Page 37 of Winter's Dragons. Frozen Flames
"You should've known better than to lower your guard while trying to take over someone else's body," my fifteen-year-old self added. As she spoke, flowers bravely appeared from underneath the snow and more vines emerged from the ground, wrapping Snegurka in a cocoon of vegetation that shouldn't have existed.
I nodded in satisfaction and exchanged a look with my younger self. The vine enchantment would hold my nemesis until I could go through with the more permanent solution I had in mind.
Emmerich made his way to my side, still a little pale and shaky, but otherwise unharmed. "Treasure, are you all right?" he asked as he cupped my cheek.
"Yes," both my fifteen-year-old self and I replied at the same time. Oh, dear. That was going to get confusing if I didn't deal with it quickly.
I intended to do just that and return my younger self to my subconscious, where she belonged, but my plan was once again derailed when the astral space around us began to shake. The clouds swirled as if in response to a distant storm, and I cried out when the disturbance lashed out against me.
The ice beneath our feet cracked, and the vines holding Snegurka captive started to dissipate. I desperately tried to regain control of my magic, but an external force seemed to be tugging at me, attacking my connection with Chronikos. A vicious, unseen claw reached straight into me, shattering the delicate balance of my mindscape, reaching for the core of my magic.
I flailed in panic and anguish, attempting to fight the force back, and I encountered some success. The claw ran into a barrier created through the sheer power of my determination and will. However, no matter how determined I was, I could not fight two things at the same time. The last remnants of my spell on Snegurka faded, and just like that, she was free.
Smirking, my nemesis waved her hand, and the teenage version of me vanished into thin air. I felt the blow echo within my sense of self, and I screamed as the claw began to shove its way through my hastily put together defenses. I could not understand what was happening, but it felt like I was being ripped apart and split open, the very essence of my being targeted by something I couldn't hope to fight.
"It hurts, doesn't it, little half-breed?" Snegurka asked, her voice thick with vicious satisfaction. "Well, now you know how I felt."
Emmerich cursed and lunged at Snegurka. I half-expected her to attack him, but she didn't. He still did not manage to do more than grab her shoulder. "What is going on?" he inquired. "What are you doing?"
"Oh, I'm not doing much, my dearest firedrake," Snegurka replied, her tone softening in a way that made me sick to my stomach. "He made me a promise, and he is finally keeping it."
Now that Snegurka mentioned it, she had indeed spoken of a mysterious "he" before, presumably someone who had helped her on her quest. Was it Ded Moroz? Had her father done something else in a misguided attempt to assist the daughter he had lost so long ago? No, it wasn't possible. Ded Moroz was imprisoned in The Palace of Serenity. Surely, he couldn't have gotten away. And even if he had, what kind of power could he have unleashed that affected me like this?
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Emmerich said, "but I made a promise too, a promise to keep Cassia safe. I won't allow you to do this."
Snegurka shook her head and shot him a pitying look. "That's very cute, dearest, but I'm afraid you're powerless here."
"I don't think I am," Emmerich answered, and suddenly, I could feel myself getting stronger. "You know, Snegurka, when Kerryn, Raijin and I arrived here, the three of us had a realization. Dragons aren't really prone to sharing anything, but we decided that a female like Cassia was too brave, beautiful and strong for one mate alone. It stood to reason that she'd have three."
"She still does," Kerryn said, stepping out from the mist, to Snegurka's left.
Mere seconds later, Raijin appeared as well, this time to her right."Your magic might be more powerful than ours, but not everything is about magical strength."
Emmerich glared at her, and his hand suddenly started to glow where he was still holding onto her shoulder. "You called Cassia weak for wanting to help an innocent pup, but I say that you are the one who is weak because you could not face her without targeting the people you once swore to protect."
I wasn't sure things were quite so clear cut, but the true meaning of their words transcended the black and white separation between strength and weakness. Hadn't I realized it myself earlier? I might have made mistakes, and I might have failed my soulmates and my people, but even so, I had been granted a gift and a blessing Snegurka had never had, something her accomplice—no matter who he might be—could not shatter or combat.
My mindscape went calm and still, the storm that had almost broken my sanity turning into a gentle cool breeze. Snowflakes started to fall from the clouds, and in each of them, I saw a person, one of the people I had decided to fight for at age fifteen. Somewhere in the distance, the claw was still attempting to break into my mind, but it failed to make any progress.
"They're right, Snegurka," I said as I got up. "I don't know what allies you have and what they decided to do to hurt me, but in the end, it makes no difference. I might only be a foolish half-breed nymph, but I've earned the loyalty of the people and the love of my dragons, and you can never crush that.
"What is your goal, truly? What do you hope to accomplish? Gain my magic? You had a good portion of it once, and we know how that turned out. Take my soulmates? It will never work. In your heart, you must be aware that they are as bound to me as I am to them. Take Chronikos? Why? It will not help you, nor will it answer any of your questions."
I didn't expect to get a rational response to my inquiries, mostly because Snegurka seemed to believe she did have all the answers. But maybe that wasn't quite true, because the vitriolic remark she should have responded with didn't come out. Instead, Snegurka ripped her arm away from Emmerich's hold and stepped back. She said nothing, and for a few seconds, our identical gazes locked and held.
I'd stolen that from her too, the ice blue of her eyes. I remembered the way she had looked when we'd been in the caverns and wondered why here, in my mindscape, she was different.
That question, like countless others, remained unasked. Snegurka smiled at me one last time and in the blink of an eye, disappeared, her figure melting into thin wisps of dark smoke and leaving no sign of her presence behind.
I sensed the moment her consciousness left my body and could do nothing to stop it. My magic might have blocked the power of the intruder still attempting to force his way inside me, but it could not contain Snegurka, not if she no longer wanted to possess my physical form.
It was both a win and a loss, but at that moment, I felt too selfishly relieved at having my soulmates there with me to focus on the possible consequences of her escape.
As if guessing my thoughts and instinctively knowing what I needed, my dragons rushed to my side in a whirlwind of panic and anger. "Are you all right, treasure?" Raijin asked as he wrapped his arms around me.
I allowed myself the luxury of taking comfort in his familiarity and strength. "I'm fine. Well... Mostly. Still a little weak, but I'll get better." As long as I didn't run into any other unpleasant surprises, at least.
The first step to prevent possible problems was finding out what in the world had happened and what kind of force had given Snegurka the chance to escape. I obviously had another enemy, someone I hadn't been aware of and who needed to be dealt with, at once."Do you know what accomplice Snegurka has and what he is doing?" I inquired.
Raijin and Kerryn shared a grim look, and their expressions almost made regret I'd asked the question. "We do, treasure," Kerryn replied, "but you're not going to like it."
They were right. I didn't.
