickly, I asked the ice spirits for a favour and they set to work. The moved more rapidly than I would have though possible, molding and forming the falling snow to create a domed shelter around Fynn, Will, and myself. Inside was protected from the elements, but still too cold to be comfortable for long. I lay Fynn and Will down and ducked through the low opening to the outside world.
I ignored the pain in my body and the thick snow that fell from the darkening sky, and walked out to the remains of the sleigh. There was no sign of the snowmares that had brought us this far, and the sleigh itself had been reduced to cooling embers. I saw nothing in our provisions that was salvageable, no food or clothing to help us through this winter wasteland. With a sigh, I gathered a few pieces of wood that would still burn and brought them into the shelter. Laying them close to Fynn and Will, I sat back on my heels and summoned the fire spirits.
They would not come, not while we were in such a cold, damp place with so little fuel for them to consume. I felt their stubborn refusal at my summons, and redoubled my efforts. The fire spirits refused to obey me. I thought about giving up, about pleading and begging for their help, but I knew that wouldn’t do a thing to convince them. Outside, the sun was setting and the temperature dropping rapidly, and I knew that even inside our shelter we would freeze to death without a fire.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, feeling the power of the White Lady once more in my veins. By the authority she had given me, I commanded the fire to burn. A flame leapt from my hand onto the wood, roaring high. Exhaling sharply, I smiled at my handiwork and felt very proud of myself. Glancing through the flames, I saw Fynn awake and watching me. He nodded his approval and I hurried around the fire to his side.
“Are you okay?” I asked, looking him over for injuries.
“He snuck up on me,” Fynn said, easing himself into a sitting position. He shivered and winced, his hand going to the back of his head.
“But are you okay?” I repeated, my own hand moving to follow his.
He caught it before I could examine him, drawing our hands down together. His eyes caught mine and held my gaze as he smiled a little forcibly. I frowned at his attempt to make light of the situation, but could not move my eyes from his.
“I’m fine,” Fynn insisted, squeezing my hand. “See to Will.”
Withdrawing my hand, I moved around Fynn to kneel beside Will. I did noticed, however, that Fynn lay back down and closed his eyes the moment he thought I wasn’t looking. I sighed and promised myself to check on Fynn again before I went to sleep.
Will wasn’t shivering, but his skin was very cold. The gash on his temple had reopened after I had tried to heal it, although it wasn’t bleeding as heavily as it had been. I bit my lip in worry and concentrated. Although I was keeping both the fire and ice spirits from fighting each other, I found it easy to also summon the light spirits. Perhaps it was my desperation to save Will and Fynn, but I felt a strange reverence coming from the spirits around me.
A warm glow shone from my outstretched hands, spreading not only from me to Will, but also up my own arms so that soon both of us were pulsing with a faint light. I focused my energy where I was needed the most, closing my eyes and breathing deeply as I bid the light spirits to repair Will’s damaged form. I was once again absorbed in my task that I failed to notice the passing of time, or how exhausted I was, until I felt a darkness pushing at my senses and I lost consciousness.
*****
I woke up to the feel of a warm hand on my forehead. My eyes flickered open and I saw Will’s worried face hovering over mine. I felt tired down to my bones, and I was surprised to find that I was no longer in any pain. I smiled up at Will and he grinned back, looking up and gesturing to someone out of my view. Taking a few deep breaths to gather my strength, I raised myself to my elbows and looked around.
Sunlight was seeping in from outside and it occurred to me that it was already morning. A pair of strong hands behind me helped me into a sitting position, and I looked over my shoulder gratefully to Fynn.
“Good morning,” he said.
Where Will was now the picture of health, Fynn looked as ragged and tired as I felt. Will smiled at the pair of us and ducked out of our icy shelter, leaving me alone with Fynn. I relaxed against him, feeling the warmth of his body as he wrapped one arm around me.
“Quite the night,” Fynn remarked. “Will has been hovering around you like a mother hen ever since he woke up, and they refuse to leave as well.”
He gestured with his free hand to the three spirits who hovered nearby. They kept their distance from us, waiting patiently to one side of the entrance of our igloo. A delicate ice spirit, a blinding light spirit, and a crackling fire spirit. They were watching me with worried eyes, and I was surprised not only by their concern, but also at their proximity to one another. Three of the feuding spirit tribes, the same tribes who refused to cooperate with one another for any reason, were standing within arms reach of each other and seemed quite comfortable to do so. True, the light spirit separated the fire and ice spirits, but they were still together.
“You waited for me?” I asked them.
The ice and light spirits nodded. The fire spirit spoke, “You are promised to us. We will protect you.”
I sighed. They were waiting for me to make good on my promise, the one the White Lady had told them to unite them to me. The promise, like the prophecies made to the humans, were only created for my protection, but the tribes had no way of knowing their Lady had lied to them.
“I will not turn over the world to one tribe,” I warned them, bracing myself for an argument.
The ice spirit giggled. “We understand, Lady.”
“We can fee the change already,” the light spirit added.
“Together, we will have our world returned to us,” the fire spirit continued. “Because of you, and through you, we will be strong.”
“As was promised,” the light spirit said.
As one, the three spirit bowed to me. “My Lady, you have the love and loyalty of all the spirit tribes. Support us, as we support you.”
The three of them vanished, leaving me sitting in Fynn’s arms with my mouth hanging open. I blinked a few times in disbelief, and Fynn chuckled as my mind frantically tried to piece together what had just happened.
“Did – did I just win?” I asked.
Fynn hugged me closer. “The spirits acknowledge each other, and you as the White Lady. They also just vowed to serve you, united. Yes, I would say you won.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. I could feel the spirits around me and within me, settling into their new roles. They no longer fought one another, or me, to claim dominion over the world. I had finally gained their trust.
At that moment, Will came back into our little ice fort looking very disappointed. He shook the freshly fallen snow from his hair and beard and sighed silently. Gesturing with his thumb towards the outside world, he made several signs with his hands before folding his arms over his chest and exhaling sharply.
“No food, no sleigh, no snowmares?” I translated. “We’re truly struck?”
Will nodded, gesturing angrily to himself to the point that he was striking his own chest with his fists. I freed myself from Fynn’s embrace and crawled over to sit in front of Will, grasping his flailing hands in mine.
“This is in no way your fault,” I told him sternly. “Both you and Fynn tried to warn me about Jorge and Samara, I should have listened. I’m sorry.”
Will looked at me in surprise, tears forming in his eyes. He held my hands tightly and shook his head, unable to express through gestures what he truly wished to say. Behind us, Fynn sneezed and a slight moan escaped from his lips. Releasing Will’s hands, I turned on him.
“I knew you weren’t fine,” I said in a worried voice, returning to his side. “What’s wrong? Did Jorge hurt you?”
Fynn shook his head. “I just hate the cold. Did you know it almost never snows in the Spirit Woods?”
He sneezed again, hugging himself to stay warm. Frowning, I looked at the remains of last night’s fire and knew the wood was no longer useable. I crawled out of our igloo and surveyed the remains of our campsite. The charred sleigh lay to my right, and I could still see Jorge’s frozen body partially buried in snow. I shivered as I remember how close he had come to killing me, and called the ice spirits. They came quickly and willingly, materializing out of the blowing snow and bowing to me as if I were royalty.
“Can you lead us somewhere safe?” I asked. “Is there a place close by?”
The spirits exchanged glances and one nodded. It stepped forward to speak on behalf of its tribe.
“There is a place where the snow fears to fall, my Lady. We will not enter there, but it will be safe for you.”
I blinked in surprise. A place where the spirits were afraid to go, but that would be safe for Will, Fynn, and I? I wondered what such a place could be. For a moment, I thought the spirits might mean a Samran village, but there was no reason I could think of for them to avoid a human tribe. I agreed with the spirit and returned to the shelter to inform my companions. As I ducked into the entrance, I noticed a group of ice spirits around Jorge’s body, burying it completely in snow and ice.
Soon, we were following the ice spirits through a near-blizzard towards an unknown destination. I did my best to keep the snow and wind away from us, but it was still a long and uncomfortable walk. I was exhausted, too tired to control the spirits properly, but still I persevered as the ice spirits coaxed us along.
“Close! Very close!” they would call out, and I would pass the message along.
Will stayed next to me as we walked, and our tired bodies supported each other as our strength dwindled. Fynn was a pace or two behind us, and I sent him what energy I could spare. Just when I thought I couldn’t take another step, our ice spirit guides abruptly stopped. They pointed straight ahead, through the thickly falling snow, to what appeared to be a small group of trees.
“There,” the leader of the ice spirits said. “We will go no further, but you will be safe, my Lady.”
I thanked them and watched them dance back into the snow, vanishing from view. Will, Fynn, and I continued forward until the falling snow stopped and we found ourselves in an unusual place.
The trees must have been part of a great forest long ago, but now they were dead and hollow, leafless branches reaching to the sky. The ground was covered with snow that had drifted in with the wind, but beneath it faint pathways could be seen. Will tugged at my arm and pointed just ahead of us, and I saw the houses for the first time. Although now in ruins, at one point they would have merged seamlessly with the trees themselves. I felt my heart beat faster as it dawned on me where we were. I had seen this very village in my dreams as it had been before. My exhaustion forgotten, I pushed past Will and hurried through the village, stumbling to a halt before a massive tree with thick arching roots. Half the tree had fallen away, leaving a frightening looking headless trunk. I glance to the place where my dream-self had seen the four huddled figures, then I followed their terrified flight with my eye. At the place where three of the four had fallen, where I had seen the last child gently touch the dead figure’s cheek, stood Fynn. I took a few steps towards him and he raised his head to look at me, tears welling in his brown eyes.
“This is where it ended,” he told me sadly, “and where it all began.”