Reign of Winter CHAPTER 26

CHAPTER 26

As we opened the doors we were greeted by an unexpected wave of heat. We got to a circular chamber dominated by a steaming pool right in the center, surrounded by six pillars of ice. Cloudy versions of ourselves walked towards us from foggy mirrors on the walls as we entered the room. I wasn't still used to my own reflection (it was disturbing) but, aside from that, the chamber seemed empty. We approached cautiously to the center and I kneeled by the pool. The water was steaming hot, perfect for a bath. I got rid of my uncomfortable guard costume (which was pretty useless in such close quarters) to make it seem like I was about to get into the pool.

-Forget about Nazhena, I am staying here.- I joked. Fluffyball Nina opened an eye and hooted lazily in agreement.
-Focus.- said Argentea trying to appear severe but not really being able to conceal her smile.
-Okay...- I answered with pretended annoyance and joined back with the group.

There were many sets of doors that led out of the main hall, plus a couple of square ice platforms, one at each side of the room. A magical detection spell revealed that they were magical in nature, so I proceeded to examine them more thoroughly while Cat approached stealthily the doors to check what was behind them. Meanwhile, Nadya and Argentea kept an eye out for us so we weren't surprised by unexpected attackers. The floor, despite being made out of polished ice, wasn't slippery at all, and it muffled sound allowing my sister to move around like a ghost. When she was done she informed us that two doors lead to latrines, another two lead to sets of stairs, and the last ones lead to chambers full of people. Though she only had been able to get a glimpse of the two last rooms, she was pretty sure that they were some kind of dormitories or barracks for the guards. Meanwhile, I had identified the platforms as some sort of teleporters that could be only be activated by some sort of specific event. If that was the use of an item, a password, or anything else, I had no clue, nor I did know where they led to. But I remembered the song that Hatch had taught us, insisting so much on us learning it by heart. The first time I had heard the verses I had thought them to be a sort of riddle but maybe they were just a password. I was excited to check out if my guess about the teleporters was right, so I voted to try our luck with them before walking up the stairs. Nadya agreed: if they were aware of our presence in the tower, they would expect us to use the stairs, not the teleporters. Argentea didn't think that a magic device could be a trustworthy traveling option but she had to agree with Nadya's reasons, so she reluctantly accepted that taking the teleporter could be the best option... if we could manage to make it work, that's it.

The teleporters weren't that big, allowing for only two of us to stay on the platform at the same time. Unexpectedly, everyone volunteered to be the one to accompany me on my first try, but we decided that Argentea would be the most appropriate one to go with me if we met problems on the other side, as she was an expert at keeping attackers at bay. I could tell she was rather scared when she stepped onto the platform: she didn't like or trust magic, but still she did her best to keep her usual look of determination.

-A gathering within the wall, take one, take us all.

I recited, more than singing. I had a soft voice, and people tended to find my kagonesti accent rather melodic, but aside from that I didn't have the slightest bit of musical talent.  Anyway, the teleporter must be as tone deaf as I was, because the reciting worked fine. Suddenly, I felt a coat of ice climbing up my legs, covering my whole body. Argentea lifted her shield in an instinctive attempt of protecting herself but, before we were able to do anything, we were completely covered in ice. Was it a trap? Had I said the wrong password? Soon the layer of frost shattered, releasing us again. It had all happened so fast, lasting not more than a few seconds, and then we realized that we were somewhere else and Cat and Nadya weren't with us.

 (Art by mannequin-atelier)

A melody ceased sounding as we materialized in a luxurious dining room. Two diminutive winged creatures stopped dancing among the chandeliers and stared at us in surprise. Mierul, the traveling bard we had met two days ago, was there holding a lyre, seeming as surprised as her fellow fey were. Clearly, we had interrupted something.

Mierul started singing and playing again, a hauntingly beautiful magical song meant to fill the hearts of her allies with resolution. The two smallest faeries muttered arcane words and disappeared from sight with a simple gesture, just like the faeries in the forests of Linsel did. But this time I was prepared. I had been learning more secrets from Eternity and I was looking forward to put them into practice: I took a pinch of sand from my belt pocket and blew it towards the position where I believed the fey to be. With a couple of gestures and a word of power, the sand transformed into a massive cloud that filled most of the room, coating everything in glitter: the chandeliers, the dishes, the furniture and, of course, the invisible fey.

There was a huge dining table in the middle of the room that acted as a barrier between Mierul and us, so Argentea had to go all the way round the table to get to her. Cat would have thrown herself under or over the table, but I just couldn't picture Argentea doing that. One of the smallest faeries aimed his bow at Argentea, but the sting of the tiny arrows didn't even pierce her armor. The other one just brushed her eyes violently, trying to remove the sparkling glitter that hindered her vision. At that moment, Cat and Nadya materialized in the room with an explosion of shards of ice, ready to fight. They didn't know what was going on, but we looked like we were in trouble and that was enough for them. Cat rolled under the table trying to get to Mierul, while Nadya took aim at the flying faeries that were beyond our reach. Without the weather on their side and with a skilled archer (with cold iron arrows) on ours they weren't so tough. Mierul was the only one left standing in the blink of an eye, and only because she was harder to reach. I put her to sleep to prevent her from running away, and when she woke up she had the edge of Argentea's new sword resting on her neck.

-Please, don't kill me- she pleaded with the hesitant voice of someone who wasn't used to plead-. I surrender.

We had actually no reasons to kill her. She had caused no direct harm to us and, taking into account that we had broken into the room fully armed and prepared for a fight, it wasn't unusual nor unreasonable that she had attempted to defend herself. We told her to lock herself in her room and stay there until we were done with Nazhena. Then, she would be free to leave.

-You won't find Nazhena here- said the bard when she heard the duchess' name-. She has been called to Whitethrone by the Queen herself.

-What do you mean that she isn't here?- Nadya's voice trembled. For a moment I feared that she was either about to start crying or to fire an arrow into Mierul's guts, but she just gave her a cold stare. I couldn't imagine what was going on in her head in that moment.
-She was already gone when I got here- shrugged Mierul-. She left Radosek in charge.

I noticed a slight disagreement in Mierul's voice, and it wasn't hard guessing the reason. Radosek had hired  a troll as a guard who had slain and devoured the dogs. His guards had let us in with next to no checking. We had got to the second floor without any opposition. It didn't seem like Nazhena's apprentice was doing anything near competent work here.

We interrogated Mierul about what could be Nazhena doing in Whitethrone (the capital of Irrisen, as Nadya told us) and what could Queen Elvanna might want from her, but she didn't seem to know anything. She was just an artist, a wandering bard, as she constantly reminded us. She knew nothing about a winter portal either, and she looked genuinely surprised when we asked. She proved to be more useful when it came to questions about Radosek and the Pale tower, as she was more than willing to share with us which was the teleporter that led to his bedroom and to the ritual chamber where he and Nazhena usually performed their magic. She still didn't seem to believe that we weren't going to kill her afterwards and thus she tried to be as helpful as she could so we would spare her life.

-He doesn't allow anyone to use that teleporter without his consent, though- Mierul warned us-. He keeps it locked with a key, but he might have given a copy to someone.
-Who?- asked Nadya, who wasn't in the mood for games at that moment.
-He gave a key to the keeper of the aerie, hoping she'd come visit him at nights while Nazhena was away- she had the hint of a smile on her lips, the smile of someone who knows a secret that could destroy someone by telling it. One could guess she didn't like Radosek at all-.  As far as I know, he is still waiting.
-Who is she?- I asked.

Mierul shrugged again.

-Her name is Jairess Sonn and she is some sort of priestess, I believe. She doesn't look fully human, though.

We posed a couple more questions to Mierul, like what she meant with Jairess not being fully human (something about her having blue skin despite not being winter-touched, she said), but she wasn't of much more help, so we escorted her to her room and she locked herself in.

Nadya was very disappointed after our chat with Mierul. The rest of us were at the Pale Tower because of the Winter Portal, so Nazhena's absence could be a good thing after all, as we weren't prepared to win a fight against a powerful winter witch. But Nadya has joined us only because she wanted to avenge her daughter and take Nazhena down. To her, this was a hard hit. I felt really sorry for her, but now we had to focus on closing the portal and trying to stay alive.