“Hah… hah….”
I had long forgotten the warmth of a blazing fire. For months had I set off on this epic journey. I had almost forgotten the destination I was headed to. That is until I saw it with my own two eyes.
“I’m finally here… It’s actually here…”
As I hugged my cloak to shut off foreign temperatures it stood before me. A cold titan of a castle, as big as the eye can see. Other than its size there’s also one thing that made it apart from the rest. It was made of solid ice. Clear as water, hard as concrete, the towering castle rose up to touch the rainbow-like northern lights.
“It ends here I guess…”
My brown wool cloak was coated white with snow. My leather jerkin was the last layer of clothing to protect me from the devastating blizzard. The sword on my belt was worn out and dull, cutting through any obstacle I had faced in this long god-forsaken run. My round wooden shield had almost given up on me, with what the wolves had done to it. Damned critters.
I gazed at the beautiful lights my mountain ram had stopped to marvel on its beauties too. My mountain ram was the only thing that had kept me company all throughout this journey. It had carried the burden of my belongings, equipment and miscellaneous trinkets including my shield. Of course other than that he has other purposes such as for riding and it can hold its own in a fight what with his large horns and hooves.
“Come on, we need to get going. Got to get away from this snow-storm”
I said as I pulled the reigns of my ram towards the looming castle. The castle was located on top of two mountains. One of them was the entrance and the other was the actual location of the castle, but you need to get to the first mountain to get to the castle. The mountains were connected by a large ice bridge. Much like what I read in story books when I was younger, of course I’m still a young boy.
The hooves of my ram thumped through with precaution. I wouldn’t want to mess up a bridge this big and old, or I’d die of the fall. Underneath us was a vast black gap, much farther than the eye can see. Even so it’s still dark but I could guess that coming here when the sun is still up wouldn’t make any difference on the darkness of the gap.
Finally we arrived at the bottom of the castle, the second mountain. We ascended through the staircase, it wasn’t steep at all although it was a bit longer than I had expected. I almost slipped on one of the stairs. Truth be told if it weren’t for the northern lights these stairs would be too dark to see at night, heavy casualties would have happened.
I stopped in the middle, again gazing at the marvelous northern lights. But as I looked closely at the tower touching the northern lights I discovered something odd. The lights weren’t produced from the sky. It actually came from a window on the highest peak of the tower. It had piqued my interest
As I caught my breath from riding the stairs I let my ram take a breather also. Right now, in front of me were two great castle doors. I took in a deep breath and let out a greater one. Slightly, I pushed the door open. The bottom of the door shaved some of its life away along with the floor as it made contact. I stepped inside, followed slowly by my trusty mountain friend.
Surprisingly, the inside of the great ice castle was much warmer than the outside storm. It felt like sitting in front of a fire compared to the storm. I closed the door and stared at the inside of the castle. Grand pillars 3 on each side. Doorways leading to another compartment of the castle. A grand twin staircase leading to the main room.
I headed for the main room, leaving my companion to rest by the door. Even though I had worn gloves, just touching the stair handle could send chills throughout my whole body. The warmth of the room had left me and my ram alone. As I puffed a heavy sigh I finally reached the main room. I searched for another staircase that would lead to the topmost part of the castle where the lights touch the earth.
I walked towards the right corner of the room and entered the last door on the right wall. Luck was on my side. I was face-to-face with another set of stairs, steeper than the last. This staircase was absurdly long and steep, I had almost given up halfway through thinking that it wasn’t worth the effort. But alas I forced myself to go the extra mile.
After I reached the top I stopped to catch my breath. As I held my chest, breathing abruptly I searched the room for any other means of passage. But in the room was nothing, literally nothing at all. The only thing standing in that room were me and a grand door. The door was as big as the entrance I had first seen. It was etched beautifully with roses and vines. It almost looked like it was alive but still, it was made of dead cold ice. The door itself was calming, but the room on the other side was another thing. The room on the other side let out a strange aura. A strong aura that would make you confuse as to what this truly is. Is this a hallucination or is this actually happening right now. I had no idea how to differentiate it. But what I had an idea about is that the room holds the northern lights that came to touch the earth.
My heart began racing. The blood in my veins ran faster than ever before. A bead of sweat rolled down my chin. My teeth were gritted to each other. I clenched my fist as to what the door may hold.
“This is it”
“Go open the door”
“I dare you”
“Don’t be such a coward”
“Just do it”
Words of encouragement ran through my mind endlessly like bees swarming their hive. But these thoughts weren’t my own. I had a feeling it was someone else’s, someone I did not know myself. My heart began beating faster and I felt a shiver down my spine.
“Don’t worry”
The voice inside my head said.
“Who are you?”
I asked back at it. I searched for it, looking up at the ceiling, expecting some sort of creature hanging like a lizard.
“I’m the one in the other side of the door”
“Come on, get inside”
With heavy hesitation I stepped closer to the door. Slightly I pushed open the large door. It opened silently. The moment I pushed it open I felt a cold breeze fly through me. The breeze felt like the snow-storm just outside and it made me back up and flinch. Another shiver ran down my spine. I walked inside the room regardless.
Inside the icy chamber was a room, a bedroom to be precise. All of the furniture was made of ice, all except for the white cotton king-bed. The drapes of the bed were awfully clean and a bit transparent. The bed was neatly done and it doesn’t look like it has been used for a while, a very long while. On the foot of the bed sat an ice chest. Beside those, the room was furnished with a tall closet, a set of chair and desk, and a mirror.
The room hadn’t any oddities to it. But one thing caught my eyes. By the window where the northern lights came in stood a large shard of ice. And the thing that terrified me the most was the fact that inside I could see a vague shadow of a body. The figure was slender, seen from the back, it was floating in the middle of the cold shard, motionless. From the moment I saw the shard I could sense where the cold uncomfortable aura is resonating from.
I circled the large shard, studying it and the figure inside. I had discovered that it was a she. She had long blond hair and had worn a white dress. Her skin was pale, of course it would be what with her being trapped inside a piece of cold ice. As I had seen from behind her figure was slender and beautiful. Her eyes were closed off. And her light hands, frail fingers. She was tall, almost taller than I was. But she still looked young.
Touching her hands were the northern lights. Not having a solid form had given them the privilege to seep into the ice and cover her hands. Two wave-like beams went into her hands, or maybe they came out from her hands. I don’t know, but there wasn’t anybody in the room able to answer my question.
I touched the ice and it snapped at me. The cold ice had almost given my hand frostbites. Losing my hands now would be a pain in the ass looking at how long this journey had been. The gloves covering my hands were covered in frost now. I guess it’s time to buy new ones, or make some with my ram’s wool.
For some reason I tried breaking the ice with the pommel of my sword but it didn’t budge, not even a scratch was produced by that pathetic action. Trying to cut it with my blunt blade wouldn’t make a difference either.
“Touch it”
I looked around anxiously, yet again looking for the source of the voice. But I was still alone in the cold night. Feeling the urge to touch it again I took off my gloves and dropped them on the ground.
I touched the northern lights.
The beam felt warm and relaxing. It feels like I’m immersing my hands in warm water. A sensation that I haven’t felt in a long while.
My hands followed the northern lights and finally clashed with the cold. Surprisingly the ice had lost its frostbitten coldness. The warm aurora had protected me against the cold. I closed my eyes and decided to follow it further inside. My hands passed through the ice as if I had lost my solid form. I touched her soft hands.
I was inclined to pull her hands out of the ice. Slowly I pulled her out. Somehow it felt easier than I had thought it would. With my eyes still closed I stepped back carefully. That is, until I fell down to the floor with a thud.
“Ow…”
I scratched the back of my head with my right hand. As I opened my eyes, there she was, the girl in the ice. She was sleeping on top of me. I could feel her breath on my chest. Her heart beat on my off-hand, still grabbing hold to her slender hand.
“Damned, she’s heavy for a girl”
I stood up and carried her on my arms, somewhat like what a bride would be held, and let her off on the soft bed.
Her expression was calm. There weren’t any wrinkles or frowns on her face, it was clear as snow. I ran a hand through her head and felt her nice silky-smooth blond hair. Her ears were first hidden by the hair and now fully exposed. But as I was about to begin my search of her body something stopped me.
“Hands off you filthy animal”
One of her slender arms was holding my hand away. Her eyes glared at me like throwing knives. I was speechless, speechless and bamboozled.
“Shit”886Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdta48DDd8F
