CHAPTER#69

"Yeah, it's pretty bright." He pointed at the hoofprints. "She wandered off?"

"No, she ran off. You can tell by the spacing of the prints." Ratu walked next to him and slid something into his hand. "I thought this might come in handy."

He held the object up. It was the sun stone. He had forgotten all about it. Cecilia had brought it to him when they had stayed overnight in the greenhouse. It was a magic stone that could generate heat, but it required a kickstart. Smiling at Ratu with relief, he held it to his lips and blew warm air on it. Heat spread through the stone and it began giving off its own warmth. "Did you take this from the Vault?"

"I did. While Tink was reorganizing, I offered to hold on to a few of the less dangerous objects."

"This is what triggered the eruption at Pompeii. You know that, right?"

"Don't throw it in a fire then." She walked ahead of him. "Let's find our friend, shall we?"

They followed the tracks for a couple hundred feet. He was tempted to call for the centaur, but through the trees, it appeared they were on a large mountain. Would shouting cause an avalanche? And where exactly were they? He could see no other mountains in the distance, only blue skies.

Ratu didn't seem concerned in the slightest. She was busy examining a nearby tree.

"It would seem to be some sort of evergreen," she told him, touching the needles. A clump of snow fell loose at her feet. "We're at altitude, apparently."

"That's... great?" He turned his attention back to the hoofprints. They meandered down a steep hill and out onto a bluff. Down below, he saw Zel standing near the edge, her attention on the landscape below. His feet crunched in the snow as he approached, filling his shoes with ice. The sun stone was helping keep him warm, but definitely not dry.

"Zel?" When he spoke her name, she flinched. He could see a large valley beneath with a large river running through it. A large herd of horses appeared to be running in the distance.

The snow here was deeper than his ankles, and he lifted his feet high to keep walking forward. Zel's footprints were too far apart for him to walk in, and snow was rapidly accumulating inside of his shoes.

"We need to go back." Zel turned to face him. "Right now. We can't be here."

"Why not?" He stood next to her on the bluff. Instead of a sheer drop off, they were looking down a steep, snow covered slope. Huge drifts of snow had gobbled up the landscape, and other than a few animal tracks, it was pristine.

"I suspected as soon as I stepped through. I'll tell you when we get ba--" She froze, her eyes over his shoulder.

He turned around and saw that she was staring at a giant tower in the distance. It overlooked the valley and seemed to be made of large, interlocking stones that had been carved directly into the stone face of the mountain.

"Holy shit, that thing is huge!" He heard footsteps and turned around, expecting to see Ratu.

A woman had wandered out of the trees nearby, her hand clutching a walking staff. Her dress was made of a pale fabric decorated with thick red and white furs. Her white hair was thick and framed her narrow face. She drew back her hood, revealing that she wore a plain white eyepatch over her right eye. Her left eye was red like wine. At first he thought she was wearing earmuffs, but when they unfolded into above her head, he realized that they were large, furry ears.

"Who are you?" she asked, her voice trembling. It was soft, but firm. "Where are you from?"

Zel's fingers found his and she squeezed him tightly.

"My name is Mike. I came here through a magical wardrobe." He smiled and gave her a friendly wave. "I'm the new Caretaker, if you know what that is."

She held her hand out, palm up, and then clenched her fingers. Her face twisted into a snarl and the nails of her fingers grew into daggers. The snow on the ground between them lifted into the air, collating into a gigantic spear made of ice.

"Not anymore." She pointed a sharp finger at him and the icicle rocketed forward and hit him square in the chest. Fire blossomed through his rib cage and he felt the breath knocked from his body. The impact blew him off his feet and Zel's fingers clamped down on his as they both tumbled over the edge of the bluff.

-

"Ta ma de." She closed her outstretched hand and ran toward the ledge. The icicle should have penetrated the human, maybe even pierced him through, but he had taken the brunt of it and simply fallen away from her, dragging his escort with him. She could smell blood in the air and saw a small amount of it on the fresh snow.

It was nowhere near enough. Looking over the ledge, she saw that the man and woman had triggered a small avalanche, and were now sliding down the mountain and far away from her.

"Daisy." She waited a couple of seconds for the fairy to appear before her. "Find them and report back. I'll be up here."

The fairy saluted and shot down the mountain, her light disappearing in the distance.

A blast of cold air ruffled her furs and she pulled her cloak in tighter. It was likely that she had killed him, but she needed to be sure. Once she knew he was dead, it was time to resume her rightful place.

It was time to become the new Caretaker.

Her ears lifted, the sound of soft steps in the snow alerting her to another presence. Turning, she saw a woman in a thick coat emerge from the trees. She could feel a surge of strength from this woman, an instant connection through magic much like her own. Her lips parted and she bared her teeth, a low growl emanating from the back of her throat.