Page 24 of Winter's Dragons. Frozen Flames
The attack on the amaroks was different. All of us—with the exception of our parents—still remembered the recent conversation between the amaroks and Cassia, when their Alpha had invited Cassia to bless their pups.
In Terra Dracones, even when we were at war, hatchlings were off limits. It was one of our most basic rules. Children always had to be spared. They were precious in a way very few things were. To hurt a child was taboo, and any dragon who dared would've been mercilessly hunted down and ripped apart by his own clan.
The rules might not have been identical here, but Cassia obviously had a similar opinion. Her eyes widened and small tremors started to course through her body. "No... She wouldn't... There were young pups there. Surely she wouldn't have gone so far."
"Your Majesty, you just said that she tried to kill you when you were practically a hatchling," Kasumi replied. "Of course she would have."
I wasn't sure Cassia even heard the words. Her eyes flashed and her icicle claws emerged again, forming, cracking and reforming in response to her fury. "This is worse than I thought." She took a deep breath and snapped her fingers. "Alva!" she called out.
The nisse healer instantly appeared and bowed in front of Cassia, just as ready to serve my female as she had been earlier. "Yes, Your Majesty. How may I assist you?"
"Snegurka has attacked the amarok pack at The Bridge of Melting Snowflakes. Assemble your best healers in the bailey. We must go provide the amaroks with aid. "
The nisse's eyes widened, but she didn't let her obvious fear get in the way of her duty. "Yes, Your Majesty. At once."
With that, Alva vanished, presumably to gather the group of healers who would go with us to the bridge. Unlike nisse transportation, this would not be an instantaneous process, so Cassia took advantage of the opportunity to give her third lieutenant some instructions. "February, you and January will have to deal with matters here until I have returned from The Bridge of Melting Snowflakes. I am relying on you to protect The Frozen Peaks."
"I will not let you down, Your Majesty," February promised. "I will make sure the realm is safe in your absence."
She might have said something else, but my fellow dragons and I decided to pull her aside. "You realize Snegurka is baiting you with the attack on the amarok pack, don't you?" I asked. "She's trying to lure you out."
"Yes, I know that," Cassia answered. "It's no coincidence that she chose to attack the same area where she and I fought when I was ten. I have to go, regardless. I may still be able to help in some way."
"We can do that too," Kerryn said. "I know you hate the idea of us risking our lives, but we are trained for this. Let us help you. Let us protect you."
Raijin brushed his hand against hers in a tentative, bur affectionate caress. "My magic isn't all that conducive to healing, but we'll find a method to support you. We can attempt to track down Snegurka. We've done it once before, with Jack."
It was less likely that she would fight us on this now, when she had to prioritize and think about the wounded pack first and her own feelings second. Cassia took her responsibilities very seriously, to the point that she blamed herself for every single thing that went wrong in the realm, just because she was queen. As her soul mates, we couldn't allow that to happen, nor could we allow her to face Snegurka alone.
Once, when we had been in The Realm of Eternal Bounties, my fellow dragons and I had argued over the fact that we'd all left our soulmate's side to handle a mission any of us could have easily dealt with on our own. I didn't want to stumble into that mistake once again, not when it was so obvious that our soulmate needed help.
I did feel a little sore over the fact that she'd obviously been keeping things from us, important things that, as her mates, we should've been informed about. I could not fault her for not wanting to bring up something so painful, but she had faulted us for not being able to share our family life with her.
However, now was not the time to argue about that. I could prioritize as well as she could, and making sure she was safe was more important than pointing out the flaw in her thinking.
Cassia proved to be a little more flexible and practical this time around. "You can't track her down," she answered. "It would be pointless. You're not equipped to deal with her. I don't know when she attacked the amaroks. It might have been before she possessed Karasu, or she might have done it after, using his body. Either way, if you attempt to go against her, you'll just end up hurting yourselves in the process. But on the other hand, I do need someone to warn Jack about this, quickly. Abby is still keeping an eye on The Bridge of Frozen Leaves on our side. He and the rest of the yetis cannot stand against her, so he has to be notified to keep a low profile and not fight her if she does attack. I wanted to ask your parents to send these messages, but they're not familiar enough with the realm and finding a guide for them would be too time-consuming."
"Raijin and I can do that and Emmerich can stay with you," Kerryn offered with a slightly strained smile. "It's probably safest."
As much as I hated to admit it, he was right. Out of all of us, I was the most vulnerable one to ice magic, and while our female's blessing appeared to have made me immune to the low temperatures in The Realm of Eternal Ice, I'd still be the easiest target should Snegurka somehow be able to override Cassia's spell.
"So be it," Cassia said. "Now, here is the situation. Jack may truly be at risk due to the new developments in his love life. For the moment, Snegurka might be too weak to leave The Realm of Eternal Ice and I doubt she knows what actually happened, but we cannot take any chances. It's not out of the question that she would target him again. Ask him to let Pandora know about this, as well. It will be the fastest method.
"I've sent December to Oki's garrison. He is slower than you, but if you run into him on your way there, tell him what happened and have him look into the state of the prison as we originally discussed. Try to find Oki and Mariko together. And for gods' sake, if an incident occurs and you run into Snegurka, don't try to fight her. Promise me."
Kerryn and Raijin weren't thrilled with the idea of staying out of a fight while another male battled our soulmate's nemesis. It went against everything we had been taught as dragons. But this was not about our pride or our opinion. Since Cassia was so insistent, Kerryn and Raijin had no other choice but to agree. "Very well, treasure."
"We promise."
Cassia rewarded them with a small smile. "Thank you. I would not ask this of you if I didn't think it was necessary." Turning toward me, she said, "Come, Emmerich. I believe the nisse must have made the preparations for our departure by now."
Unfortunately, before Cassia and I could take our leave, my mother approached us, a determined expression on her face. "If I may, Your Majesty, I have a quick question. This enchantment of the Snegurka creature... Is it the same one that led to the disappearance of our sons?"
I froze. It should have occurred to me sooner that our parents would make the connection, but I hadn't had the time to give it much thought. What would Cassia say? She hadn't revealed the truth about it to anyone due to her desire to protect Jack, but this might turn out to be a problem. Due to our disputes with Ton Daímon, we didn't like demonic beings and magic much, and there was no telling how our parents would interpret our soulmate's involvement with the spell.
"Yes and no," Cassia answered, her tone perfectly level. "As I said before, it was a botched enchantment. Someone else cast it in an attempt to find their own soulmate, and it interacted with the magic of the realm, which is, incidentally, my own. That's why Emmerich, Kerryn, and Raijin ended up here.
"I understand why you might be worried, considering what you've seen recently. Unfortunately, I don't have time to explain everything in detail. Kerryn and Raijin will be delivering a message for me to someone of my trust. Considering how dangerous Snegurka is, it is perhaps better for you all to stick together. As such, I would appreciate it if you joined them. Should you have any further questions about the enchantment, you can ask them."
