Page 22 of Winter's Dragons. Frozen Flames
Chapter Six
Attack
Cheimon
Present day
"So, wait... You killed the former queen of this realm when you were only a child? Wonderful! Truly wonderful."
"Your hatchlings are bound to be great warriors! Oh, I look forward to the day so much. We will teach them how to eviscerate their enemies together."
I shot Emmerich's parents an unimpressed look. I appreciated their enthusiasm for my actions and their hopes for the future I'd presumably share with their son, but now was not the time for such discussions.
Emmerich hugged me a little closer, and some of my tension dissipated like smoke in the wind. Despite the fact that I was still upset with my dragons, I was glad they'd made their way to my side and decided to tighten ranks around me while I was telling my story. Even now, their presence anchored me.
"Of course I didn't kill her," I explained, finding strength in their heat and familiarity. "It's not so easy to kill such a being. I did stall her, though, long enough that my sisters managed to drag me out of there, get my mother and evacuate the village. Snegurka still invaded Tis Ánoixis, but a little later. By that time, King Jarylo, who was then the leader of The Realm of Eternal Youth, had already been alerted and he came to face her properly. "
"So it was this Jarylo person who ended up defeating her and turning her into a malevolent ball of energy?" Kasumi inquired.
I shook my head. "I'm told he lost quite spectacularly. My father was the one who stopped the whole thing. He showed up once it became obvious that we could not handle our own affairs and ended her invasion."
Technically, his actions had been against the rules of the gods. Only a handful of deities were ever allowed to coexist and intervene at the same in the mortal world, and he hadn't been included on the list. To this day, I didn't know how he'd gotten away with it, or with everything he'd done after the war. Maybe it was just because he could be really charming when he tried. Solar deities were like that, and nobody could ever hold their slights against them, even if doing so would've been completely warranted.
"In any case, by the time I woke up, a week had passed and the whole thing was pretty much over. My father just had to decide what to do with Snegurka."
"Couldn't he just eviscerate her and be done with it?" Isebrand asked.
What was it with Emmerich's parents and evisceration? Was it a firedrake thing? I'd have to remember to ask Emmerich. He'd never made such comments in the past, but that didn't mean much.
"No, such a simple method would not have worked. More than a goddess, Snegurka is something like an ice elemental. Ded Moroz's creation of her was unusual, in that she was literally born from the snow. For that reason, she can never die as long as she preserves even a fraction of her powers."
Honestly, when I'd heard the whole story, I'd deemed it a little amusing. My mother had been the one to tell me about it, as a warning against possible life-creation experiments. Apparently, Ded Moroz had had a little... accident while in The Frozen Tundra and had spilled his seed onto the ice.
I'd never actually blamed him for it, as masturbation was the most natural thing in the world. I also hadn't believed Snegurka's behavior was his fault since Jack was his child too—albeit born through the regular process—and he wasn't a maniac bent on genocide. This was why I'd trusted Ded Moroz to be my advisor after I had taken the throne. However, his mistakes had already become very costly, and his actions today might just be the last straw.
But there was no reason to go into detail over Ded Moroz's situation, as it did not really matter. I had other priorities right now, namely, my stubborn dragons.
Kerryn appeared to be musing over the information I'd given them and wondering how he could use it to help me. "I assume your father did find a method that actually worked, right?" he asked. "I don't remember her being an issue when we first arrived."
"Well, yes. My father extracted Snegurka's powers and granted them to me once I was a little older. Due to the incident at the river, I was uniquely qualified to participate in the ritual. At age fifteen, I could not contain the full extent of her abilities, so once she was depowered, she was placed in a fiery pit and watched over by a trusted guard, Oki. Unfortunately, it appears something has gone wrong since I cannot find him and she is free."
"Oh, fiery pits!" Jerika whispered. "This place is more similar to Land der Drachen than I thought. How exciting."
Her mate nodded. I ignored them.
"So in other words, in order to defeat her, I have to find her, extract the rest of her abilities and finish the job I started when I was ten. Which is, obviously, something only I can do."
The latter sentence came out sharp and biting, but I could not help myself. I hated that they were putting me in this position when they knew they were vulnerable to Snegurka's magic due to their reptilian natures. I wanted to believe that my powers and blessings could protect them, but I wasn't sure that was true. If they temporarily left to Eranthe's realm, I'd have enough time to hunt Snegurka down while making sure no harm would come to the men I loved and their families.
"We understand your point of view, treasure," Emmerich said, "and the last thing we want is to be a hindrance. But surely there must be something we can do to help. You weren't always ice-aligned either, and yet you faced her. You just said so. We might not be able to stand against Snegurka, but we're not powerless."
I ripped myself away from his embrace, well and truly exasperated. Gods save me from the egos and overprotectiveness of men. "I never said that you were, but it is simply better to not take the chance. I got lucky when I was ten because she wanted to toy with us before she killed us and my abilities took her by surprise. She won't hold back in a confrontation with you."
I could already tell that my arguments had failed to persuade my soulmates. They belonged to a species of warriors, and running away wasn't an approach they were inclined to use. For that reason, I knew that making this request was unfair. But what else could I do? Until Snegurka stopped being a problem, I had to think like a queen, and for a queen, especially someone like me, three reptilian consorts were a vulnerability I could not afford.
Raijin let out a slow breath as if he was trying to calm down. "All right. Let's take a step back and think about this. This argument isn't helping us, and we might be missing something important here."
"Something important?" I repeated. "What do you mean, Raijin?"
