Chapter 48: Chapter 48

THE OPENINGThe Opening

Articia, Present Day

She was coming.

I reached my house at the end of the street. My home was just a simple, wooden dwelling. The downstairs had two rooms, a living area and my parents' vacant bedroom. Upstairs there was a small loft. No one else lived with me. My parents had ignored the signs of the Ice Queen and she took them two winters ago. It was not the greatest idea for me to be living alone during the season of the Ice Queen, but this was my home and did not want to leave it. Also, I did not venture out during the Ice Queen's time unless I absolutely had too.

I threw my cloak down on the velvet covered chair near the hearth and went into my parents' room. The room still smelled like them and looked as if they would be back at any given time. My father's discarded work shirt was still thrown on the bed. My mother's perfume still laid next to her side of the bed. There was other signs such as the hairbrushes with strands of hair and razors with shaving creams sitting next to them. It was as if they were coming home in a few, but if one were to look closely, one could see that a fine layer of dust covered everything. Even though I should do it, I could not make myself clean up the room. It was the only sign that they had existed. The room made me feel as if I was not alone.

I sighed and walked out of the room. My white cat, Snö, had claimed my cloak and was taking a catnap on top of it. I stopped to pet her and listened as she purred her sweet song in her sleep. Sometimes I wished that I could be a cat. They had no worries and could just sleep all day.

I walked over to the corner and opened the lone cabinet, which was packed with food. I looked at it and calculated that with the food in the cellar that I would have enough to eat through the winter. That was good. During the season of the Ice Queen, you could not run out of food. She was not stop her wrath just because you ran out of food.

I would not be one of those who died because they did not have food. I closed the door. I was not going to share either. The Ice Queen made people turn hard and cold, which I intended to do.

There was no excuses when it came to the Ice Queen. You were either prepared for her or you died. There was no other way.

I walked over the window and pulled back the curtains. The sun was sliding over the distant hilltop. Even though the sun was not completely gone, the stars and the moon were out as if it was the dead of night. Day was meeting night. I pulled the window open and listened. It was silent. The nightingale was no longer singing.

When the nightingale sang its' song of farewell, the Ice Queen was coming.

I slammed the window shut and pulled both the shutters and the curtains. I slammed the locks. I went throughout the house and repeated the process to everything. I ran downstairs and locked the door. I leaned against the front door, breathing hard. Cold air was sweeping through the cracks of the door, but I did not pay it any mind.

Outside I could hear screams, "SHE'S COMING!"

I was breathing shallowly. Darkness had overcome the room, but I could not bring myself to light a candle. I could hear the wind whipping outside as the Ice Queen unleashed her freezing Hell. I could hear the screams of people as she took life away. Whenever she killed, she left behind ruins. It was rumoured that she just took the dead and their belongings and swept them aside with her cold wings. I did not know if that was true, but I was not willing to find out.

Another hurricane of wind shook the house. Snö's head darted up and she let out an angry meow. I looked at her and whispered. "It's okay, little kitty." The house shook again. "Everything is going to be okay." I went over to her and petted her head. "It will be okay. She cannot get us." I started to hum a lullaby that my mother used to hum to me.

The house shook again. . Snö looked up at me again. "Tomorrow will be a day. The world will be covered by her beauty." I paused. The Ice Queen went away for a few hours each day. The break was like the eye of a hurricane. The worst of the storm followed. "Everything will be clear for a few hours."

I moved my cat to the side and sat down next to her. The wind howled all around the house, but I knew that it could not enter. The house was strong and a little wind would not break it. The Ice Queen had never been able to inflict any sort of damage on the structure. That was good. If she could not destroy your house, then she could not reach you. I was glad that my father had insisted on making the house so strong when we moved here. It kept us alive.

Cold air was rushing down the chimney. I rushed over to it and placed wood into the fir place. Then, I reached on top of the mantle for the matches, stuck one, and threw it into the fireplace. The fire's warmth soon spread throughout the room.

"It's okay, little kitty," I whispered.

My cat meowed at me. She was looking at the door with a worried look on her face. I looked at the door. Frost had formed around the edges. My breath caught in my throat.

The Ice Queen was knocking on my door.

!

Kitee, North Karelia, Finland

As Tarja filed in behind Kendra, she could not get the feeling of dread out of the pit of her stomach. She knew what was going to happen and it just simply was not going to be good. The thought of leading them into this final battle was just not sitting too well in her stomach.

The flower sat in the centre of the table, but no one seemed to want to reach out and touch it. Tarja's eyes kept shifting back and forth between the flower and Anneke and Kaiden. Even though both wolves seemed pretty calm for the time being, she knew it was only a matter of time before everything broke lose.

Raakel leaned back into her chair, smiling at the flower. Tarja always thought it was kind of creepy whenever Raakel smiled. It usually meant that something bad was going to happen.

"And what is this thing supposed to do again?" Aleksander asked, his voice cutting through the room like a knife.

Raakel didn't answer him. She just kept staing at the flower with unmoving eyes. She seemed to be muttering something under her breath that Tarja could not quiet make out. It was probably in a language that none of them had ever heard of before.

Tarja stared at the flower. It looked really simple and she was not sure how it was going to help then. However, Raakel always did seem to be right about these things and she supposed that she was just going have to trust Raakel.

Aleksander moved closer to Tarja. While Tarja did have to admit that it was a good sign that he was up and moving about, it was a little nerve wracking to see him stumble around a bit. "When are we going to get to see some action?" His voice came out rough and sent chills down her spine.

"I don't know." She looked over at his pale face. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

Aleksander frowned. "Is what a good idea?"

Tarja gestured to him. "Are you really sure that you should be up?"

He shrugged. "It's either now or never." He smiled. "Why? Are you worried about me or something?"

Tarja sighed. "No, it's just that you really don't look all that well yet and-" She cut herself off. There was no way that she was going to let him know her feelings. If he ever found out that she was actually worried about his well-being, she would never hear the end of it.

"Are you going to finish that thought?" Aleksander pressed.

Tarja just gave him a long look. This only gave him a chance to widen his smirk.

Sebastiaan appeared, opening a rather ancient looking book. "We need to ask it to reveal its secrets to us. It will reveal them if your intentions are not for self-gain and are truly pure."

"Well, I think saving the world fits that," Kaidan muttered.

"But if you are saving the world so you can live, then that is self-gain," Sebastiaan pointed out.

Kaidan gave him a dark look. "You really are one to bring everything down."

Sebastiaan moved closer to the table. "I'm just trying to be realistic." His eyes shifted over the plant, which seemed to dance right in front of him. It was almost as if it was reaching out to him. His eyes shifted back down to his book.

"I think it likes you," Raakel said, smiling. "Maybe you should be the one to ask it."

Sebastiaan looked over at her with wide eyes. "Do you think?" He looked back down at the plant, which was still bounding up toward him. "Well, I guess."

Tarja watched as Sebastiaan offered his arm to the plant, which allowed its long vines to crawl up his arm, only stopping just short of his collarbone. They seemed to keep moving until his entire arm was covered in its vine. Then, it started to change colours. First, a deep purple, then a sparkling blue, before settling on a diamond silver.

The leaves started to stretch out, almost as if they were arms reaching for Sebastiaan's face. Tarja have to give him credit; he did not move as the leaves crept closer to his face and did eventually end up touching his face. They exploded it, touching every sharp feature of his face. The movement somehow reminded Tarja of two lovers meeting each other for the very first time.

A group of leaves paused in front of Sebastiaan's face, gently rubbing themselves up against his lips. For a minute, Tarja thought they were going to try and force themselves through his lips, but they didn't. They almost seemed to be whispering something to him, something that only her could hear. Every once in awhile, he would nod along with what they were saying.

Tarja moved closer to Aleksander, who was watching with a worried expression on his face. "Can you hear anything?" he whispered.

Tarja shook her head, watching as the plant slowly started to move away from Sebastiaan and back toward its core. Sebastiaan was not moving, but he did appear to be breathing. She took that as a good sign.

Sebastiaan slowly opened his eyes. "I know where we are going." His voice sounded shaky, but it didn't sound as if he was in any kind of pain.

"And where might that be?" Raakel whispered.

"I hope you have enough winter clothes, because it's going to get a lot colder." Sebastiaan looked back down at the plant. "And we are going to need the chest to get there."